Oh, GREAT - update, electrical help needed!

[Pillock]

 

Seriously.

[pogweasel]

GR-8

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey, is that your new engine? I know this feeling.

[scaryoldcortina]

Just like a Golf

[Cavcraft]

Just like a Citroen, except the colour.

[Pillock]

It's too dark to even see what's happened. Got it recovered home, threw it on the driveway, kicked it and now I'm sulking.

Just went to pull away from a junction, all normal like (seriously, I drive it like a granny for MPG purposes), felt like it jumped out of gear bit it didn't. Horrible noise and there's a massive long trail of oil down the road leading to that puddle in a layby.

 

I'm hoping gearbox...... cos they're about £40. Dipstick still says engine has oil in it, and the engine oil is new unlike that black mess. I also still get oil pressure, the light goes off after one flash like always.

Only thing is, it now sounds like a bag of nails even in neutral, at idle. Could that still be gearbox, does the input shaft still spin in N?

[Volksy]

Sounds like a driveshaft could have popped out, although, I thought they were bolted on on Golfs.

 

Is the oil gearoil? Should stink to high heaven if it is.

[scaryoldcortina]

sounds like it spat the diff out the back of the case.. and yeah, input shaft spins in neutral.

[Pillock]

Yeah it reeks. Still drives though and both diffs look right.

So a horrible "buggered" sound in neutral could still be box? I can just about do a box myself......

[meggersdog]

Looks too black for gear oil but as Volksy rightly points out it should stink if so.

What happens if you dip the clutch ?

[Pillock]

Still noisy if clutch dipped. Looks too black for my engine oil too though, it's only been in a week and the stuff on the dipstick is still oil-coloured.

[M'coli]

Does the noise stop in gear with the clutch down?

[scaryoldcortina]

?BOTH diffs? 4wd?

 

Gearoil out of a box that overheated and burnt up its bearings is the blackest, nastiest, stickiest foul smelling shite ever.

[Pillock]

sorry. i meant both shafts.....

 

just popped off both aux belts so no PAS, waterpump or alternator. Still noisy from gearbox end. Popped off the little inspection cover in the bellhousing and the flywheel is covered in black oil......

 

noise changes, but doesn't go away, with clutch down

[Volksy]

Possible input shaft bearing & seal on the box then I would have thought, seeing as it still drives.

[Station]

I can see a red tinge to it, which looks like gearbox fluid!

[Pillock]

Hmmm, don't read too much into that.... it was dripping onto red blockpaving, plus that's a shitty cameraphone at night. If you squint you'll probably make out the face of your chosen religious icon

 

Anyway, isn't it only ATF that's red?

 

Found a box for £30 but it's in Oxford. Gonna try the breaker locally tomorrow see if they can do one for less than £30+£petrolmoneytoOxford.

[garethj]

Shouldn’t the noise stop completely when you put the clutch down if it’s a broken gearbox?

 

As it’s still making a noise, sounds like the clutch bearing has broken up, maybe it’s taken the gearbox oil seal with it. Worth taking the gearbox out and seeing from there?

[Peter C]

Where are you based Pillock?

 

I am stuck at home post knee op but can still drive (an automatic). I am near Beaconsfield, 10 mins from M40 J2, not far from Oxford.

 

If it helps I could pick up the gearbox for you and deliver it, for petrol money (Merc does 30MPG).

 

Let me know.

 

Peter

[Pillock]

Thanks for the offer Peter, I've actually found one just up the road... the box that came off this engine, still in the car that the dude is breaking. It's a little bit more money but cheaper than the Oxford one plus petrol. Very kind of you though

 

So it looks like my weekend will be spent swearing at the Golf. I'm hoping it's as easy as it looks, which is....

 

Remove driveshafts with daft VW-only tool

Remove clutch cable and gear linkage

Unbolt box from engine

Apparently I have to rotate box through 90 degrees so the driveshaft flanges are uppermost....?

Yoink box off

Refit new box in opposite manner.

 

Sounds like about 40 minutes work..... (and 27 hours failing)

[Pillock]

Right. A semi-productive day - went to fetch the gearbox, got some free advice about how to go about swapping them. Picked up one of the 12-spline M8 bits to undo the driveshafts with. Got driveshafts off, unbolted starter motor, took off clutch cable and gear linkage, box is now coming away from block but there's one chuffing nut on the rear offside engine mount (well, actually gearbox mount I suppose) which won't undo. Might go and invest in one of them 12v impact gun things tomorrow. Tried to unbolt the linkage bracket which is where the mount is, but can't get enough lateral movement away from the engine to drop the box with that mount still there. Arsecheeks. Packed it in for the day, fading light and bad temper is only going to break something.

