OneManArmy

iTrader: (7)

well shoot man.

I have a 2004 wrx wagon. No performance mods whatsoever. (sadly)

well I go on this drive to visit my brother...1000 miles total in 5 days.

So this happened a few times in the last couple months. When shifting into 4th gear it'll grind. I just figured I didn't put the clutch in all the way or something stupid like that. (But I know I did)

So on this trip it starts happening more and more. The warmer the car is the more it does it...an since I was driving mountain roads in 100degree weather it was pretty freakin hot. Got so bad as one time it just wouldn't accept it and I had to go strait to 5th.


So yeah... over about 4500 rpms it grinds pretty much every time I put it into 4th. Especially while warm.

I have 23k miles on my car. What do you think the problem is? I mean what happens when I take it to the dealer and they tell me they can't reproduce it and I pick it up drive home and it starts doing it again...damn it.

Freaking pissed. I do not drive that hard..in fact my girlfriens says I drive like I'm a grandpa. I get on it occassionally but for the most part am a 4-5k shifter and I've driven stick for like....10 years.

Should I just take it in and hope they can reproduce it?

escaflowne

iTrader: (6)

hm. i have the same car and it doesn't do that. grinding sound huh? and you're sure you're not missing? and the clutch is in.

which dealer are you thinking about going to?

bassplayrr

iTrader: (9)

Sounds like the problem I have in all gears. I was told by Kevin at Carlsen it's most likely worn/bad syncros. Good luck on getting that fixed for free. Mine were messed up by a bad clutch job at Green Valley (search some of my earlier threads) and SOA even admitted that GV messed them up. So when I took my car into Carlsen to finally fix the problem I got a call from SOA. They wanted me to agree to pay $1500 just incase it was found to be "user abuse." How could it be if SOA already addmitted GV messed it up? When I asked SOA how they could tell the difference between a bad clutch job wearing the syncros and chipping the teeth, and user abuse wearing the syncros and chipping the teeth I was told "you can trust us, we can tell the difference, why would we want to make you mad?" When I told this to Kevin at Carlsen even he said I may not want to get it done baceuse they will just blame it one me!

Long story short, I was told that SOA will ask to hold $1500 on any tranny that needs to be opened up, regardless of miles.

-Chris

Group B

iTrader: (3)

either your clutch is shot or your 4th gear synchro is shot, or both.

my friend Arkady (Arrkash on i-club) has this exact problem, and it first appeared at 3.6k miles. Dealer replaced the clutch, and the problem went away.

Now at 13k miles, the problem has come back, and it appears that the tranny synchro is shot as well.

David

bassplayrr

iTrader: (9)

Exactly. Originally Carlsen had replace/redone GV bad clutch job. The problem went away for about 1k miles, but sure enough came back.

-Chris

Zoeb2s

iTrader: (38)

Don't even bother having the dealership take a lot at it...they have to charge you a tear down as Chris said.

Thats what happened to me when they took my tranny out, told me that I will be charged $1500 if its customer abuse....ofcourse I didn't pay the $1500 even after they tore it down, I went another route.

Its better to just say that $1500 and put it towards a RA gearset b/c subaru WILL deny you...It happened to me, and it has happened to others...even with bone stock cars...

-Zoeb

bassplayrr

iTrader: (9)

Yup. That's exactly what I'm doing... taking this forced opportunity (eexcuse ) to buy the RA gearset. You know it's bad when someone at the dealer even tells you that SOA will deny it. And it makes no difference what dealer you take it to. Final judgment is up to some regional schmo.

-Chris

ryball

iTrader: (6)

If you do take it in to a dealer, call ahead and tell them the situation. Take it in warm and see if they will come along for a drive right when you get in.

bassplayrr

iTrader: (9)

That is absolutly a good idea. However this won't allow you to "skirt" the teardown fee. They replicated mine no prblem. Kevin even said "oh man!" when shifting my car becasue it feels so bad. Yet they still requested the fee.

-Chris

mexicanpizza

iTrader: (9)

These guys saying go straight to the RA gear set are full of crap. They are making too much power for their gearset and drove the **** out of their cars. If your car isn't modded, and there is a problem...GO TO THE DEALER. You paid for the warranty.

I had my tranny rebuilt TWICE for the 3/4 grind (I even had a turboback the second time). It's a synchro problem, not a consequence of abuse. Get a diagnostic appointment, they will order the parts, then you bring your car back, get a rental (A nice legacy in my case), and come pick up your rebuilt tranny in 3-4days. The first time someone rebuilt it incorrectly, the second time Kevin did it and it's beauty.

It's all in the attitude you approach the dealer with. If you go in there demanding blah de blah etc etc, they could certainly fack you over. If you have a great attitude, remain calm and discuss things with the service advisor, I would almost guarantee that Carlsen will help you. Don't quote crap you've read on the internet, don't quote my story, just tell them your problem.

Good luck.

-=Eric

mexicanpizza

iTrader: (9)

Weren't you very very modded and admittedly launch/race your car all the time? Come on man, don't slam SOA for the way you treated their tranny that was designed to take 227 crank hp.

bassplayrr

iTrader: (9)

Dude, pizza. My car is BONE stock. They said that syncros can be worn prematurely because of "abuse." And this mandatory $1500 fee has only been going for the past month or so. I demanded nothing. In fact Alvin at Carlsen asked me to give him a call if I wasn't totally ssatisfied with how my tranny felt after the redone clutch. They appologized to no end when I found out that SOA wanted $1500, and pointed out that it is a SOA policy, not theirs. Things may have worked for you when you got yours done, but things have changed. Don't get me wrong, I desperatly hope EVERYONE has better luck with SOA than I did, I just don't see it happening.

-Chris

OneManArmy

iTrader: (7)

sorry man but that is ****ing bull****. If subaru pulls that crap on me they will get sued to living hell. And trust me...I don't ask for help from my folks often but on this I will. (they have won 2 lemon cases)

that's crap man. I won't pay a damn thing. My car is stock. My tranny is not abused. I've been driving a stick consistantly since the day I took my drivers test in a CRXsi with one. And been driving them off and on since I was about 8 and started driving dune buggies. I don't drag race...shoot I can barely launch my car so I don't even try. I freakin baby my car..it's my first new car and it's not easy for a working single guy in the bay area to buy a new freakin car...as many of you know.

It feels to me like my 4th gear syncro is going and probably damaging the gear itself. It's just getting worse.

My coworker had a similar problem with her 03 completely stock wagon..(has 17 inch SDR) but anyways...far as I know she didn't have to pay that but I just emailed her so we'll see.

I'll be taking it to Santa Cruz Subaru...(bought my car there august of 2003) Had all my timely service done there. Including the completely useless 10k service that cost like $200.

so yeah....I'd love to save for an RA gearset...except I'd just go voiding more of my warranty doing that and I paid for a 100k warranty for a reason. Man if I would have knew SOA pulls crap like that I wouldn't have gotten a 100k warranty and my car would have about 60 more horsepower to the wheels.

Zoeb2s

iTrader: (38)

I dont launch my car and racing from a 3rd gear roll does not make your 2nd gear break, or even wear out in that case..