stiff shifter - time for a gear oil change?

[pleiadesfella]

hey all,

I recently got my spec b out of storage, and I've been having a great time with it. however, I'm starting to think its time for a gear and diff oil change as I'm starting to struggle to get the car in first gear (crunches a bit), and going from second to third also requires more force than before. so unless the syncros decided to slowly die while sitting in storage, I can't think of anything else than either needing new gear oil or a new transmission in case I really did mess up too many shifts on a high mileage transmission lol (I did learn how to drive stick on this car ). I have no idea when the oil was last changed (or if it was even changed at all), I'll have to double check the maintenance receipts I got from the last owner to see if I can find something about it.

so, would I just be good to go with fresh oil or do I have a bigger problem? thanks

[Febreze Mee]

Potentially bigger problem. First things first, just how long was your car sitting in storage?

If you're questioning the age of the oil, then you should probably change it. And to make sure you don't waste the time and oil, you might take a closer look because you could have bad clutch master cylinder or clutch slave cylinder seals.

I'm sure others will chime in too.

[pleiadesfella]

6 hours ago, Febreze Mee said:

Potentially bigger problem. First things first, just how long was your car sitting in storage?

If you're questioning the age of the oil, then you should probably change it. And to make sure you don't waste the time and oil, you might take a closer look because you could have bad clutch master cylinder or clutch slave cylinder seals.

I'm sure others will chime in too.

car was in storage for 4 months during the winter. and yeah, I do plan to change the oil for sure, but I just thought the sudden onset of crunchy shifts was a bit strange - though I drove the car this morning and it was better than yesterday somehow, but it was still a bit stiff going into 3rd sometimes.

you might actually be right on the clutch related diagnosis since the clutch on this car has always been strange. it's some weird canadian brand stage 2 clutch that's half kevlar and half organic, and from what I could tell the last owner didn't really break it in properly, as it was an absolute PAIN to drive at first (clutch was extremely stiff and the bite point was at the absolute top end of the pedal travel, like at 1cm of travel). two weeks before I put the car in storage, I noticed the clutch behavior started to change and it became a bit less stiff and the bite point was actually more towards the middle and had a much wider range - like a normal clutch should. I figured this was the clutch finally breaking in, so I didn't think much of it. however, after getting the car out of storage, I've had some moments where the car nearly stalled with the clutch pedal fully pushed down, and this only happened while backing out of a parking spot while turning.

I took my car to the local mechanic recently for a post-storage checkup, and they said everything was fine (this was before I noticed new crunchiness). I asked them about the near stalls I've had and they said it could be slightly clogged injectors since it sat for a long time.

at this point I don't want to believe there's anything majorly wrong with the car since it does drive and pull thru the gears as good as I remember - save for the stiffer shifting in lower gears. I hope new gear oil does solve my problems, but I will take it to a reputable subaru tuner somewhat soon for a better diagnosis.

[m sprank]

Change the gear oil  and inspect what comes out.  But the clutch master/slave is a very likely culprit. 

[pleiadesfella]

yeah the more research I do the more it seems like it could be a clutch master or slave cylinder issue. doesn't seem like that bad of a fix, I'm just thankful nothing is wrong with the transmission. I did a bit of a longer trip today and drove 96km (60mi) to costco and back, and the car was still pulling fine through the gears. but once again it did almost stall today while trying to back out of the parking lot, and second gear clicked while shifting into it at a low speed. coming back into town I also ended up revving it to 3500rpm while trying to get off from a hill stop and it was quite strange, there was somehow no burning smell afterwards but the car also didn't lurch forward like crazy. I'm definitely getting it looked at during my gear and diff oil change 

one thing I should mention is that the car had a brake fluid leak caused by a loose line on the rear when I first bought it. I did get it fixed last fall with a full fresh dot4 fluid flush, but I'm not sure if this would have affected anything with the clutch system too.

thanks for the input guys, I'll update when I get everything looked at and hopefully fixed 

[Febreze Mee]

The loose brake line will have absolutely zero effect on the clutch engagement issues. 
 

Looking forward to the update, I'll be changing my CMC out about the same time you will be. 

[pleiadesfella]

alright, so I got my gear oil changed to some fresh motul gear 300 today. the mechanic gave me no report on the clutch cylinder, so I assume all is well with that. some of the crunchiness seems to be resolved now (though the shifter has the same notchiness as before and had a bit of a crunch going into 3rd today, but I think that was just me being lazy with the clutch).

what I find more surprising is that the power delivery now feels much smoother in lower gears, namely 1st and 2nd gear. the car used to feel a bit jolty in those gears, but it now feels much smoother at low speed. shifting into 2nd also feels smoother than before, since I usually had to force it in a bit and really had to make sure the revs had dropped fully to let the syncros catch up - otherwise the car would rock back and forth due to what I assume are the syncros trying to match drivetrain speed to engine speed. syncro engagement in 2nd is better now, though I don't want to say its "much improved" just yet.

I'm overall happy with the gear oil change, but I was honestly expecting some of the notchiness to go away as well. I guess I'm just glad that there were no problems with the clutch system, though if I do end up going down to my subaru tuner this summer I imagine they'll give it a much more thorough checkover