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Ok bear with me guys its a long story but here goes...

My 1.4 started making some odd "whistling" noises once I hit about 40mph, around a month ago. When I put my foot down on the acc, the noise would go up in pitch, and when I released, it would "whine down".

Now on thursday, I decided to take a little roadtrip, and give it some motorway treatment. Did around 120 miles with absolutely no problems whatsoever. Came to a stop, took 1st gear to around 5,000 revs, and 2nd gear to around the same level as I was pulling out of a slip road back on to the highway.

About 20 minutes later, after driving fairly normally (fluctuating between 30-40mph) I stopped, and immediately heard what I can only describe as a rattling, scraping, grinding noise in neutral (with my foot off the clutch), When I put the clutch down, the noise stopped.

Decided to drive a bit and see what the hell was going on, so I shifted into first, and the noise was still there, as I accelerated it seemed like I was aggravating something which decided to grind even more. Got into 2nd gear, and the noise wasnt so bad, shifted into 3rd, it was almost gone, and gears 4, 5, and reverse appear to have no grinding noise whatsoever. All the gears engage easily, and there was no sluggishness, or pullback when accelerating or driving. I managed to drive the 100 or so miles back home, and the noise wasnt so bad the next day.

So I took it to the VW garage (dont kill me, Ive just read about the Stealers), and they ring me back to say "A component in your gearbox has failed, the only solution is to replace the entire gearbox". So Im thinking okay it cant be that bad, ill just have it reconditioned and fit it myself with my dad - hopefully no more than £400. She then proceeds to tell me that the cost of this replacement would be £1755, at which I just thought some expletives not suitable for this forum.

Now Im just wondering a few things:

1. Why the hell do I have to replace the entire gearbox if its just "1 component" which has failed...
2. Am I being bullsh***ed by these people...
3. The gears engage fine, and the car runs...the gearbox does not NEED to be replaced
4. Do you guys have any diagnosis for what the problem may actually be, until I get the "full report" from VW on Saturday?

Ive read somwhere it could be the differential bearings, so if anyone could elaborate on this at all.

Anything to increase my knowledge, help me know what the problem could be, and give me costs and options as to what I could do would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys

Marlon

my 1.6glx 6n did something similar
it kept whining when i wos in fifth gear and kept popping out of fifth aswell

i knew i had to get it sorted but i stupidly thought i cud get away with it till easter.that wos a big mistake. something serious happned to it and the sounds u descibed wos exactly how mine wos when it got fcuked.

if i got mine sorted earlier it probebly wud of cost me onli 150ish to get bearing changed but coz i waited i had to get a re-conditioned gearbox which set me back 500 including parts and labour. it wos onli that cheap coz my dads mate owns a garage.

i dont think u need to get a new gear box, thats just vw tryin to pull ur pants down. i mean my gear box sounded worse then urs in every gear and i onli had to get a recondish box.

ur probebly looking lookin at a re-conditioned gearbox...STAY AWAY FROM A VW GARAGE!! loll

try and get hold of one of ur mates who knows a local mechanic and get it checked out

Try here http://www.gearboxesandclutches.co.uk/ and here http://www.acegearboxes.co.uk/

Exactly what happened to mine m8!

Apparently whats happened is a bearing has come lose in your 'box and now is flying around inside it! I too left the noise alone, thinking it woz just one of those noises but that was a big mistake..........car is now pretty much undrivable!

Dont for the love of god get a new box!! Just get a reconditioned one as mentioned above. Shouldnt cost you an arm and a leg! Got a few quotes for my 16v 'box which range from about £370-£490 so its not as bad as u think!

Good luck!

Oh s**t so If I'd checked out the whining noise before the death grinding started Id be about £200-300 better off...

Thats a b*tch

@Black16V

Did the quotes cover the cost of them removing it, reconditioning it, and fitting it again? Or do I have to do the removal and refitting myself?

and @ Everyone

How long does the job take to do?

Thanks Mate

The best quote i got was for a reconditioned box and trade in of ur old box. These guys dont recondition your box and give u the same box back when its done. That quote was for £365 plus VAT at the normal 17.5%. That price included delivery to your door and the collection of your old one but not the fitting. Im not entirely sure how it works, if u have to take the box out yourself first and they collect it same day or what, ill ring them on tuesday when theyre open again.

Im paying a garage to fit my gearbox coz i wouldnt have the first clue about fitting a new gearbox! if uve got the knowledge then by all means do that urself!!

One suggestion, depending on how many miles ur car has done id say whack in a new clutch whilst ur there. They dnt cost that much and ur clutch has to be removed anyway! just a thought.....its what im doing!

lollllllllllll, u cant jus take the gearbox out or fit one in ur front garden

its a little more complicated then that,lol

Yeah i thought that was a little odd about fitting it with his dad. Unless his dad is a mechanic of course....

Gearboxes are ridiculously complicated things, and f*cking hard to remove and refit. As i understand it the clutch has to come out, drive shafts and s**t need to be f*cked about with and all sorts of crap... very tricky unless u have specialist knowledge!!

Labour for a gearbox from a non VW garage should b around £250-300 i think. Maybe not that much.........im getting mine mates rates so im not entirely sure on that one!

Oh and by the way when i said 'take out the gearbox yourself' i ddnt mean literally do it with your own hands, i meant it has to be taken out by someone other than the gearbox company before they come to collect it and deliver the new box! coz they just deliver and collect, they dont fit....thats how i understand it anyway!

I wouldnt have the foggiest about how to even get to the gearbox let alone take it out and fit a new one. I barely know how the damn things even work! lol!

So the general consensus appears to be for me to buy a gearbox and have a garage install it. Seen.

In that case,

http://www.acegearboxes.co.uk/gearboxes.html

VW Polo 1400 gearbox is £385 (Im assuming 1400 is 1.4L)

Anyhow, I may be able to get it fitted for the price of a drink. The joy of having connections

i just wanted 2 say from past experience, gear-boxes are heavy as fuk an u need ur car in the air for u to be able 2 take it off, which takes abit of time as there quite a few bolts be be takin out, its more than a 1 man job gettin them lumps back in2 place, hense the labour price.

Just to update.

Dropped the car off at a mate of a parents today. £250 to replace bearrings, repair the gearbox, replace the clutch, and fit.

Should be ready by Saturday

Are you happy with the result? I've often wondered why people replace the complete box when they can often be fixed cheaper.

marlon wrote:Just to update.

Dropped the car off at a mate of a parents today. £250 to replace bearrings, repair the gearbox, replace the clutch, and fit.

Should be ready by Saturday