2nd gear crunch

Hello,

Jimny virgin here, just had my first test drive in one. A fairly clean o2 (2004), and I like it for the most part. Definitely, a little event driving these things and I can't wait to take one off-road!

However, back to my particular car as tested - the one concern I have is the 2nd gear. It's just the change that crunches, mostly down from 3rd. Up-changes are OK if taken slowly, but downshifts are hit and miss, no matter what I tried to drive around it. I even tried double-declutching and blipping the throttle etc but it was still hard to get around, then sometimes it randomly shifted ok without trying ofc.

So I'm not sure what to make of it. The rest of the car seems pretty good, and maybe with practice, I'll figure out how to drive around the crunches. Is this a common problem with these cars? Worn syncro I'd guess. A change of gearbox oil will probably help I suppose, or at least mask the problem for a while. Are synchros hard/expensive to fix on these if it comes to it? 

Any advice?

Many thanks,
Sam

The boxes on these are usually very precise almost bolt action, there's enough for sale to find a nice one as fixing can be expensive.

Sounds like you need a replacement gearbox, budget for it in your offer, together with a new clutch

Have a look online at prices of good used gearboxes.

Check the gearbox mounts are ok

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