My 98 Sport Scooby tends to be a bit 'crunchy' when engaging 1st and 2nd gears, doesn't seen to affect any other ratios. Also it sounds like a diesel when I start it, should this be happenning ?

I have Subaru warranty on my car and when I took it back to the dealer I bought it from they said the gear crunching was due to the mileage ?(70k).

The diesel noise smells a bit like piston slap, should I be afraid ?

Shall I take it to another dealer to get it fixed, or will they give me the same answer ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

No opinions ? In the Scoobynet BBS ?! With your reputation ?

DJ,

If it sounds like this sound file of piston slap, http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan.leslie/, you have slap, so get it fixed under warranty. You have nothing to lose.

I don't know what to say about the gearbox though. If they fix it under warranty you have no problem. Fix it. I don't know if they have a case not to fix it with your mileage. If it's 3 years or 100,000km warranty, they have to fix it, as long as they can't prove that the gearbox wrecked due to abuse IMHO.

Cheers,

Wrexy.

Also have a read of this thread currently running in the miscellaneous section, http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/thread.asp?threadid=58058

Wrexy.

As usual, try the cheap solution first. I had crunchy 1st gear on my previous rex, put in a different tranny oil and it went away completely.

I suspect that very low viscosity oil or oils without LSD additive may not have enough "frictional enhancers" for the syncros to work properly. Since 1st and 2nd gear syncros usu see the most use and speed differences, crunching's most likely to show up here first.

Try some LSD additive, or just get the box serviced with dedicated LSD lube.

Thanks peeps