hi, i may have mentioned in my build thread that i thought my gearbox was a bit iffy, turns out i was right. i could always feel a slight wobble when cruising around 30-40mph which was starting to get on my nerves, but not getting any worse. last night i drove home and i could smell gear oil coming through the heater vents. when i got home i had a look to find that there is gear oil everywhere, great. just popped it on the ramp where i work to find that it is leaking badly from BOTH of the drive flange seals and there is a LOT of play in both of these. is this a sign that the famous diff rivets have come loose or could this be another diff related problem? obviously i can't keep driving it as it will likely go bang very soon, but if i remove the gearbox now and put a bolt kit in it, what are the chances of saving it? other than this, and it bieng a bit tight to get into gear the last few mornings, the gearbox felt quite good. the other option is to find a half decent 020 and just swap it for now, but funds are an issue, i am living on student loan and very little income right now. i have seen a Bolt Kit for 55, or if anyone fancies selling me an 020 cheap let me know! thanks
if flanges are all wobbly then its probably going to be the diff bearings, quite an involved job to replace these and besides if they have gone you would want to redo the rest as they are likely to be knackered too. not to mention the box will be full of metal filings from them as well. http://www.brokevw.com if it was me id be lookign for a non-buggered gearbox and diff bolting that instead!
Aye it will be the diff bearings for sure I'd get a good secondhand box as john said It's not worth rebuilding the box unless you intend to fit a diff or change ratios
Lol it was the bearings, im rebuilding it, i think the inner CV joint caused it, as it fell apart on the side the diff was buggered, it hasnt buggered anything else in the box other than the planet gears look worn. the input and output shafts, synch rings etc all look pretty mint to be fair. Ive bought a 1.4 mk3 box for 45, looks a bit oily, but im assured theres no whining, crunching or banging with it, so im planning on robbing the 3.94 diff out of it and various other parts including planet gears (providing theyre in better shape than mine), + a rebuild kit + various bits from VW including diff bolt set. new synch springs, lock keys, circlips, 5th bolt, etc going for the longer 5th gear, with a slightly shorter diff ratio, just need to find an 8v 1.12 4th now :-) i could use 1.4 box as it is, but i would have to change my almost brand new clutch plate, plus i would rather know its been rebuilt, hopefully will be that bit nicer to drive, and less things to worry about, pretty much every other mechanical part of the car is new or rebuilt other than the gearbox at the mo, and it failed as i thought it would, so to me it makes sense to rebuild it now.
Ok, some good news and some bad news. Good news is the gearbox was rebuilt with new bearings, sync keys, springs, circlips etc with a 3.94 FD and output shaft from 1.4 gearbox. this different output shaft meant that the taller 8v 4th gear and 5th gear had to be used, which i decided to try as i always felt it needed a little lower revs at higher speeds. in conjunction with a shorter FD ratio, it has worked well. the first 3 gears are very short and it feels like it is trying to shred the tyres still at the top of 3rd, there is a noticable gap between 3rd and 4th, but it still pulls through it fairly easily, overall i am very happy with this setup for what i use the car for. the play i previously felt which originally i thought to be engine mounts, must have been the diff, as it is now gone, and no more wobble. Bad news: unfortunately i must have made some kind of booboo when rebuilding the gears. it goes up the gear no problem at all, when slowing down again from 4th down to 3rd, it will not slot into 3rd, only every now and then if you have the rev's right anyway. if i hold the clutch down and go from 4th to 2nd, then 3rd, its fine. i followed the brokevw guide to the tee and i cannot think what i have done that will have caused this, it didnt do this before. i am finished uni for christmas at the end of the week, so i might just order some new gaskets and circlips and go for take 2. it only took me about 90mins to get the box out of the car on my own, gotta love vw's :-)
