Gearbox change question

[ndcxs16]

Help.

I currently have a 1.6 td engine linked to a 3 speed auto box. Its very slow and want to change it back to manual, so I can get up hills
Questions:
1. Will a petrol 5 speed box bolt in or do I need a specfic diesel gear box.
2. Do I need to worry about the drive shafts or are these compatible with all T25 gearboxes
3. I have read the linkage is different as well as the hole in the floor is different. Any advice on this?

Planning to do the work myself so will be searching fleabay and breakers to find donor parts. Any tips would be grand

Thanks

[Fritz]

Lets face it these vehicles were not made for going up hills fast with any gear box fitted.


You are making a load of work for yourself, YES, a 5 speed will go in provided you find a complete 5 speed linkage set up and mountings as they are different from any others ( and that is just for starters)
Then you will need a diesel bell housing (usually taken from a shagged 4 speed Diesel gearbox) which then has to be fitted to your 5 speed box so it will mate up to the 1.6 Diesel so that the Starter will work as it should.

And finally IMHO a 5 speed box fitted to your vehicle will be of NO benefit what so ever, even the final drive ratios are very similar to the 4 speed equivalent.


It is not the box you need to be changing, it is the motor that is letting you down.......


Regards


Fritz,,,,,,,,

[jamesc76]

Its very slow and want to change it back to manual, so I can get up hills

Thanks

If the gearbox is working correctly it should get up hills ok when you last change or check the oil in it ???

was it manual before ???

A 1.6 td is never gonna be fast!

[ndcxs16]

The van was manual orginally but was changed to automatic in Germany.
From your experience then should I be looking at beefing up the engine. I was talking to a mechanic about my woes and he mentioned a subaru engine being fitted but I was thinking a gearbox change may make 65mph cruising more enjoyable instead of reving the guts out of the engine.
Don't dislike the auto as its simple driving but motorway cruising and hills are scary.
Thanks for confusing me even more

[Fritz]

Not confusing at all,,,well for us who have been around these things for some time.

If you want to make good progress then perhaps a Diesel in any form is not for you, unless it is a 1.9 TDI ( these seem to have desired amount of grunt yet still retain reasonable fuel ecconomy) taken from a later model VW/Seat etc etc.....

The Subaru (2.1 and above) option seems to be the best one to slot straight in with a few mods OR going the whole hog and going for the Porsche 3. summat or other and its Tiptronic flappy paddle gearbox....

Most of us put up with reasonable performance on the flat,pispoor performance on hills (eg Lake district/ Scotland ) and awful fuel ecconomy when running Petrol engined campers, the alternative seems to be pi$$ poor acceleration, very poor hill climbing but very good fuel ecconomy,,,,,,,you could almost say double in a diesel from what you will get from a petrol engined T 25 when used to it s full potential...

Regards


Fritz,,,,,,,
PS, I always fancied the South African built choice of motor which was the 5 cylinder Audi Fuel injected motor that seemed to slot into the available space.... from the mid 90's

[jamesc76]

The van was manual orginally but was changed to automatic in Germany.
From your experience then should I be looking at beefing up the engine. I was talking to a mechanic about my woes and he mentioned a subaru engine being fitted but I was thinking a gearbox change may make 65mph cruising more enjoyable instead of reving the guts out of the engine.
Don't dislike the auto as its simple driving but motorway cruising and hills are scary.
Thanks for confusing me even more

I'd say your asking to much of a cak engine to sit at 65 all day the van is over 2 tonne! I have a scooby engine, but I did it myself to pay some one to convert it would be big bucks!

[Aidan]

Odd one this, was never supplied as auto with diesel box afaik so it's been converted proabably using audi bits it's not going to be a standard installation
if the coversion had been done right then the van would do 65 but would be at the top of it's rev range
it shouldn't lose power on hills though so I suggest there's something wrong with the torque converter - may be better to fix this
Finding a good 5 speed isn't easy but is better for the TD as the gear spread optimises the Turbo boost, but you can run 4 speed no problem, just make sure you get a 4.86 or 4.83 final drive 5 speed box, or you'll be back at revvving the nads off it
driveshafts are different, there's a lot to do the conversion

[ndcxs16]

Thanks for the info and your words of wisdom have made me stop and think where I want to go with this project.
Auto box is from an audi I think.