Difficult Shifting when Warm

[Ghost]

Just got my car. I have owned quite a variety in the past but I would have to say this is my favorite.

And of course it wouldn't be a complete used car experience with out something immediately going wrong, I've owned the car for a week mind you.

Yesterday on my way back from work I noticed shift effort progressively increasing the longer I drove. Right as I was getting near my house I managed a slight grind into 2nd, and a few traffic lights later a slight grind into 3rd.

Same thing this morning, 40 degree cold start, shifting is easy and feels normal. By the time I am getting to work an hour later, I have to hold it against the synchro for a second or double clutch to get it in gear.

Ideas? My guess is something is acting up with the clutch hydraulics, but maybe it is trans fluid?

[robertpaige]

I would drain your tranny fluid and use Scotty's Cockail as seen in this thread. Have seen great improvements.
http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=27436

[Ghost]

And here I was thinking the tranny was in its death throes. Awesome, I'm going to try that asap.

[robertpaige]

Check this out.
http://www.grimmspeed.com/catalog/produ ... ucts_id=76

[mike-tracy]

That scotty's is a temporary solution, we have a long thread on it here. If you can source it locally I suppose it's worth a shot.

Best bet is Subaru Extra-s gear oil. 2nd to that I'd recommend Andrewtech's cocktail (I've had it in my N/A for about 40k miles and it still shift's beautifully).


Uncle Scotty's mix: http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=27436
(from link)

DS1 Motorsports on NASIOC rebuilds gearboxes for a living and has said that the cocktail causes accelerated wear, and that when he gets trannies in that have had it and are below 40 degrees F he has to scoop the yogurt-like cocktail out with a spoon. He recommends the following oils:

[Ghost]

Maybe I will not be trying that ASAP.

I come from Mazdas and BMWs where people generally don't screw up their forum advice that bad.

[mike-tracy]

One of our members went to great lengths to "prove" that Uncle Scotty's Cocktail was crap for our trannys. End result is that Uncle Scotty now recommends his mix for half the service interval to Subaru's own oils IIRC.

Subaru Extra-s is seriously the best thing you can get for your tranny.
http://www.amazon.com/Subaru-75W90-Extr ... ru+extra-s

If you need something on short order, Redline Lightweight Shockproof is a good substitute. It is the main component of the "Andrewtech Cocktail."

The tranny takes roughly 3.8 qts of gear oil.

[Legacy777]

Yeah, I don't recommend the cocktail, as I've tried it and had issues. If the Xtra-S doesn't help, then the syncros are likely worn out. You can try a variety of fluids to help the syncros, but may cause other trans wear. You could also have the trans rebuilt, but your best option in the long run is to probably find a lower mileage trans to swap in.

[Ghost]

To update the thread I am not sure what is going on now. This seems to be a problem after commuting 50 miles on the freeway... but after a fairly intense canyon run recently I did not have a single shifting problem.

How do you guys feel about Neo fluids? I am planning on buying a bit for my FD (HIGHLY recommended on the forums), I could just get a bit more.

6 speed might be in the future, this car feels like it has plenty of potential to be unlocked.

[Legacy777]

I used some NEO after I did my 5spd swap to see if it would help my shifting issues and it did not. Synthetic trans fluid doesn't really help the Subaru trans because it's too slippery for the synchros and they don't slow down and speed match as well as the dino fluid. From the various fluids I've run, the Subaru Xtra-S is the best I've used in terms of shifting performance.