Today I've noticed a problem with my tranny. It seems to only be in 4th gear at the moment. Earlier today, I went to downshift into 4th while getting off of the highway and it wouldn't go into 4th gear! I had the clutch all the way in and wasn't trying to jam it into gear just shifting regularly. I let out the clutch, and tried again and it still wouldn't go in. I tried a 3rd and 5th and it didn't seem to want to go into any gear!!!! I pumped the clutch a few times and it finally went in. Then again today i went to downshift and it went in but 4th grinded on the way in. It seems like it's only if i try to downshift first. This should NOT be happening on an STi tranny with 27k miles. I never jam it into gear, and I'm generally pretty nice to the tranny. I'm good at shifting and I do rev match when downshifting. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to take it up to the dealership (SOG) but I do have a DP, Exhaust, BOV and Springs. Are they going to try to give me trouble since I have a slightly modded car even though the mods couldn't affect the performance of the tranny? What should i do!? :wtc: :wtc: :wtc: :wtc: :wtc: :wtc:
well, its not about the prof of the tranny.. if a mod increses power you could be in trouble.... but ur car is very lightly modded ... it SHOULD be fine
they sure are..... if i were you id read that one thread about warrnty info on mannual transmissions.. ALOT of stuff is considred abuse.. and i think gridnging is one of them..... so you may end up paying for it
How can grinding be considered abuse when i didn't do anythign to create the grinding. It just grinds now when going into 4th with the clutch all the way in... Its pretty much a deffinite that i'm going to have to take it in to the dealer.... It would suck to have to do it but would it be worth it to change my exhaust back to stock to avoid the possibility of them turning me down for just an exhaust??
I think the difference may be that the "symptom" is that when he fully presses in the clutch and he can't get into the gear bacause it is grinding and not engaging vs. grinding the transmission by operating the clutch improperly and actively grinding gears causing transmission damage.
Try switching out the tranny fluid. My 5th gear used to grind but went away after the fluid change. It's not expensive so if that doesn't fix it, at least you tried PM or call me if you need help changing out the fluid hehe
Is this common??? My 1st and 4th have been getting crunchy for a while now. Anyone else hear of this problem?
not a comon problem with the sti trannys.... but i cant find that damn warrnty thread... but they said all grdinind was considred abuse.
Be careful with the "Uncle Scotty's cocktail mix" When I was searching for a favorite synthetic to run in the STI 6 speed and getting really confused following threads and flames on NASIOC, so I PM'd Uncle Scotty. Re replied stating that it's only meant for the 5 speed gear box and front diff. There may be something better, but it seems like the Subaru 75W90 Extra-S, transmission fluid is what we should be using in the STI gearbox. From what I searched for and read it seems that lots of people were having problems with 4th and maybe 5th gear grinds when trying to use synthetics or blends. I ain't no mechanic but I just wanted to provide some info after a few hours of digging on the forum sites.
Several members at SOG are members on here and browse these boards frequently so I'm not so sure of how good demodding your car would be in terms of warranty use/abuse. I've heard of the common 5th gear grind in the 6speeds but not 4th gear. Try fluids before anything.
I did recently change the fluids at 15k miles. I was about to go on a trip to Miami and wanted to make sure i had it changed. I just had it changed to whatever was recomended... 75w90 i believe? No synthetic or anything... I have now confirmed that i can replicate the problem 100% of the time. It is only when going higher speeds, and trying to go into 4th. Shifting normally, does not create the problem. As hard as i try to get it to downshift to 4th going 70 or 60ish without grinding it cannot be done, even if i revmatch... I'm quite dissappointed in the performance of this transmission as I put 60k miles of pretty hard driving on my Integra GSR transmission and never had a single hint of a problem. I havent babbied this transmission but I also haven't tracked/dragged it or treated it in any way that should cause problems... i.e. never jamming it into gear, giving it time to sink into gear when changing, i don't grind them... i've been reading and it seems that 4th and 5th on the sti trannys is a pretty common problem... Looks like i just gotta find a dealer that will realize that. *crosses fingers for SOG* Who should i talk to at SOG? I'd like to talk to someone thats on here if possible...
