5th Gear "Mini-Grind"

[BRianZ]

Ok, so I have a story to tell about my BRZ. Now, before I start, I am not bashing anyone or any company. I am only posting this so that others with the same issue can get it taken care of. So here it is...

After about 10,500 miles, my transmission made a strange noise when I made the upshift from 4th to 5th gear on the highway. If you have ever ground(grinded?) a gear, that is what it felt like, but there was no metal shredding sound. Just a muffled rumble, like a stick on a wooden washboard. So I immediatly started kicking myself in the ass thinking that I had mis-shifted somehow. Either by not depressing the clutch far enough or letting it out too early. The sound was clearly made as I enterd 5th, not as I exited 4th. Oh, and before I go any farther, I am an experienced manual driver. I have been driving stick-shifts since I was 15 and I am 30 now. So I decided to attempt to recreate the situation and see where I had gone wrong. But for the life of me I couldn't get it to do it again.
The next day I was on my way home from work on the highway and it happened again. Instantly I pulled the lever back to neutral and forced it up and away into 5th again. I had successfully recreated the feel, but on my re-throw I knew I had the pedal to the floor. At this point I knew I wasn't the problem, the syncro was damaged somehow. Now I can service my car a little, oil changes, brake jobs, intakes and exhausts etc. are no problem, but I wouldn't dare open a transmission. So I made an appointment at Subaru of Kennesaw in GA. (I bought it form Subaru of Gwinnett in GA) The dealer couldn't get me an appointment for a week, so I spent the week troubleshooting the issue by shifting at different speeds, in turns and on inclines/declines to see what it was that was causing the feeling and sound. I realized pretty quickly that the problem only occured if I was going 65 mph or faster during the shift.
Yesterday my week long wait was over. I arrived at the dealer at 9:00a.m. and took the lead technician for a ride so that he could hear and feel the problem. I drove for a few exits and then offered to let him drive so that he could see that I was not just a complete moron. He did it on the first try, getting on the on ramp to I-75. He got a startled look on his face as he turned to me like I was gonna be made that he had screwed up my car. To the contrary, I was glad to hear it happen to someone else so I knew I wasn't crazy. He was able to repeat the problem at every 4-5 shift over 65mph. He aggreed the the syncro was jacked and he said he would get in there and take a look.
By 3:00 I had a voicemail on my phone telling me that my BRZ needed a completly new transmission. Subaru had ordered a new one already, and would have it in two days and I would get my car back by Saturday afternoon. Turns out that the transmission on our car, like many others, are cheaper to replace than fix. The dealer either couldn't or wouldn't tell me exactly what was wrong, but I don't really care much at this point. I don't think they found the problem to be honest, I think they started to work on it and realized it either couldn't be fixed, or would take too many labor hours to make it worth the trouble. If they were fixing it, I would have demanded to know what was wrong and why. But seeing as how I'm getting an entirely new transmission, it doens't much matter.
Subaru of Kennesaw had worked with me the week prior to make sure that I had a courtesy car (2013 Outback, 4cyl., Ltd.), and gave me the option of either getting my car back and driving it for two days until the transmission arrived or keeping the Outback. Which ever was easier for me. I elected to keep the outback for several reasons. First, save the miles and potential further damage to my car. Second, its got that thing. You know, that thing none of us have and we all miss.... what's it called again.... oh yeah! Storage space!!! So I am getting all my yard supplies and home improvement goods for the summer. I AM NOT DOING GRATUITOUS OFF-ROADING FOR NO REASON WHAT-SO-EVER. That would be irresponsible.
This actually might work out in the end. I am getting a free SUV (and I use that term loosly here) for a week, and a new transmission with 11,000 less miles on it. I hope this is the last issue I have with the car, but it is nice to know that the company who made our cars is standing behind them and doing whatever is necessary to make them right. So thank you Subaru of Kennesaw for making this easy. I have not heard of anyone else having this specific problem yet. I had heard about some second gear issues, but I wanted to get this out there in case anyone else is going through the shit I was. I will update this thread when I get the car back and let you know how it goes.

Keep it between the ditches!

[gvan1998]

your lucky subaru is replacing your transmission. I hav e the same issue and dealer will not replace my transmission, they are waitning for Toyota to find fix. Its been 3 weeks so far and no fix yet. I only ohave 2000 miles on my car, I kinda dont want toyota to replace my transmission, hoping for a simple fix.

[Muaddib]

Mine does the same thing as well. God damn Subaru quality control.

[lazyluka]

My 2013 GT86 has a similar problem, except it happens when you down shift from 6th to 5th at speeds close to and above 60mph. It's a really bad crunching noise with lot's of resistance. Have had to shift straight into 4th on a recent trip as it's that bad!

Even double clutching didn't work. Booked in for a service this Thursday.

[Gixxer86]

Its a fairly common problem unfortunately. I have found about 30 members on this forum with the same issue. A lot of us also have that same notchy feeling if down-shifting from 6th in order to accelerate quicker. I've only heard of a few people getting anything replaced/fixed, so you sir are very lucky. Seems like for the most part, they are changing the trans oil and giving it back. Basically, acknowledging that there is an issue, but that they don't have a solution for it yet; so you should keep driving it until it breaks, and let the warranty cover it later down the road. I actually took the Toyota Factory tech for a ride and succeeded in causing the issue with him in the car,.. he didnt seem to care very much.

[DoomsdayJesus]

I have the same problem shifting into 4th and 5th at high RPMs. Makes an awful sound and gives a lot of resistance going into the gear.

[BRianZ]

Ok. I got my BRZ back today and so far so good. New transmission got delayed in shipping so I had the loaner for an extra day. I have only put about 50 miles on the car, but most of that was on the highway and not only was there no grind, but every gear change feels more direct and solid. I didn't realize how bad it was until it was gone. For the first dozen or so 5th gear shifts I was subconsciously wincing. I'm just now getting used to not being afraid of 5th gear.
I feel really lucky after hearing that some of you have this issue and can't get a resolution. That sucks! Best of luck to anyone else with the mini-grind.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[PCaddict]

My fr-s got the same problem at around the same mileage. And the dealer ask toyota to change the tranny and got authorization so the new tranny arrive 2day and they will do the job next week

[DoomsdayJesus]

I have to wonder if that many cars are having the problem, will a new tranny even fix it? Or will it be like the crickets? Replace design flawed parts with new flawed parts?

[radroach]

I'm noticing the 5th gear grind at above 4 grand, it's very small in comparison I had with the 3rd gear grinding I had for awhile, went away with time or with better shifting technique.

[Muaddib]

I have the same problem but Toyota will NOT do anything about it. They told me to monitor the situation ( I guess till the 5th gear is completely gone).

[RavioliG]

Phew, so it's not just me!

[zc06_kisstherain]

Originally Posted by DoomsdayJesus

I have to wonder if that many cars are having the problem, will a new tranny even fix it? Or will it be like the crickets? Replace design flawed parts with new flawed parts?

I am wondering the same thing

[DoomsdayJesus]

Originally Posted by zc06_kisstherain

I am wondering the same thing

^Thread necro^, but I posted a thread on my wonderful experience getting my tranny replaced through Subaru. New transmission has been completely fine so far.