I bought my 98’ Outback with 47K. Shortly thereafter, shifting into reverse would either grind the gear or it would not go into gear at all. This happens randomly, including the case where reverse was the first gear of the day (backing out of the garage). Now at 90K, the problem has migrated to first gear. When I have the clutch fully depressed, grinding occurs when shifting into first. This happens when I am at a dead stop. I saw posts with similar problems and some suggested a clutch adjustment. What does this involve? Any other suggestions?

I bought my 98’ Outback with 47K. Shortly thereafter, shifting into reverse would either grind the gear or it would not go into gear at all. This happens randomly, including the case where reverse was the first gear of the day (backing out of the garage). Now at 90K, the problem has migrated to first gear. When I have the clutch fully depressed, grinding occurs when shifting into first. This happens when I am at a dead stop. I saw posts with similar problems and some suggested a clutch adjustment. What does this involve? Any other suggestions?

Subaru's Reverse Gear is not synchronized so this is normal.

To stop this put it into 1st or 3rd or any other forward gear, then put it into reverse.

If your first gear is now grinding try to go into 3rd then 1st gear. Does this stop the grinding?

Subaru's Reverse Gear is not synchronized so this is normal.

To stop this put it into 1st or 3rd or any other forward gear, then put it into reverse.

If your first gear is now grinding try to go into 3rd then 1st gear. Does this stop the grinding?

Yeah, that's how I usually solve the reverse problem. I did some more research on the 1st gear problem. Sounds like you have to wait a moment after depressing the clutch for the tranny gears to "spin down":

 

http://www.drivewerks.com/Newsletter/vol-5.htm

 

Are there any clutch adjustments that I can do to minimize the problem?

 

Also, does Redline 75W90NS, http://shop.store.yahoo.com/subarustore/red75gearoil.html, really help speed the synchro process? Sounds like snake oil to me.

Also, does Redline 75W90NS, http://shop.store.yahoo.com/subarustore/red75gearoil.html, really help speed the synchro process? Sounds like snake oil to me.

I swear by it.

It is not snake oil, but technology. Manual transmissions are made to run with GL-4 tranny fluid, GL-5 is too slick. But in Subaru manual transmission and transaxle share the same fluid. So if you run GL-4 you could damage the diff. Most people go out and put in mobil 1 or other GL-5 synthetic and their shifting gets even worse. So stick with dyno oil or get a synthetic that is made for gear boxes. Redline is not the only manufacture, Castrol has some fluid GLX I think that is very good, and a few others. Redline is the easier to get in the United States.

 

BTW

My local Redline dealer has told me stories of multiple Subaru user who were told then needed tranny rebuilds, put in 75W90NS and are good to go.

Thanks for the info. After doing some some research, I stand corrected on my snake oil analogy. It seems that this might be worth a try.