strange geabox failure - one for ye experts

[oorwullie]

welll monday i came out af a shopping centre and noticed a big pool of what turned out to be gear oil on the ground.

fast forward to later and this is the problem:



just wondering if anyone else ever experienced the same thing.
my bus( 1991 caravelle C 2.1 SR with cat, AGT 5 speed tranny) has 314,100 kms on it and the diff has been whining softly since i 've been driving it, that's 5 or 6 years now.
the last couple of days i thought the whine was a little louder but the transmission was still working perfectly and after discovering the oil puddle i drove about another 25 miles before getting into the workshop and on a lift.

i'm driving again now after fitting a replacement from my parts bus. this was a 112 horse caravelle camper with 280,000kms , a blown engine and a genuine VW exchange tranny ( also AGT) which i dunno the mileage on but there's no whines anymore.



this is the drain plug from my old tranny.

[Aidan]

pinion bearing is shagged Dave crown and pinion running out of spec hence the whine, 1st gear and 1st reverse synchro hub will also be stuffed, common faults due to lack of maintenace, regular oil changes will show the drain plug, when the head builds it's rebuild time, change the oil every 2-3 years, 20k miles max, oil is cheap, rebuild won't be, end cases only 3 new ones left in America over £300, obsolete from VW/classic parts, new ones will be cast by my supplier in America but they won't be cheap

[oorwullie]

cheers for the answer, but have you ever seen this happening before? i've seen other much more spectacular 5 speed gearbox failures.

i reckon it's rebuildable, not that i'd be doing it myself. do ye know a scots gearbox guy in germany very near swissland? never met him myself yet, but he sorted a mate in basle out very well.

would a NEW nose be the only proper way to fix this? i reckon i can lay my hands on a fair few good used ones.

pm me if ye don't want to be givin' out trade secrets in public.

[CovKid]

Yes he has and his answer is spot on. Read this page - may give you a better idea of the damage that can occur elsewhere:

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... 1&start=30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[oorwullie]

Yes he has and his answer is spot on. Read this page - may give you a better idea of the damage that can occur elsewhere:

https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.p ... 1&start=30" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ah, thank ye for that. nice to know i'm not alone.

aidan, in case ye think i've been skimping on the maintenance/ oil changes i should mention that this is my winter vehicle and i've only done a bit over 30k miles in it over 5 years.

and i'm personally amazed that any 5 speed box has reached 314,000kms at all. maybe it's the healthy diet.......

[Aidan]

seen it many times I'm afraid
the pinion head is originally shimmed to an accuracy of 0.04mm, the case is 6mm thick so you can see how much wear is in there - the end case bearing will have collapsed, possibly the one on 1st gear too and the shaft is probably damaged, unless it's a 7/32 final drive box or got an lsd it's not worth rebuilding, strip it for parts but don't expect to get much worth using out of it
5 years ownership, did you change the oil when you bought it ? was the magnet not pretty big then ?
These boxes can do 350,000 miles IF they have been regularly oil changed from new no problem and still have life left in them but VW said sealed for life and people believed them
which is why I'm booked into June at the mo, thanks VW

[oorwullie]

aidan,thanks for all the detailed infos, i 've been moving house and had no www for over 3 weeks but it's all go at mega speed again now.

me bay westie sailed through it's CHuffland mot last week so i'm just needing suitable weather to get camping again.

the beer's on me if yer in the area.