So, we got alot of snow out here in NY yesterday, and a friend of mine convinced me to let him take my car (an '03 WRX) to the parking lot across the street to do Donuts. After about 15 minutes of mostly playful, but not abusive driving, he revved it hard in first, and when attempting to shift into second, there was a lot of resistance. After getting out of first, the car would not go back into it. I got the car home using second gear, and checked the fluids. They were high, which made it look like it had overheated. After letting the car sit for a few hours, I went and checked on it again, and was able to get into first, but still with alot of resistance.

I checked out the car again today, and it moves in and out of first ok, but there is still resistance. Also, when the clutch is depressed, and I am in first gear, there is a whirring noise, much like reverse. It also grinded once when shifting from second to first while moving. There are no other noises, and 2nd-5th and reverse all work perfectly fine. I am having the fluid replaced first thing tomorrow to check for pieces of metal that might indicate a problem before taking it to the dealer. I've heard too many horror stories about denied warranty claims. I had never abused the car prior to last night. Never raced it, no mods, other than a turbo timer, and very rarely ever drove it hard on the highway.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem? Any suggestions? What do you think they'll do Warranty wise? Thanks for your help.

 

Im not 100% sure on this but i dont think 1st gear has a synchro, and even if it did, a synchro cannot be damaged that quick, wear on a synchro happens over time, over many years, not 10 minutes of hard driving. Another thing, especially with Subaru's, your shouldnt attempt to get into 1st gear unless you are at a complete stop, if you do need to get into 1st while rolling, first double clutch then put it into 1st.
Sounds like you might just need an oil change to a synthetic, nothing major here.

 

I drained the fluid a couple days ago, and there were no more metal particles than normal in the fluid. I refilled it with Mobil 1 Synth. GL5 fluid, since that was the best synthetic I could find in my area that day. After changing the fluid, it seems a little easier to get into first, but there is still a little bit of notchiness. It isn't grinding going into first anymore either. The car is due for it's 30,000 mile service, so I plan on just mentioning to the dealer it has been difficult to get into 1st gear lately.