 

On another note, found out why it lost so much oil so quickly.

 

 

I'll add that to the collection of "things that pillock has properly, properly broken"

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Argh! How did this happen?

 

Good luck with fixing it.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Aah, the good old VW rivetted on crownwheel?

 

On some Rolf gearboxes (Mk11 GTi was one), the flywheel is too big to allow the box to come off - from memory there's a certain angle required to get the bastard off.

[Pillock]

Ta-daaaa!

 

Gearbox back on. That's a fucker of a job for one bloke, amongst other things it involved a 4 ft crowbar, lots of rope, three jacks, bricks, wood, a hammer, some new swearwords, and lots of coffee. You're right, you have to put the box on so the driveshaft flanges (fnar) are at about 45 degrees, slide it on, and then drop them down to 90 degrees. That sentence took 10 seconds to write, that action took two hours to complete. Eventually it just pinged on in a sort of "I could have done this ages ago, but you looked like you were enjoying the struggle" moment.

 

I say one bloke.... my mum helped

 

Only problem is, the offside driveshaft is on the floor and there's not enough room to squeeze it between box and engine mount to connect it to the flange (fnar). It should have been lifted up with the box ideally. I am NOT taking it back off so I suspect I'll have to remove some suspension bolts and pull the strut away slightly to get it in.

 

Engine starts, goes into gear, and doesn't make terrifying noises. Might just be a good job well done!

[johnbaz]

Crumbs, i can remember playing under my VW Polo classic saloon (formel E), had to change the bearings in the gearbox ('orrible noises on the over run) whilst it was still in situ, i undid everything and dropped the gearbox down on a trolley jack, suddenly there was water everywhere , the (crappy!) plastic thermostat cover caught on something (can't remember what tho') and it bent up allowing the water past the rubber O-ring

Finished the job but when i ordered the bearings, i didn't get any shims, cover was tight to go back on so third gear was a trifle stiff to get in

 

Another time i was putting petrol in, went and paid and coming back to the car, a bloke was looking down, there was a puddle of engine oil, "hope that's not from mine" i said..... It was , there wasa funny half round breather on the side of the crankcase, it had the wire flame trap type of thingy inside that i found out later was choked with carbon!!..

I ordered a new one, started on the job, it was pressed in much like a core plug but was around 3" dia... the old one came out easily with a large screwdriver and knocking stick, getting the new one in was nothing short of fecking impossible , i had to bend a length of 1"x 1/8" steel strip to a 3" diameter and weld a 1/4" piece of plate across it, now came the hard part- swinging the hammer to knock it in, there was no room (course it was down the back of the engine, i ended up with a 4' gemmy bar from work and a load of thick wood, i levered it in , the only other way that i could see was the remove the engine

 

 

All good fun back then, it hurts too much now to crawl under cars

 

 

John

[CIH]

If you find yourself having to detach the hub from the strut bear in mind that's where camber is set and there is a huge adjustment range.

Incidentally, I fucking hate setting Golfs. Track rods are always ALWAYS rusted and fucked. Bastard things.

[sporty-shite]

  CIH said:

If you find yourself having to detach the hub from the strut bear in mind that's where camber is set and there is a huge adjustment range.

Incidentally, I fucking hate setting Golfs. Track rods are always ALWAYS rusted and fucked. Bastard things.

 

Better off knocking the bottom balljoint out, surely?

 

Incidentally, I feel properly guilty every time I read about Pillock's latest breakage on this car. It was fine when I had it, although I did drive it like a pensioner most of the time.

[Pillock]

LOL.... don't feel bad! I've done 13,000 miles in it since I got it from you, mostly driven sensibly but I do give it some stick now and again Ironically the gearbox let go at 3mph in first gear..... Basically, you flogged it so cheap that purchase price plus new engine+box means it's cost me about the same as one off ebay. So I'm not at all bitter It's still a good solid car and I know it inside out now.

 

Might have a look at the suspension and see where is best to detach. Thanks for the heads up about the camber, it's possible that when I drop it back off the stands and the suspension compresses the angle might change and it'll slot in OK anyway. Not gonna get done till the weekend anyway, I'm working all the daylight hours.

[M'coli]

Is there enough "give" in the engine mounts to allow the space to be created by a craftily-placed jack between engine and body? (This works a treat for Fiat 126 alternators, which are bolted directly to the engine and the belt tension is adjusted by shims in the pulley.)

[Pillock]

I suspect this sort of approach is just up my street and will get attempted anyway. I'm fairly adept at using jacks to solve problems, for example jacking the end of a wheelbrace up to the extent that the car is lifted slightly off the ground, and then bouncing on the bonnet to free a stuck stud.