Just got a new MT (warranty), proper break-in procedures?
 

My local dealer just swapped my transmission. They did a flush after I brought it in for 4th gear grind, and found a lot of metal debris in the fluid, and they opted to replace it and send it back for analysis.

My question is, is there going to be a break-in period, how long, and when should I swap fluids? I'm really hoping to avoid spending too much time on the stock fluid if that's indeed what's causing the problem. I'm already planning on using Motul 300. From what I understand, it's primarily the brass synchros that need the break-in, or I could have my head up my ass (I'm not the most transmission literate guy).

Read your book. use the search threads. Use google my boy its all answered right there for you.

Swap in the new fluid right away. No reason to use the OEM fill. Break in for manual trans is limited. Don't ever skip gear on up shifts.

For first 500 miles be kind to drive train avoid high RPM down shifts dont track it.

Swap fluid? Why? Seriously, it makes no sense to swap fluid before the break it. Search to find THE break-in thread and look for consensus. Then swap fluid after break in (I swapped with Motul 300 at 9k miles).

What dezoris said is what I was told by guys at the dealership. They actually recommended motul (the gb300 iirc?) and amsoil (can't remember the type) as the two brands they would use. Told me no craziness for the first 1k for the motor and trans, no over 5k shifts, etc. So far so good, no weird noises but I am still really interested to see what if anything drains out with the fluid. 500 more miles to go.

I'm always amused with this advice as it 99% of the time given incomplete.
Don't ever engage the clutch when the engine RPMs are wrong for the gear. EX: WOT in first, then shifting to 6th and engaging the clutch before the RPM drops low enough is dumb, OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT HURT YOUR TRANSMISSION / CAR / 401K / MOM'S FLOWERS / UNIVERSE.

Not everyone understands this.

Reason I always say it is I am coming from dealing with Aisin trans and seeing first hand problems with S2000 transmiissions that had so many issues with 5th and 6th gear set failures. The syncros were weak. People would wind out 3rd gear and shift into 5th and causing this problem. Its very well documented. The Frs trans is very similar and people do the same thing here. Car has no balls have to rev the hell out of it, the drop it into a high gear where syncro design is less robust. With all these reports of 5th gear issues to me it sounds like the S2000 issue. Even if its not be safe and dont rev out 2nd or 3rd and and then shift into 5th or 6th. Easy safety measure until the failures are identified.

I am not saying I am right its just a very similar situation.

I see what you're saying, and the synchros may be weak, but if you wait for the engine rpm to be in the appropriate spot, based on the gear you want and the speed you are traveling, everything is fine. If you down shift (which a good portion of the time is also skipping gears) you don't just release the clutch do you? Of course not, you rev-match. You "know" where the engine rpm should be. It's the same thing.

If you can't skip gears you either have a lack of talent or lack of experience.

so let's say I drive around 60 mph on the 4th with higher than 3k rpm. Then, shift to 6th. Is that ok? Thank you.

I don't really crunch the numbers. As long as, I don't feel that my engine is lugging or begging for higher shift. I either shift up for high rpm and depending on the speed/rpm or shift down one when my engine is a bit lugging.

I skip gears all the time while using the car as a DD. The gear ratios are so close together that I feel skipping gears allows for a smoother transition to higher speeds, easier on the legs, and probably better MPG (if thats important). I match my revs accordingly. BTW: 14,000 trouble free miles.

He's not talking about engaging the clutch and matching engine and transmission speeds, he's talking about engaging the gear, the act of moving the stick from gear X to gear Y which is handled by the synchros. There are multiple shafts inside your transmission spinning at different speeds, synchros act like a clutch inside the transmission, by skipping gears you are putting more wear and tear on the synchros. This isn't debatable, it's mechanics, the debate is whether or not it's harmful, this issue has appeared before on a similar car with a similar transmission, like all advice you're free to ignore it.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOo3TLgL0kM"]Manual Transmission Operation - YouTube[/ame]

Guess I better change my driving habits because I practically skip 5th gear all the dang time.

I did not know it was bad to skip gears.

Just a heads-up, Subaru decided to turn a simple warranty fix into a black mark on my VIN number, which is an entirely different story here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47531

I don't think you guys are picking up what I'm throwing down.
(1) Wait for the engine rpm to drop (or increase) to the appropriate range
(2) Go for the shift into whatever gear you want and release clutch

If I'm skipping gears I'm not shifting in a rush. Plenty of time for input speed of the trans to match output speed of the trans. Seriously, I've been driving stick for 15 years, skipping gears the entire time on a wide variety of Honda/Subaru/Dodge products and have NEVER had a transmission problem. If a 100K mile Neon (when I sold it 4 years ago to a friend... still daily driven with no issue) is fine, the car that defined "throw away" and "junk", I'm not too worried.

Advice ignored. :thumbsup: