Gearbox troubles....lots of 'em

[golfg60 0]

Alright chaps,

 

I'm having a few problems with my gear selection lately. My gears are so sloppy and it hasn't really bothered me up until now but last night i got embarrassed off the lights by a Nova because i couldnt find 2nd gear. This happens on rapid gear changes.

On really quick gear changes it crunches going into second as well....synchro???

 

I have a lot of side to side movement when in gear as well. The circlip in in place. Is there a way to "tighten" up the gears. I know that you can adjust them but will this help my problem and is it easy to do?

 

Also, i'm going to change the gear box oil this weekend, does anybody bother using an additive like slick 50 or just stick to just oil??

 

Any help would really be appreciated on this

 

Cheers

 

Tom

[Supercharged 2]

Redline MT90 works wonders...

[golfg60 0]

yeah, i've ordered some MT90....

[kerrinmay 0]

Would be interested to know how you get on with the MT90 as my 2nd gear isn't feeling too well, always quite difficult to select and I'm sure that sometimes I hear a bit of a crunch from it.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

If second crunches the syncrho is knackered....it's made up of 3 parts costing about £10 each....but the labour to replace them is nasty amounts more.....

[golfg60 0]

To be honest mine has only ever crunched twice in 6 months...both times were very quick changes

[Kevin Bacon 5]

OK cool, that's alright.....it's when 2nd is mega reluctant and crunches all the time you have problems....mine hasn't crunched ever, and it's now on 117K :lol:

[kerrinmay 0]

The couple of times that I noticed a slight noise (and I mean very slight, it wasn't like a major crunch or anything), was just after starting the car to go home after work. But 2nd gear never feels nice to change into. Had the gearbox oil changed a couple of months back (there is some discussion on my experience in another topic) but the garage just used the standard recommended gearbox oil rather than something like MT90, so seriously thinking about changing it again but putting in MT90.

[golfg60 0]

Thats the problem i'm having, its just difficult to get into gear sometimes....i'm thinking that the cables need adjusting.

I was thinking about buying a vw workshop manual on cd rom from ebay to find out how to do it and whats involved.

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Try resetting the cables and some good oil, that usually does wonders for stubborn boxes...

[golfg60 0]

How do i reset the cables Kev? is there a link to a quick guide somewhere?

Cheers

Tom

[Henny 0]

to reset the cables properly you need a special VW tool... Or lots of patience and trial and error... ;)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Yeah as Henny a tool or places like stealth set them by eye.... I think Mike Edwards wrote a procedure on it, try the search.... I haven't done mine so I couldn't tell you....

[golfg60 0]

Cheers Kev, much appreciated mate!

[kerrinmay 0]

Just done a bit of a search and think that my cables definately need adjusting. golfg60, when you change into 2nd, does it feel like you are almost pressing down like you would to pop into reverse?

[golfg60 0]

Yeah, it does feel a bit tlike that mate....just really notchy!

[kerrinmay 0]

You really can't just slip mine quickly into 2nd, it has to be done slowly.

[Dr Forinor 0]

I find that when I am in first gear, the gearstick vibrates back and forth, is this normal or do I need to get something checked?

[Henny 0]

sounds like your front engine mount could probably do with inspecting... ;)

[golfg60 0]

Not too sure about that one mate, possibly engine mounts?

[NickRStorm 0]

Just an idea, but it's worth checking that there isn't any play in the cable at the gearbox end which moves the big weighted arm forward & back.

 

It's difficult to describe, but if you get a mate to move the gearlever from 1st to 2nd and back again while you're looking at the top of the 'box you'll see what I mean. There's a bolt which goes though the cable end to the arm & that is where I found lots of play. Appropriate washers sorted it completely & it makes the whole gearchange much more positive.

[golfg60 0]

Cheers mate, worth a shot....i'll have a look this weekend

[VEEDUBBED 0]

2 people needed,open bonnet,manually select 2nd,look at gear shifter in car,the gearknob should be in it's gate in second,if not loosen 1 cable on gearbox and make small adjustments untill you can select al gear without any unwanted play,notchyness,etc also,the gear knob must be dead centre and have equall left and right play,when looking on the gearbox's shifter tower,normally,the cable adjusters are in the middle of the availble adjustment on the selector mechanisms,hope that was clear of of some use.

[Dr Forinor 0]

sounds like your front engine mount could probably do with inspecting... ;)

 

You sound like you're fairly confident, lol.

 

Cool, I'll get that checked. How much is it? I mean included the part and labour to get it fitted? Should I stick woth OE or get aftermarket? I'm not looking for any improvements in anything.

[golfg60 0]

I got all my mounts done when i first got the car, cant remember how much it was exactly but it wasn't more than £200. I fitted OE parts but i think most people got for uprated engine mounts. Looking back i should've done too. Made a world of difference becuase mine were quite bad.

VEEDUBBED: cheers pal, i'll give that a go and let you know how i get on mate!