Help Please Gearbox problems

[nevill3]

Well we have just had to abort our annual holiday to Cornwall after the gearbox threw a wobbly. It will not select first gear if you have recently used reverse!! That's what it seems like anyway. It is a DX 5 speed on a 1.6d engine. I have checked under the van and the linkages are all OK, gearbox oil changed two years ago.

I have tried bleeding the hydraulics and swapped out the slave cylinder on the gearbox for a new one I had lying around. When it does go into first there is a drumming/whirring noise as the van moves forward.

Any help appreciated. The only other work done last year was to fix the reverse switch and replace the rubber boot and seal on the selector shaft.

Is this a simple fix or will I need to replace the gearbox and have this one rebuilt.

The Holiday lasted only a few miles and we are all gutted to be sat at home.

[937carrera]

Does it make any difference to the ability to select first gear if the engine is running or not (is it a dog leg first on that box ?)

[nevill3]

First will not select even with the engine off, whilst I was investigating things I found I had no clutch at one point, that was why I changed the slave cylinder which has restored the clutch. The van pulls off OK in 2nd and 3rd 4th and 5th are fine. Occasionally doesn't slip from 5th to 4th easily but I have put this down to linkage sloppiness. If you put it back into 5th then it goes into 4th OK as long as your quick.....

The first gear problem is intermittent, but the thought of driving 400 mile to Cornwall with the wife, daughter and two elderly dogs hoping the gearbox survives seemed foolish, especially if it is a simple fix I can do tomorrow and then manage to save the holiday by only losing one or two days.

Yes it is a dog leg first.

I guess I maybe ringing NWVW again tomorrow...How heavy is a gearbox?? Would it go in the boot of my VW Golf?

[937carrera]

I have a few ideas as to what could be the problem, but you need someone like Aidan to give you the answer rather than an informed guess.

Did you have a couple of difficult changes, meaning you had to use extra force to engage or disengage first gear ?

As to gearbox transportation, I suppose it depends how old the Golf is, newer ones are bigger. I'm pretty sure it would go in and the gearboxes are just about manageable by one person, obviously easier with two.

I think you are right not to undertake the journey, there is a potential for further uneccessary damage to occur.

[nevill3]

Thanks for the replies , I know I need Aidan or one of the other guru's but at this hour I am grateful somebody else is still awake, I should be just driving past the M62 junction on the M6 about now, with a further six hours or so to go but here I am typing away too wired to sleep and bitterly disappointed that the hours spent under the van today trying in vain to fix it have been wasted!

I had the gearbox rebuilt 4 or 5 years ago which cost a grand and I think I was ripped off a little, the company I used appeared on rogue traders, have gone bust and looking at the gearbox more closely now am unsure if they even had it off the van, just painted it and filled it with Redline, which I have replaced with the proper stuff since. The box went in for a rebuild due to a whirring noise in 4th and 5th hich is still there. When I picked the van up they had said the case bearing was worn so I do not know if this would result in a permanent whine in 4th and 5th when under load or they should have cured it.

I had enquired with Aidan at the time but he was still snowed under back then.

[937carrera]

Time for some sleep , then up in the morning and whizz the gearbox off first thing, ready for a s/h replacement ?

I would take the linkage off at the box end and try and engage gears manually on the box itself. If that's fine it's not the gearbox, if it isn't then it's definitely internal

[nevill3]

NWVW has come up trumps for me I am setting off now to pick up a replacement 4 speed.... #

[nevill3]

Well after pulling an allnighter Sunday into Monday, the gearboxes have been swapped. I had to go from a five speed diesel to a four speed petrol. Luckily Mick at NWVW had all the bits I needed. Working under the van only supported on axle stands And working alone made things more difficult but by 10am Monday I was ready to go buy gearbox oil. With the new four speed linkage fitted I have nearly got it set right.

We managed to set off to Cornwall at midnight Monday arriving at nine AM

Thank you Mick you have saved our holiday.

I have serious brownie points and my other half think's I am a legend.....for now

[937carrera]

I'm well chuffed for you, I hope you have no other mechanical mishaps on your holiday........... but you know where we are.



Hopefully one of the gearbox experts on here can tell you what is likely wrong with your 5 speed box

[nevill3]

Well after 12 days holiday instead of 14 we are back home. The replacement gearbox worked admirably. The new gearing took a little getting used to but it was only ma problem going up steeper inclines on the A30 near Newquay and then again near Launston.

The final gear is a lot higher and the old 1.6D cruised home at a speedo speed of 74mph!!! with about 32 mpg over the entire 800 mile journey.

To be able to cruise at those speeds with a normally aspirated 1.6 without it screaming itself to death was lovely. The only downside is the lack of torque which meant that even the slightest incline meant that the speed dropped slowly. The only time this was a prblem was on the M5 at Birmingham where the roadworks are and I was being passed by a couple of large trucks in the narrow lanes

The whole 420 mile journey last night was completed in under 9 hours with a very lenghty stop at Taunton services for food and two other stops, one for fuel and one for rest breaks for the dogs....and their owners

[937carrera]

Thanks for posting back, you'll be delighted that things turned out so well in the end. 32mpg seems quite good

There seems to be a few owners with gearbox problems at the moment http://forum.club8090.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=168839 - more difficult for him than for you.

He has the option of a 5 speed box in Pisa, but currently has a 4 speed, maybe you can let him know how important // difficult the linkage change was ?

Your image isn't showing maybe you need it to be a jpg ?

[nevill3]

From my experience with the gear linkage, I could have just used the five speed setup and understand how the four speed setup would be usable with a five speed box.

The only difficulty not swapping to a five speed linkage would be selecting first. You would have to move the gear lever to the left, push down as if you were selecting reverse but move away from the dashboard in the opposite direction to reverse.



The only other requirement is to ensure you also get the front gearbox mount because they do differ for a five speed as the gearboxes are physically longer and also that it is not a diesel gearbox because the input shafts are different lengths I think. Mick at NWVW probably has a box but getting it to Italy may be a problem.