5th gear crunch?
 

Went to look at a 02 STI type uk with prodrive mods and putting out 350 bhp. The car itself is genuine with loads of bills and FSH with 72k and a new clutch 9 months ago. The only problem on the test drive was a very light crunch when engaging 5th gear. The dealer assured me this was down to the gear oil requiring changing and even showed me the new oil and its specific weight. I have left a deposit on the car with the understanding that the oil is changed and i re-test before i pay the balance. Done a quick search on the forum, some say an oil change will fix it others state it is the loose nut on 5th gear. Just want to get peoples views on this. Some say it can be intermittant and i don't want to pay up because it drives ok only for the noise to come back at a later date.

Sounds like the age old problem of syncro failure on the early 6 speed boxes

the nut coming slack I'm sure was on a 5speed box but dont quote me on that

It will be syncro failiure most probably.
I had this on my 2005 STI. Different gearbox oil didn't cure it and it will cost you about £800+ to fix.
Walk away, find another car would be my advice.

so do you think i should let him change the oil then try again? If it is the syncro it should still crunch after the oil has been changed? is this a common problem and something i should check on all cars i view?

if you think the car is worth the money apart form this problem, bring a friend who's a mechanic and let him say that the synhro is going. let the seller know they can either fix it themselves or give you a discount so you can get it done yourself.
its at least worth a try before walking away form the deal

A change of gear oil can never ever cure worn metal, which is causing the crunch. It's a gearbox out and synchro replacement job as other have said. API did mine recently, I had 5th and 6th replaced, very expensive as it's labour intensive. The parts themselves are very cheap.

Greg :)

Don't be so sure it is syncro problems. I had a slight notch going into 4th, which then went to 3rd and then 2nd and 5th. AWD in Perth dropped the box, split it and found nothing wrong. It turns out it's the gear selector linkage.

It's always difficult to say, but don't jump to conclusions too soon as you never know :thumb:

One of the 2 small plastic pieces on my gear selector fork was also perished, this was replaced at the same time as my synchros.