VR6 5th gear problem

[andymrfq320 10]

just wondering if someone could shed some light on a car a friend has asked me to look at for him (becasue i have tools and he has none!)

He has a VR6 corrado and it crunchs when trying to select 5th and won't go in gear, i daren't push it hard as feels and sounds a bit nasty.

I can get it to go into 5th with a clutchless gear change, not everytime though, you need to be going about 40mph for it to work, but when it doesn't go in it's crunching, but there is a 5th gear in there somewhere! once it's in it's fine.

Does this sound like the syncromesh is is knackered or 5th gear is knackered?

Looking on the web all the 5th gear assembly is in the end cap part of the box so quite accessable once the box is removed, all other gears are fine.

The other thing i guess could be the selector cables but i've looked at these today and they look ok at first glance on both the box and gear stick base.

let me know your thoughts

Cheers Andy

 

quick edit, it starts the cruching when you go to lift the clutch up to drive, almost like it's not quite made it into 5th, thought i would mention this after reading a sticky thread on here about linkage adjustment, the gearstick looks like it's in the correct place in neutral (bang in the middle) and all other gears are bang on to.

[tony_ack 0]

Have you checked the gearbox oil? 5th is the first to go if it's oil-starved.

[andymrfq320 10]

honestly, no, i can try topping it up to check the level but if 5th's gone it's not going to help it now i wouldn't have thought??

[Supercharged 2]

Not sure if you've seen this guide covering the work me and Yan did on his G60/16V box...

 

http://wiki.the-corrado.net/5th_gear_cog_change.html

 

Syncro's are cheap - all internal bits available from VW

 

Gear oil of choice is Redline MT90 - especially for boxes with worn syncro's!

 

If you need any advice then Vince at Stealth Racing knows this boxes inside out.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Supercharged

[andymrfq320 10]

thats a great little read that, do you need to buy all the parts that are listed with item numbers?

I've all the gear to do that and with the how to it looks a easy ;) cheers for the reply

Andy

[dr_mat 0]

Interesting, never heard of the fifth gear synchro going (it's usually 2nd or 3rd!), but I guess it's entirely possible this one was a manufacturing fault..?

[andymrfq320 10]

it is a bit odd, you clutch in and select 5th and it kinda feels like it's gone in gear but when you lift the clutch it starts to crunch straight away, you can get it in 5th with out the clutch which says to me it does have a 5th gear but i'm no gear gearbox expert, i'm just assuming it's the syncro ring as i can rev the car up and force it into gear at around 40mph without using the clutch but with the clutch you can not get 5th, all other gears are spot on

[dr_mat 0]

Hmm, could be the gear linkages. Synchromesh will tend to "pull" into gear if it's under pressure (i.e. you're forcing it in without disengaging the clutch) - maybe you just can't push the gear linkage far enough in the right direction due to a loose linkage on the gearbox end. The gear knob is linked to the box via cables, it's also possible these might need adjusting.

[andymrfq320 10]

Hmm, could be the gear linkages. Synchromesh will tend to "pull" into gear if it's under pressure (i.e. you're forcing it in without disengaging the clutch) - maybe you just can't push the gear linkage far enough in the right direction due to a loose linkage on the gearbox end. The gear knob is linked to the box via cables, it's also possible these might need adjusting.

 

Got to be worth a look i guess, is there a guide or how to anywhere for this?

 

Cheers Andy