Stiff gearchange

[CJH]

Sorry, what I meant was "No - all gears. Why do you ask?"

[max and caddy]

Well I'm happy my hydralics are in good shape...and my fluid is new...but the clutch I used is second hand, non genuine, and does judder a little when pushed so could be a culprit...will look out for a nice new one..

I'm using a tdi flywheel by the way...not that it should matter.

[Ian Hulley]

Sorry, what I meant was "No - all gears. Why do you ask?"

If between say 4th -> 5th and back it may have been a synchro hub breaking up in the box.

Can you get all the gears easily with the engine switched off ? What about stationary with the engine running ?

Ian

[CJH]

Ah ok, thanks. I'm pretty sure that's not it, as that's the reason the box came out for repair in the first place. It had a broken 3rd gear syncro hub, which has now been replaced with the Weddle part from Aidan. The guy that did the rebuild (not Aidan) said everything else in the box was fine.

When the box is cold it works really nicely, and it's only when it gets hot that the problem appears. What I haven't tried is pulling over once the problem shows up and turning off the engine to see what the gearchange is like then. If my hydraulic fluid flush hasn't fixed it I'll make sure to try that the next time it happens.

[Aidan]

sorry yes I meant worse when hot is symptom of spigot bearing grabbing

[CJH]

sorry yes I meant worse when hot is symptom of spigot bearing grabbing

Ah, ok, that's consistent then. I'll keep that in mind if the problem persists.

[Ian Hulley]

And then one morning you won't be able to get gears with the engine running but it will be perfect with it switched off Hence my question

Ian

[CJH]

And then one morning you won't be able to get gears with the engine running but it will be perfect with it switched off Hence my question

Ian

A cheery thought, thanks. I'll look forward to that!

[Ian Hulley]

And then one morning you won't be able to get gears with the engine running but it will be perfect with it switched off Hence my question

Ian

A cheery thought, thanks. I'll look forward to that!

But at least you'll know what it is and can get collecting the clutch, front crankshaft seal, flywheel bolts, O-ring and seal, starter motor bush and spigot bearing etc etc ready

Ian

[CJH]

I did a longer journey last night, and although it's not cured it is MUCH better - almost perfect in fact. A bit of reluctance to come out of gear after a stint on the motorway, moreso I think in 2nd and 4th but difficult to be sure, and when coming out of reverse (not on the motorway, obviously!) it's a bit vague sometimes - almost as though the lever is out but the gearbox isn't.

I think I'll add the master cylinder and pipework to the list of winter jobs, and if that doesn't fix it well I'll just wait for something to break!

[Nitmoi]

Maybe not the answer but I chucked molyslip in the box and it made a great difference.

Grease all the bushes, I expect you have.

[max and caddy]

My spigot is brand new and perfect...it was fine with the box I had in temporary and that even had the same bell housing as the one in there now...I kinda think mine is down to the linkage or adjustment but not sure...it's not terrible...in fact if I didn't have two syncros I might even think it was normal but when I drive my van its refreshing easy to change gear compared to the pick up.

I will dig deeper..intresting to note we are both using weddle 3/4 th syncro hub outer rings..

[ermie571]

CHJ.... how did you flush the fluid? Might try that on Ermie.

[CJH]

CHJ.... how did you flush the fluid? Might try that on Ermie.

Hi - I meant that I just continued with the bleeding process until the fluid coming out was clear, like the fluid going in from the bottle.

So, at the risk of teaching grandma how to suck eggs:
The bleed nipple is on the top of the slave cylinder - best access is through the near-side rear wheel arch, so jack it up, pop an axle stand under it too, and take that wheel off. Fill up the fluid reservoir under the dash binnacle. Then put a bit of pipe over the bleed nipple and point the other end into a jam jar. Slacken off the bleed nipple then get someone to depress the clutch, and while the pedal is on the floor, do the bleed nipple up. Repeat this until the fluid dropping into the jam jar is clean. Periodically top up the reservoir, and also periodically empty the jam jar so that you can see what colour fluid is coming through - it's not that easy to tell in the dim light under the wheel arch, even if you're using clear pipe. Finally, tighten up the bleed nipple, and check the fluid level in the reservoir. In all this took a little over half a litre of fluid in my case, but that was with having to fill a new slave cylinder.

[CJH]

I will dig deeper..intresting to note we are both using weddle 3/4 th syncro hub outer rings..

Yes, although I could see that being related if the problem was getting into 3rd/4th, but I can't see how it would affect getting out of 2nd. But then the workings of a gearbox are a bit of a mystery to me.