I do not know very much about tranny problems, and I grind going into 5th gear..even if I go in real easy..occasionly 3rd will grind..but only on up shifts. My car only has 26000 miles on it..even w/ a turbo i thought the tranny would hold out longer than this...could it be something else like it needs new tranny fluid?

hate to worry you, but i had those same symptoms last year, and when i took it to my mechanic... well, lets just say that transmissions are a little bit expensive. hopefully yours is something else. HOPEFULLY

Fill her up with some new stuff and see if the prob goes away. I don't think that 3rd and 5th are on the same shaft synchro-wise (don't quote me on that). Also make sure that your foot doesn't rest on the clutch and that you fully disengage(pedal to the floor) when you shift gears. Maybe you have a little leak. Hope that's it and not the dog teeth on your sychs.

well lets say it is the tranny (hope not) how long do i have till it completly goes out?

Long time.

i drove my car with a busted first gear syncro for a year and it never got any worse.

Spend $500 and get a junkyard tranny. It'll cost you three times that to get yours rebuilt (i was quoted between $1200 and $1600 to rebuild my transmission from three different places) I got one from a guy who sold his car, paid $550, got a CFDF clutch (only 5000 miles!) with it. Shifts like butter now.