Hi, new to the forum and just bought a used 2004 WRX Sedan with 5k miles. Carfax came up clean but i noticed when i put the clutch all way down and put it in first theres a bit of grinding on occasion(not ALL the time). Warranty is still good for 30k miles, should this be covered? because i made SURE the clutch was to the floor. Seems to me the previous owner didnt know how to drive manual...any help is greatly appreciated

 

The grind nto 1st is very common with these cars, even when they're right out of the factory. If you search on here for grind and 1st or something like that you'll see a whole bunch of threads about it. But don't worry too much, I'll bet yours is just fine. Learning to double clutch and rev match helps a lot with the grinding.

 

try changing your trans fluid to like red line or royal purple..... i have royal purple and no grinding yet in ANY gear. well its my opinion. hope this helps. laters

 

i've had this happen in my car. My solution after reading thru several threads about synchromesh, i gave it a go. The grind is still there but on a very rare occasion which usually happens when you put it into first RIGHT when u clutch in.

also, it made shifter between gears much smoother.

My mix of transmission fluid with synchromesh was 2.7 qts of the oem oil which is valvoline 75w90 with 1 qt of penzoil synchromesh which i found at a local kragens store. Note, not all stores carry it, so call around before u start driving from store to store looking for this stuff. it runs about 5 bucks.

 

The first gear grind is NOT inevitable, and putting non-factory fluids in your transmission may void your 60,000 driveline warranty. Trust me, the dealer can tell!

Not grinding in first gear is about driver skill, not some sort of endemic failure in the transmission. There are three steps to avoiding it:

1) Let the car warm up 1-2 minutes; this gets the transmission fluid pressurized and evenly distributed. This is only for your first drive of the day (car has sat for more than 8-10 hours).

2) FROM STANDING STILL: put the clutch in all the way and gently PUSH the shifter towards first. You will feel a slight bit of contact; at the first feeling of contact, STOP just for a moment and then gently push forward. If you do this right, the syncros will literally "suck" the car into gear. You should be able to shift with almost no muscle at all; try it with just two fingers on the shifter, that's how little effort it should take.

3) FROM ROLLING: this one is easy -- don't. There's no need to ever shift down to first when rolling to a stop, the gear ratio of 2nd is sufficient to take you all the way to a standstill. If you have to shift to first for rounding a corner, then you are racing, not driving and you're not worried about wrecking the transmission. If you insist on downshifting into first approaching a dead stop, the trick is to double-clutch (put car in neutral, then put it into first) or just follow "2" above.