DIY Gearbox rebuild/refurb

[hallie123]

How difficult is it to do this myself? there isnt a gearbox specialist for about 200 miles from where i live so im thinking about giving it a go.. is this a good or bad idea? if anyone has a guide or has done it themselves please contact me!

Tom

[6n2stan]

I looked at this about 2 months ago mate, there's tonnes out there on what goes wrong but I found little or nothing on actual DIY fixes. A lot depends on the nature of the failure too. I had a collapsed layshaft bearing which finished most of the box off on the way. I would have needed a big hydraulic press to fit my old gears and synchro's (which survived) to a new layshaft. Obviously this made me go the 'pay someone else' route.

Has it failed or are you going for preventative maintenance before it gives up? The failed box cost me £550 with an uprated diff which was a personal choice so it can be a track day car. My daily GTI is fine but I wouldn't mind having that 'box apart with 150k on it and seeing if there are any early warnings of failure.

Perhaps you could pave the way and do a rebuild thread and become a legend!?

[hallie123]

I can hear a slight chatter when changing gear so im hoping to have a look and catch anything before it gets serious. I really do want to give it a go myself but i dont have the first clue about gearboxes haha.

I want some confidence when i put my foot down that the box wont just go bang! Mines on 137k and as far as i know its on the original box but from what ive heard its only a matter of time :/

[6n2stan]

I can hear a slight chatter when changing gear so im hoping to have a look and catch anything before it gets serious. I really do want to give it a go myself but i dont have the first clue about gearboxes haha.

I want some confidence when i put my foot down that the box wont just go bang! Mines on 137k and as far as i know its on the original box but from what ive heard its only a matter of time :/

Mines on a 150K and still going (strong?). The other car went pop at 130k. I should have it back on the road in a couple of weeks so hopefully all good.

[hallie123]

One of the lucky ones! haha, im hopeing mines all good and its just the clutch thats chattering a bit, the clutch pedal is quite stiff so either the pedal box has collapsed or the clutch is on its way out, il sort that out and see if that solves the problem, im literally praying its not the box!

[6n2stan]

It could just be the release bearing on the clutch. Can you get the chatter to change in volume or tone if you rest your foot lightly on the clutch pedal? My daily is getting noisy but with 150k what do you expect?!

At the end of the day, gearboxes on Polo GTI's are like head gaskets on Rovers, it's not 'if' its 'when'