Polo GTI gearbox question

[kevinmillard]

Hi guys,

Recently brought a Polo GTi W reg.

I have just noticed that the 5th gear is making a whirling noise. Is this likely to be a bearing, if so is there anything I can do to prevent further damage or with this mean a new box.

I have looked through the service history and I notice that 3yrs ago the gearchange selector seal was replaced. Does this mean the gearbox has failed in the past? This was done at 68k, the car has now done 95k. I am no machanic so this does not mean much to me.

Cheers guys

[alexperkins]

Get it sorted asap mate! Itll just be a rebuild at this point, but if you leave it any longer, youll need a whole new box!

The selector seal is just for selecting gears...they commonly fail on the polo so thats nothing to worry about.

But basically get it to a mechanic asap and get the box sorted, or the bearings could collapse and shoot through the bell housing on the box.

[kevinmillard]

Cheers Alex,

What will actually need doing with it to get it fixed at this point. I have just spoken to my brother in law who is a machanic and he says he does not think you can get the bearings to replace them and so it will be a new box. Is this correct?

[alexperkins]

The box would be removed and sent to a gearbox specialist, who will rebuild it from scratch (they use the original case, just new innerds)

[kevinmillard]

thanks again Alex,

I have just called a few different companies. Most say they can rebuild the current box and it would cost around the £750 mark all in. Does this sound correct? I think I may get the clutch done at the same time as the Service history does not show that it has been done and the car is now on 95k.

I have come accross this company on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vw-polo-1-6-gti-R ... 286.c0.m14


would anyone recommend them or has anyone used them before. Seems a good price a £495 all in and they can fit whilst you wait.

[Lytescary]

Yeah I would say that anything over the £700 mark is quite expensive. I had my gearbox, clutch and clutch cable all replaced and it was just the over side of the £600 mark.
I was going to use Goldings by it was the hassle of taking my car there and I found quotes that I was willing to pay nearer to my home. But if that's the sort of quotes that you are getting I would say that it is a much better deal - depending on where you live of course!

But saying this, I need to take mine back to the garage I used as it is making god awfull noises again and its only been 3 weeks or so! So make sure that whoever you go with give you some sort of warranty!

[kevinmillard]

thanks guys, this is really usefull having some knowledge/experince to fall back on like this.

Has anyone used this Goldings before? Basically I have one company very highly recommeded which is A1 Gearbox's in St Neots but they want £760, however Goldings are £495 so obviously I would prefer to use them as they are only 1hr away, but I dont want to take the cheap option if it means more problems in the future.

[Tim_GTi]

Problem is with buying a different box for your engine, is

a) you don't know the condition it was in previous to being fixed,

and

b) all the 6N2s use the same 'box, just different ratios. So it is not unheard of a 'box to be replaced but have different ratios than the original. Infact I have a feeling someone had that problem with that eBay company.

£750 isn't cheap, but it's not a rip off. a fair quote would be under £650 though.

Also if the clutch hasn't been chandged by now, definitely get it done at the same time. And the Clutch Cable.

The clutch cable is around £30 from the dealers. And I strongly strongly recommend a SACHs clutch kit for your GTi. They cost around £100 from GSF. Give them a ring for this kit, don't search the website (they don't stock them off the shelves, but they can get them direct from SACHs).

[kevinmillard]

Hi guys,

Back again with a gearbox question. I spoke to a mate who works for VW and he says he would personally drive the car with the whine in 5th gear until it breaks. What I am wondering is, If i get a recon box fitted from Goldings Gearboxes it costs £495 which I really cannot afford at the moment. If I drive it until it breaks then surely the cost implication would be the same it would still only need a recon box wouldn't it?

At the moment it is only a whine which is not very load. No jumping, grinding or jumping out of gear. It drives loverly throughout all gears.

[Tim_GTi]

Depends if your planning on keeping your old 'box or not. I personally would never wait until it breaks before fixing it, you don't know where you'll be when it happens, and what other damage to the car it could cause when it goes.