HELP - Gearbox destroyed :(

[ChrisB]

Judging from the horrible crunching, grinding noise it made just before my car ground to a halt, I reckon I'm in the market for a new gearbox. My problem is that the car's only worth about £800 and I'm not sure how much it's going to cost to put right. Roughly how much am I looking at to have a new gearbox fitted? How much for a secondhand/reconditioned one? Is it something I could do myself? I have ramps and access to tools.

Thanks in advance...

 

[TONEY]

i payed 120 for mine from a scrappy
have you got a 1.3 or 1.0
i have a 1.0 box thats only done 20k for sale

 

[Dusk]

Gearbox is abotu 125 and fitting is about 125 if you go to a scrapyard.
Doing it yourself is time consuming, but saves your 125...

 

[TONEY]

and its not that hard just time consuming and a friend allways helps

 

[ChrisB]

i payed 120 for mine from a scrappy
have you got a 1.3 or 1.0
i have a 1.0 box thats only done 20k for sale

It's a 1.0 I'm after, 5 speed. Whereabouts are you WIDE?

It had been whining for a while then it just went BANG on the way home from work. I was doing ~60mph at the time and it wasn't fun. Front offside wheel wont turn in neutral (even with the clutch in) so I'm concerned I've broken other expensive bits too. I'm going to take a proper look at it later/tomorrow and see what's what. Like I said, I have ramps and willing helpers so changing it myself may be an option. Do I need any special tools?

 

[TONEY]

im in croydon s.e
you will only need a socket set and a few spaners maybe a few other bits but not special tools
and it sounds like ur diff has gone as well

 

[ChrisB]

Crap!

How much extra is that going to cost to sort?

 

[TONEY]

the diff is inside the gearbox so it will not cost anymore

 

[ChrisB]

OK, nice one. Cheers for your help WIDE

I'll get the car up on ramps and take the gearbox off tomorrow - see what it looks like. Anything I should look out for? Am I likely to have damaged anything else?

Edit Am I going to have to replace the clutch? Would it be a good idea while I'm at it? It's done 81k now and it's still on the original....

 

[TONEY]

the car will have to be on axal stands as you have to take the wheels off to get the driveshafts out
wobble/spin the main shaft going in to the gear box if there is movement then the main bearing has gone
cheak for oil on the clutch
make sure you undo every bolt as it wont come off without undoing them
and keep the engine supported with a jack as you have to take the rear mount off
it much easyer if you take the battery tray out and the grill
when i done mine i took most of the frount off so i could get to it all alot easyer
a hanyes manual will come in handy aswell

hope this helps

 

[Fordy]

unless you know how to take a gearbox apart i very much doubt you will see much just by looking at the box, and i wouldnt think you would of damaged anything else by what you have posted.

since your getting the box out and its done 81k you might get the box out and find the clutch is close to the end of its life, so you might aswell change the clutch now instead of later,

 

[ChrisB]

OK, I've blagged a pair of axle stands from my brother-in-law and got some quotes for gearboxes. prices range from £112 to £165 inc. VAT, next-day delivery and some warranty. Tomorrow is payday so I'll order it then and it should be here on weds which gives me thu/fri/sat/sun to get it fitted. Anyone got any more words of wisdom to offer? anything to watch out for? any little tricks to make it easier other than the things WIDE has already mentioned?

also, is the gearbox sealed or will it have been drained of oil when it was removed?

 

[MichaelD]

On the subject of gearboxes - i have a question. When I'm driving along I quite often find it hard to get the car into gear 1 (and sometimes gear 2). It seems "closed" however alittle push and it usually goes in fine. 50% of the time it goes in easily anyway. The car has done 60k, and i've just bought it. Do you think it's just a matter of me getting used to a new gearbox - or is it something else?

 

[Alienfish360]

why would you want to go into first while driving forwards?

I can't get in first till I'm doing around 10mph

 

[stu0500]

Ive got a box its off a 1.3 SLX. its just had a new clutch fitted not so long back email me if you want it. £65
[email protected]

 

[ChrisB]

Ive got a box its off a 1.3 SLX. its just had a new clutch fitted not so long back email me if you want it.

I'm after a 1.0 box - not sure a 1.3 would fit? How many miles has it got on it? Mine had done 81k when it gave up and it was still on the original clutch so I'm guessing yours must have done more than that otherwise it wouldn't have needed a new clutch yet?

Either that or you've driven the balls off it

 

[stu0500]

email sent to you james

 

[MichaelD]

What? So how do you start the car initially moving?!

 

[ChrisB]

Sorted!

New gearbox arrived today and it's now bolted in and appears to be working fine. There's a few little bits left to do tomorrow - topping up with oil, reconnecting the starter motor, battery etc. but it shouldn't take much more than an hour or so. The breakers I bought the gearbox from had originally sent a 1.3 box by mistake but they sent a replacement for free and let me keep the first one. It's the first major work I've done myself and I've learnt a few good lessons:

1- I'm never going to a garage again except for tyres and MOTs. I had the front brakes replaced a while back and they charged me £110 labour. After taking the calipers and discs off myself to get the driveshafts out I realise what a rip-off that is.

2- The money I saved far outweighs the money I had to spend on tools. Plus, I now have some shiny new tools. I reckon I spent less than £300 in total (about half what it would have cost me if I'd taken it to a garage) and that includes gearbox, gear oil, tools and parts for servicing (engine oil, oil filter, air filters, fuel filter, spark plugs, coolant) which I am also going to do myself.

3- In future, I should remember to drain the gearbox oil before pulling the driveshafts out.

4- Cheap tools break. It's worth paying a little extra for decent quality gear.

Cheers all

 

[asdame]

On the subject of gearboxes - i have a question. When I'm driving along I quite often find it hard to get the car into gear 1 (and sometimes gear 2). It seems "closed" however alittle push and it usually goes in fine. 50% of the time it goes in easily anyway. The car has done 60k, and i've just bought it. Do you think it's just a matter of me getting used to a new gearbox - or is it something else?

most probly just a worn gear linkage bush.

mine used to have the same symptoms and when i took me linkages off few days ago for overhaul i found that the metal bush had worn & corroded n very slack.

i just lathed my own bushes, refitted it all last weekend, and now the gear selection is shweet:grinning:

 

[goldstar0011]

dude this is almost a year old, you're talking to think air!!

 

[asdame]

doh! lol silly me:laugh: