Game over for the Gearbox !

[Buzz]

some of you will remember before Christmas i'd been finding 4th sticking a little bit. after changing the oil, it hardly ever happened. well in the last 3 days its deteriorated pretty quickly, so that maybe every 10th attempt to use 4th gear failed to go in. Well yesterday i was pulling away from a junction, went into 2nd, then 3rd. got to about 50mph, went for 4th, and nothing. i was going up a hill (hence changing late), but couldn't get it out of 3rd gear. Drove home, making sure i didn't get stopped at junctions and lights too often (pulling away from standstill in 3rd gear takes a while) then called the garage to see if i could take it straight in. as luck would have it he was just finishing his last car for the day, but would take mine in and make a start, as it was only 4pm.

He used to be a FIAT mechanic, and said it might be the selector outside the gearbox. The Tipo Tempras were prone to seizing up, and my problem sounded similar. well he phoned this morning, and its not. its internal to the gearbox. so today he's taking it off and sending it to a gearbox specialist. It coulb be the selector bent, or seized, or the synchro.... could be anything. its gonna cost me near £200 just for the removal and refitting of the gearbox, plus whatever it costs for the repair of the gearbox. He also says that now that the gearbox is off, i should get the clutch replaced.... so if anyone has £700 odds to spare, all donations will be gratefully accepted.

i'm gutted. i just paid out £218 last week to make sure everything was tidied up and tip top before i sell it, and then THIS!

Buzz (formerly LightWarrior)
The champion of the Bravo 1.4

 

[Anonymous]

the cars hanging on for dear life trying to convince you not to sell her!!

 

[BGR]

£200 to remove a gearbox?

 

[Buzz]

and refit it.

Buzz (formerly LightWarrior)
The champion of the Bravo 1.4

 

[Anonymous]

thats expensive buzz, i'm paying about £80 for remove and fit, haggle and complain at the price

mines should be done tomorrow fingers crossed,

ghengis

 

[BGR]

Substitute "expensive" for "extortionate".

I got a gearbox for a 1.4 Tipo procured from a beakers, the old one removed and the "new" fitted for £150.

Your garage sounds a bit aggressive with their prices, Chief.

 

[Buzz]

its 5 hours labour. ICME standard times afaik. 30 quid an hour plus vat. works out at about £180

Buzz (formerly LightWarrior)
The champion of the Bravo 1.4

 

[Buzz]

all in he said it would be around £700 for it to be removed, sent to a specialist for refurbing, and refitted, along with a new clutch. i'm not 100% sure that a new clutch is entirely necessary though...

Buzz (formerly LightWarrior)
The champion of the Bravo 1.4

 

[josh]

@buzz i just had my gearbox replaced, the gear box (which was already reconnned 24,000 miles recon) was only £200 thats with delivery to my door. then fitting a new clutch and replacing engine oil and gear box oil.supplying nuts bolts and variuos little bits only came to £479 it'd be cheaper to gete a new gear box thean get one recon'd

 

[Buzz]

anyone else think i'm paying too much? i might have to be giving him a call

Buzz (formerly LightWarrior)
The champion of the Bravo 1.4

 

[Anonymous]

if its five hours labour then you cant really argue with that. mines should be back today and will cost £290 labour and recon all in. not sure how much more work is involved with the 1.8 gearbox compared to the 1.4?

ask how much labour your potentially saving by doing the clutch now with it partially stripped down? then decide whether to do it or not, i remember you saying you've done about 70K if i'mn right so you might need one soon anyway.

Ghengis

 

[Buzz]

my last bravo 1.4 was still on its original cluch and gearbox, with no signs of any problems, and thats done over 70k. The 1.8 has now just touched over 65k now. its probably gonna be due a clutch, as i daresay the torqu from the 1.8 will wear it a bit faster than the 1.4 did..

Buzz (formerly LightWarrior)
The champion of the Bravo 1.4

 

[josh]

by doing the clutch when the gear box is out your probably saving on nearly 3hrs labour which is a big saving no matter how much you pay. also the old clutch is more likely to go with a new gear box.

i just had mine re[placed and while the clutch was out i got the fly wheel lightened and balanced, i've got the 1.8hlx it makes quite a diference esp to pulling hard while in high gears (4th,5th). just an idea if ya get the chance

 

[Rock]

well, last year I paid £840 cash (saved paying for VAT that way) for my gearbox to be recon'd and a new clutch, that was for my HGT, makes me think I paid too much now!!

 

[Buzz]

ah, but your car will lose its momentum quicker if you lighten the flywheel, meaning you need to be on the gas more often, meaning less mpg?

anyway, i font know what a lightened flywheel costs, but i suspect its more than i'd be willing to spend, given that i'm already about to pay out £700

Buzz (formerly LightWarrior)
The champion of the Bravo 1.4

 

[Paul R]

sorry to here that mate, but i would say you are paying to much, i would tell him to at least screw the recon box and look round some scrappys, i always find 1.8s down the scrappy, more then any other bravo!

also, the ratios on the 1.6 are supposidly pretty good, you might be able to fit a 1.6 box and then you will have lower motorway rev and a quicker 0-60 supposidly...

you can get boxs from scrappys for as little as £100, as you are selling anyway i would do this.

saves alot of cash but also get you out of the woods. you garage is sounding steap on there prices though m8, especially as he specialises in fiats, he should be able to get the box in and out quicker then that!

Just my oppinions

Paul R

 

[Anonymous]

Got mine back today!

£290 for recon box with 1 year unlimited mileage warranty. car is a hell of a lot quieter on first impressions, had no idea the old gearbox was contributing so mouch to the noise!

gears overall less notchy as i would have hoped and no clunk thunk going down the road either so the car can now be used at least. Feels good to have it back after nearly two weeks of the road, was so busy with uni the first week i had no time to get it even looked at and just left it!

shame though as that £290 was meant to go towards a bilstein lowered suspension kit



Ghengis Khan, www.babarmalik.com