Neo HD 75w90 / Shifter Review

Post by **Legacy777** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 3:53 am

Well I put the Neo synthetic in on friday. I went for a drive tonight. Honestly, I really don't notice a huge difference. I still get the 1-2 grind if I rush things too much. It might be slightly smoother, but that might be the placebo affect.

I did however try out a stock wrx shifter, and it was far smoother then the sti short throw. The throw was only 1/4" less with the sti. So I'm planning on getting a kartboy shifter to try out and see if it reduces the throws, but still is smoother then the sti.

I'll keep everyone posted when I swap shifters. I really think MY issues are shifter, and/or possibly linkage issues. But who knows.....

dzx · Post by **dzx** » Mon Oct 11, 2004 7:37 am

I'm almost dead certain my issue is the linkage is messed up.

Post by **Legacy777** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:04 am

I put the WRX shifter back on, and can immediately feel a difference. For me, the trans, and how I shift, I like how it feels over the sti. I'll be getting the kartboy shifter hopefully by the weekend, so we'll see how I like that.

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 3:06 am

i see you're beginnning to realize that subaru 5mts suck at shifting

Post by **Legacy777** » Wed Oct 13, 2004 5:16 pm

yeah.....and it pisses me off to no avail!! I think the 6spd is about the only option....however I haven't driven one to see exactly how it feels.

I'd personally think a well setup auto and my driving style would be faster.

Post by **Legacy777** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 5:25 am

I got the kartboy SS in. It does feel better then the sti ss.

After driving for a while, I was getting some crunch from 1-2 if I shifted fast. I think the fluid's viscosity got runnier.

Wish there was a magic solution.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 6:21 am

Leaving it alone has kept mine running fine. This transmission has about 150k. It hasn't crunched yet and shifts better than most manuals I've driven. I shift relatively slow, too.

Steve

Post by **Legacy777** » Sat Oct 16, 2004 9:33 pm

evolutionmovement wrote:Leaving it alone has kept mine running fine. This transmission has about 150k. It hasn't crunched yet and shifts better than most manuals I've driven. I shift relatively slow, too.

Steve

Leaving what alone? The shifter or the fluid?

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 5:51 am

Both. I've never changed the fluid (I assume it has what the factory put in) and haven't touched the shifter. I do have a bushing that seems to hang a little about once every few weeks that will make it hard for me to shift into gear so I have to put it in neutral and wiggle it and then it goes in. No grinding or other issues.

These boxes do vary I think, as my old transmission (even before all the J-turns) was never as solid feeling as this one and would sometimes grind into 2nd and wouldn't like to go into 1st unless it was stationary. The current box will shift into first when moving with no problem, though I don't do it often and double clutch usually when I do just to be easy on it.

Steve

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 6:32 pm

How many thousands of miles did your old box have on it? Maybe haing fluid that old was part of the reason it failed?

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:15 pm

I bought the car with 107k and the transmission packed it in around 175k. The new box had about 70k on it and now has about 150k or so. The old box never felt as nice as this one, but either way I never changed either of them and I'd bet the previous owners didn't either. If I start experiencing problems I'll change it out, but I've found that with many things that it's best not to mess with them if they're working fine. IMHO my gearbox is one of those things. I understand trying to improve it and don't condemn it, I'm mostly just trying to say that these gearboxes aren't inherently bad. They're not world-class leading, but I find mine to fall about in the high middle of all the manuals I've driven in terms of shift quality.

Steve

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 8:04 pm

isnt' the recommended interval 30k miles? That's like not changing your oil until your engine is barfing.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:25 pm

Completely different. Engine oil gets contaminents from combustion blowby and deals with much higher temperatures. If that were true my fluid wouldn't still look fine and my gearbox would have likely packed it up years ago. Very few people change manual gearbox fluid and many have no issues with it.

Steve

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 9:40 pm

yeah I guess thatsd true, but doesnt GL5still breakdown overtime and use?

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sun Oct 17, 2004 11:04 pm

It likely does, I'm just giving my experience. Hm, I guess my point would be that whatever Subaru puts in at the factory is pretty decent, or at least it's been OK for me. You know, I'm not really sure what my point is other than that they vary shift in quality.

Steve

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Neo HD 75w90 / Shifter Review

Neo HD 75w90 / Shifter Review