I think the Subaru transmission fluid is sold in large quantities. SoG may break it down and sell it to you by the quart. Below are some part numbers I got off of NASIOC from a post by Flow Subaru who does also sell the transmission and rear diff fluid by the quart but they're in Winston Salem NC. I think that SoG also sells smaller ammounts to the public. Can someone at SoG confirm this and that the part numbers are correct? 04+ Subaru STi 6spd Transmission fluid - Part#: K0323AA093 04+ Subaru RLSD fluid -- Part#: K0305Y0900
Any idea how much it costs to get it changed at the delaer? Also any idea how much it would cost if i had to pay for the repairs?
repairs can be quite costly.. look at newkidwrx problem.. he grinded the gears of his 3r4d and had rto pay 2k+... lets hope thats not your case
Awesome. I guess I'll give them a call tomorrow... Everyone that I've talked to says that they don't think my exhaust/bov will be a problem so I'm just going to hope for the best!
well, its not the power you have to worry about.. its the fact that they might say abuse=( but im pulling for you!
Ok well I have an update. I haven't made it to the dealer yet but today I tried to replicate the problm before i went up to the dealer and couldn't get it to do it any more. Everything seems fine! I don't get it!! I guess I might just go up to the dealer, tell them about the problem so they know it's already starting, get a fluid change and hope for the best...
almost yay... noticed a little bit of a grind today. I'm thinkijng it may just be the fluid. maybe it didn' tlike what i had put in it last time. I'm trying to figure out the best stuff to put in it. I'm between redline syncromesh or the otherone, and just getting subaru's choice fluid for the 6mt... Suggestions? Where to go? Where to buy? I don't mind changing it myself.... Gonna try to do it today so any help asap would be awesome!!
Ok so i just called up SOG and couldn't get neil or ephram (sp) but i did talk to someone who said that my problem was most likely the fact that i just put in regular fluid at my first change. the 05 sti's require a bottle of lsd oil to be mixed with the regular gear oil. its 28.62 for the lsd oil and 10.10 for the gear oil. I figure i'll just go buy this and change it out asap. Anyone knwo if you change to something like redline do you still use the lsd oil and just mix it with gear oil?
So I finally made it out there to SOG. I was just going to buy the fluid and do it myself but whoever i talked to on the phone that quoted me the price told me i could buy the lsd oil and gear oil seperate and didn't say i'd need a container. When i got there I found ephremn and he said that they have a vat of the stuff and you need your own container to take it home. I figured my only option was to pay the $100 labor and have them do it... After replacing the fluid they told me that whatever was in there didn't look or smell right. I had the previous shop put in 75w90 gear oil which wasn't good but didn't hurt anything... They said just be nice to it for a week or so and it should get all the way better. It already feels like i'm shifting with butter in the tranny :-D. I'm pretty sure the problem is completely fixed. I haven't pushed it hard but it feels even better than when I first bought it and shifts beautifuly!!! That makes me happy :-D Oh I also ended up finishing up with Neal and he was great also. They both were very helpful. Oddly, the girl that works at the front desk, Lesley, I went to high school with so I had someone to talk to the whole time. Also there was another wrxatlanta member up there that i talked to for a bit too...
That's great news about reverting back to oem fluids fixing your shifting problems. I was suprised about how finicky these transmissions are about the types of transmission lubricants used.
Yah, me too. Thats pretty crazy. I was wondering, when people go to stuff like redline etc... do they mix in the lsd oil with it to make it more like the oem fluid?
My 03 was there Tuesday for the SAME problem. I haven't yet been hard on my car 'cause it's the nicest thing I own and can't afford to break it. You can imagine how upset I was about my tranny possibly going bad... but... The fluid change worked for me too. Thank you Jesus (*falls to floor and shakes*)! I'm the second owner and I guess the PO changed out the fluids. Moral of the story: use OEM fluids for the tranny and go to SOG for help. Even with my TBE and springs they didn't give me a lot of flak. :wiggle:
they are pretty cool with modifications... and won't try to void the warranty if a part u added wasnt directly responsible for the problem
I don't mean to thread jack but I have a WRX that has been grinding going into 4th for some time now. What is the cocktail mix? Where can I get it? I changed to Neo Gen about 20-25K miles before it started doing it. Now I have to double clutch into 4th everytime. Other gears are fine. The trans did the same thing at 12K miles and Subaru in Augusta had to put in a new synchro which was under warranty.
Yeah, stock is good, and since this post was regarding an STi 6 speed Uncle Scotty's cocktail didn't really apply in flip's case.