not sure if anyone's mentioned it already but try looking in the transmission forums here and do a search on "synchromesh". Some folks are using a blend of this stuff with the regular gear oil and seems to be working for them

ryan

 

dont be shifting into 1st from 2nd at speeds more than 5mph. doing so is just asking for trouble. the gears and the synchros on our cars are not very good. mpj did their job.. they are not responsible for anything. also a grind here and there will not kill you. nothing is damaged.. no need to go to dealership. just change the way you drive if your looking to get the max life out of your gear box. if u dont have to shift down to first, DONT.

 

not trying to down MPJ or anything, those guys are great!!..maybe I should go buy this valvoline synchromesh and have Mert drain and fill it again for me..sounds like this will fix the problem, and my bad driving habit

 

synchomesh is good for the short term, but I hear it could do some real damage in the long-term

 

The proper way to shift any transmission is to depress the clutch pedal all the way to the floor before the gearchange.

Downshifting to 1st gear in a 5MT while in motion is difficult in a WRX, though the results will vary a bit from one car to the next. Some owners report easier shifting when a synthetic transmission lube replaces the conventional gear lube supplied by the factory. I haven't noticed a huge improvement but it's a little bit easier to downshift into first from a roll.

I think part of the problem is the wide gear ratio spread between 1st and 2nd gear. Downshifting into first at much more than a few miles per hour makes the synchros work very hard to engage 1st gear. If you know how to double-clutch, downshifting is a bit easier at any reasonable speed. If you don't know what double-clutching is, a Google search will return quite a few hits.

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0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

This seems to happen to a lot of people at the 30k service. I was told that the transmission oil from the factory is heavier weight than the dealers use. This means that after the 30k, the gears spin for longer which makes crunches more likely. I don't know if this is true, but it certainly sounds like a plausible explanation.

The two things to avoid crunch are (as everyone said) don't attempt 1st unless you are practically stationary, and also, hold the clutch down for a couple of seconds before engaging 1st from stationary.

Mine has been 'catchy' since 30k and it now has 70k miles and hasn't got any worse. If you are in your warranty, you could get them to check it out, but they may charge you for an investigation which they'll only reimburse if a warranty covered fault is found.

 

im coming to find out about this Pennzoil Synchromesh that elimates the grinds, I think I may use this as my option...any lond term defects known on synchromesh