General gearbox repair

[gogocrosby]

Oh dear ir's not all beer and skittles owning a Fiat.
Replaced thermostat perked up engine.
On our first real trip to europe, it's a camper, lost synchro on 2nd and 3rd.
Quoted £1300 with clutch to repair £900 without, against REALLY silly main dealer price. Thinking of 2nd hand replacement box DIY but no manual anywhere for MK2 1995 1.9 TDI.
Help anyone!

 

[Torq]

Hi Guys,
It's not too big a job doing a gearbox swap and to be honest you don't reallly need a manual as all you are doing is replacing like with like. If you haven't done this before what you need is a good memory a note pad and pen or in these modern times a digital camera to record what you have done, oh and a set of tools.

From memory, the steps are as follow.

1. Jack up van and remove passenger side wheel, Put van on axle stands, but under body not axle.
2. Remove nut that holds gearbox end mount to chassis, it's near the air filter.
3. Jack up engine slightly and support with concrete blocks and a bit of timber.
4. Drain gearbox oil, lever off gear change cables, disconnect speedo drive and reversing switch.
5. Remove starter, crawl under van and remove rear gearbox mount.
6. Undo and remove caliper, tie out of the way, remove disc.
7. On passenger side suspension, remove 4 bolts that secure the bottom ball joint, you may need to turn the wheel to get at the bolts.
8. For this bit you may need a spring compressor, I can't remember (must get notepad and pen!) remove the 4 nuts and bolts that hold the suspension assembly to the hub, the hub should now be loose.
8. Under van, lever the inner cv joint out of the gear box withdraw hub and shaft as far as you can, it's still attached to the track rod end, turning the steering to the right on full lock will give you some more distance.
9. Support gearbox and remove 4 nuts and bolts that hold gearbox end mount and lift out mount.
10. Remove the 8 to 10 bolts that hold the box to the engine. Once they are all out lever the gearbox off the engine, it will free from the clutch and the drivers side inner cv joint
11. Drag it out from under the van and say phew, that's half a day gone already!

Putting it back in is just the reverse procedure. It's also a good time to check track rod ends, cv joints and ball joints.

Finally be carefull under the van, make sure it's fully supported!!

If I've missed anything please let me know. Pity you didn't ask next sunday, I'm taking the box out of my 2.8 on saturday.

One final point, make sure its a box from the same engine you are fitting, the different engine sizes have different gear ratios.

Keep well,
Torq.

 

[Torq]

Well took the box out of my 2.8 today and stripped it down. Not a good day!! The process was as described previously except for a different mount on top of the case.

The case was damaged where the top mount bolts on, 3 out of 5 threads stripped, probably from a previous clutch swap. There was only about 1/2 a litre of oil in the box and it was sludge. The syncro rings look ok but they don't grip well as the cone on each gear is worn. 1st and 2nd syncro was loose and worn as its locating ring had broken up. 3rd and 4th selector fork has a bit broken off which I found chewed in the bottom of the casing. All in all the box is junk, It would cost the best part of €800 for the parts, not including the casing which would be about €400 on it's own so I'll be ringing round the breakers on monday to see what's available.
Keep well,
Torq

 

[T14086]

Torq...if you have a digi camera (sorry notepad no good here) maybe you could take some pics & turn it into a gearbox remove/refit guide?

 

[gogocrosby]

Got a good 2nd hand gearbox from Foc Covert Breakers through the Parts Gateway on the net, cost £205.65 with next day delivery and 30 day gaurantee. The mobile mechanic I used tookthe van away friday delivered it back saturday teatime fixed.He charged £280 including all the seals and the oil,result.
When I test drove it I was amazed at the marked absence of various noises, I was under the impresssion that all the racket from the front was the engine,but quite a lot must have been from the box.The dealer I bought it off said 'they all make the same noise'
Chris, the mechanic, said 'thanks for the guide'

 

[Torq]

Chris, the mechanic, said 'thanks for the guide'

Not a problem, thanks are always appreciated! I think I've sourced a low mileage box for my 2.8 and will reverse engineer a removal guide when I'm fitting it if the forum can host it for me. I'll also do a reverse strip down of the bad 2.8 box if anyone is interested in what's inside and what gets worn/broken.
Keep well,
Torq

 

[Torq]

Hi Guys,
My quest for a gearbox for the 2.8 resulted in the following..... At 8pm on sunday evening, after a 99mile drive, I found myself in a field at the side of the road, in the middle of nowhere, in the rain, in the dark, holding a torch, trying to understand the heaviest Clare accent I've ever heard and saying "that's not the right gearbox" Oh yea, on the phone I was assured that the gearbox was for a 2000, 2.8 non turbo, it turned out to be a box for a 2002 2.8jtd, how could I tell? Well the 2.8jtd engine complete with alternator and turbo gave the game away. I then spent the next 40mins being draggged about the field looking (by torchlight) at ducatos and being asked "is that the right one?" at least that's what I think he was saying!! Anyway It wasn't a total waste of time, I bought the jtd engine for €400 and anything I don't need will find it's way onto ebay!!
keep well,
Torq