Clutch issue or gearbox synchros shot?
 

Hello everyone.

Recently purchased an 07 RS4. Drives well but needs a bit of work.

It feels like the 3rd gear synchros are gone. I can go from 2nd to 3rd without crunching only if I do it pretty slowly. Going from 4th back into 3rd without crunching is impossible. It's not a loud nasty crunch, it's a short crunch and not thàt loud but well audible regardless. All other gears feel just about normal, 1-2 is a tad notchy perhaps but 3 to 4 and 4-5 I can do as quickly as humanly possible and there is no issue.

But I've also noticed that if I rev it a bit in neutral (the sounddddd and all that) and straight after depress the clutch and engage first it will also give a small similar crunch. If I wait until revs have setteled entirely back to idle it will go into first normally.

Anyone had something similar? I've seen a few mentions of 3rd gear synchros failing. But I've also seen clutch issues reported. I don't mind telling my mechanic to get the box out and replace the synchros, but I want to make sure I'm not doing it for nothing. Previous owner says clutch was already replaced some time in the past 2 years. Clutch pedal feels fairly normal though not very easy to control compared to rental econoboxes with small engines, could be down to practice.

It seems like synchro in 3rd. But if the tranny is out anyway they can look at the clutch