For people who have had gearboxes fail

Bryony84 · Post by **Bryony84** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:43 am

Can anyone give me a rough timescale on how quickly they deteriorate. Mine has recently gone from making a faint grinding noise to a louder grinding noise and most recently a loud whine in low gears. Is it likely to fail before I have the chance to find someone to rebuild it/buy a rebuilt box!?

tomo87 · Post by **tomo87** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:23 am

my first one went on for a couple of weeks making noises but my 2nd only lasted 4days from the first noise!!

Luke'sGti · Post by **Luke'sGti** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:58 am

there is no real timescale that you can put on it bryony from what i have been told. It can go after 2 miles or in my case approx 4000 miles

garnier · Post by **garnier** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:15 am

Mine started howling about 5000 miles ago and it still appears ok. No crunching yet, but the howling is getting worse. I drive it pretty gently, I don't know if that's why it's lasting for so many miles. I did thrash the hell out of it a few weeks ago and the noises got instantly worse!

Bryony84 · Post by **Bryony84** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 11:32 am

Yeh, i wasn't very nice to it on the way to santa pod last wkend, think that was when it got worse.

Going to ring around a few places at lunch - anyone know whether new box or rebuild of my current one would be cheaper?

Luke'sGti · Post by **Luke'sGti** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:01 pm

i was told that a refurb of your box is better and make sure that they replace the bearings. If you got a new box all it would be is a re-conditioned one anyway - vw dont make them anymore - or thats what i was told.

Bryony84 · Post by **Bryony84** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 12:50 pm

I wouldn't go to VW anyway, its between rebuilding mine or a new one from ace gearboxes!

Post by **alexperkins** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 2:28 pm

Mine is on the verge of destruction - ive lost 2nd and 5th gears, and most gears crunch. Its going into VW next week for a new box.

Thank god for warranty repairs

ticki · Post by **ticki** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:14 pm

alexperkins wrote:Mine is on the verge of destruction - ive lost 2nd and 5th gears, and most gears crunch. Its going into VW next week for a new box.

Thank god for warranty repairs

Is it really a BRAND NEW gearbox?

Post by **alexperkins** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 3:33 pm

Oh yes. My VW dealership is very difficult- the staff dont wanna know half the time.

I put my foot down as, quite frankly, I am sick of them giving me excuses that there is nothing wrong. What they fail to understand is they aren't driving it every day of the week

After a month battle, I finally have a brand spanking new box going in

Dee-vub · Post by **Dee-vub** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:10 pm

i think mines only lasted a few days before totally going.....Started a really low whyne, especially when accelerating or decellerating, then got louder, then a sorta clicky knocking noise. Then lost 2nd gear. Got it sorted the next day, blew a whole in the dif casing or something

Bryony84 · Post by **Bryony84** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 7:13 pm

Eek, mines booked in for a rebuild next wednesday, going to be driving it pretty carefully until then I think! If its only the bearings that need replacing, I've been told it will cost about Â£320

garnier · Post by **garnier** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:05 pm

that seems like a decent price, does that include labour as well?

I called warranty direct and they wont replace my dodgy box until it totally fails. If the re-con only costs that much, I might just pay to get it done.

Bryony84 · Post by **Bryony84** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 10:13 pm

Yup, its all in, although this was after and hour of phoning around til i find someone who knew about the problems with the GTI gearbox and had rebuilt one before.

mk4 glx 1.6 · Post by **mk4 glx 1.6** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:27 am

May I ask which garage it is going to then Bryony?