My rebuilt gearbox is talking to me: should I be concerned?

[painterspal]

We recently got our five speed gearbox rebuilt on our 1.6 TD T25 van, following a major failure. An initial inspection revealed that the box was in very poor condition and had, and some point in its past, been run without any oil in it! The rebuild was carried out by Vege and it’s now back in the van.

Two things are noticeable. The whole van is much quieter when moving (which is great - the gearbox must have been adding a lot of noise, unknown to us), but when stationary with the gears in neutral and the clutch engaged, there is a very noticeable mechanical ‘chatter’ from the box once it’s warmed up. I can hear it faintly when it’s cold, but I’d describe it as quite noisy once it’s hot. I thought at first it might be the clutch thrust bearing, but the garage say it’s the gearbox and it just a fact of life with an old gearbox that’s been rebuilt and that I shouldn’t worry. They commented that a thicker oil than specified might help, but overall their advice is to leave it as it is.

My question is obvious: is this normal and should I be concerned?

Many thanks for any advice you can give.

Cheers

Malc

[faggie]

definately not normal i would contact the company who rebuilt the box , and get a 2nd opinion of a good gearbox rebuilder someone with experience of these boxes like bears gearboxes

[CovKid]

Its not a fact of life. Either it was rebuilt properly or it was not. Cripes, mine is an original gearbox and mine doesn't make any noises at all. I'd expect a rebuilt one to make none whatsoever.

Aidan (our resident 80/90 crash-box guru) may or may not make a comment here but I'm sure he'll agree.

[toomanytoys]

"clatter" when warm and stationary? what happens when you press the clutch? go quiet? did a new clutch and release bearing get fitted? did the release arms get checked for "flatting" (the tips need to be a nice rounded shape where the release bearing sits)

[painterspal]

"clatter" when warm and stationary? what happens when you press the clutch? go quiet? did a new clutch and release bearing get fitted? did the release arms get checked for "flatting" (the tips need to be a nice rounded shape where the release bearing sits)

I'd call it chatter rather than clatter. It's basically silent when I first start up, or when the clutch pedal is depressed or the vehicle is moving. I only hear the noise once I've done a few miles (i.e. it's hot), the gearbox is in neutral and my foot is off the clutch pedal. It stops immediately if I depress the clutch, and starts again if I take my foot off the pedal. I'm hopeless at describing noises but I'd call at a medium-pitch mechanical hum/chatter, and it's certainly loud enough to be immediately noticeable once the engine is hot, you don't have to sit their and listen for it, it's obvious.

I have a friend who helps me do odd jobs on the van. His immediate reaction was that it was likely to be the clutch release bearing, but the garage were adamant that it was the gearbox and that this was by no means something to be concerned about unless it got noticeably worse - it was just a likely feature of an old rebuilt gearbox. The clutch is less than 300 miles old - it had been fitted when I had my rebuilt engine reinstalled, just before the gearbox failed, but the release bearing was replaced. We're talking rebuilt engine, rebuilt gearbox, new clutch - it should be as good as it gets.

The gearbox rebuild was done by Vege and is guaranteed, but that's not the point, I'm concerned about reliability. I've already had one long distance AA recovery this year, spent a lot of money and done very few miles. All I want a van that works that I can have some faith in...

[Plasticman]

I think your last para is spot on, where abouts are you
mike

[billy739]

ring vega and let them tell you if there happy for you to drive it or not

you will almost certainly find it will be the clutch center plate

the springs will chatter in the center of it

stick a new clutch in it , that should(some plates are supplied with rattly springs) quieten it up for 500 miles then it will be back for you to live with!

[Oldiebut goodie]

I agree with^^^^.
When I changed my engine I got exactly the same noise from the clutch which was new(+ bearing etc). It wasn't there before the engine change and it's the same gearbox. Noise disappears with clutch down. I worried about it for a while and 1 1/2 years later hardly notice it.

[painterspal]

Thanks for the advice and good suggestions. I'll ask Vege what they think and I'll also get a second opinion on the noise from a local gearbox expert. I'll let you know the result.

I'm in Suffolk btw.

Best wishes

Malc

[Aidan]

there should be no noise from the gearbox, or at least not readily audible, if there is then there's a fault.
if the garage are adamant it's the gearbox then get them to contact Vege and ask for permission to pull it and send it back, they can then check the clutch and spigot bearing installation again whilst the box is out and ensure they haven't been numpties and the box can go back to Vege and be stripped and checked again.
If it's silent when cold but noisy when warm then it's a clearance or bearing issue imho
If Vege won't entertain return of the box then you are in a difficult place between them and the garage that fitted it

[painterspal]

Thanks Aiden, I feared you might say that - it doesn't seem right to me either and I'll do as you suggest.

Who knows, perhaps one day someone will carry out a repair for us properly and the van will actually work as intended. It doesn't seem to matter what I do, or how much I spend, there always seems to be a further complication. I never thought I'd say it but I've really lost heart in our T25, and I've certainly lost faith in everyone we've trusted to repair her.