Gearbox Whine

[mrbodly]

Hi all

I have an 82 2L Aircooled westfalia.

I have a noisy gearbox. It whines in 1st, 2nd and 3rd - 4th is nice and quiet. Motorway driving is a pleasure but around town it is not so great. It changes gear fine and pulls well, it's just the noise which is a problem.

I drained and changed the oil about 4 months ago. The drain plug was rather furry but no worse than expected considering it may have been its first change for many years.

I'm considering changing the box. I see Just Kampers do a recon for £750, is this a good option or is a rebuild with a reputable garage the way forward?

Any advice greatfully received.

Cheers
Myles

[ghost123uk]

Aidan on here is our resident guru on T25 gearboxes

His profile = HERE

His website = HERE

Many folk on here would advise avoiding JK as many (including me) have experienced poor quality issues with some of their products

[icosahedron]

Aidan doesn't touch air cooled boxes. I'd recommend Bears Motorsport as they are tooled up and have the experience. Then again, maybe they are JK's supplier?

[mrbodly]

Thanks for your replies. So am I correct in thinking that a box in good condition should be quiet in all gears. Or is it normal to expect some noise?

[CovKid]

Shouldn't be that noisy. Sure its not a clutch component? Wear in that area can sometimes produce whining noise.

[mrbodly]

Hi Covkid, if it was a clutch issue, wouldn't it be noisy in 4th also?

[CovKid]

By the time you're in 4th, road noise tends to become more dominant but yes, you may be right.

[mrbodly]

I'm sure he will be along to answer this himself - why doesn't Aidan offer a repair service for Aircooled boxes?

[ghost123uk]

Aye, I had better look after mine then as although it is an 86 DG, it has for some reason got a DK box fitted, which I understand is from an Aircooled

btw, I know Aidan has other things on his mind at present, please see LINK (Sorry to hear about this Aidan).

[mrbodly]

Sorry to hear that.

I've also noticed when I'm sat at lights with the gearbox in neutral there is a grinding noise, like a dry bearing, maybe. When I depress the clutch the noise stops.
This sounds like the noise I hear in 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Any ideas?

Cheers
Myles

[ghost123uk]

That sounds like an input shaft bearing issue, but I am no expert (just regurgitating stuff I have gleaned off here over the years there )

[mrbodly]

Yep, thats what the Haynes manual suggests for a noisy box in neutral. I wonder if that can effect 1,2 and 3rd also? Does anyone know if input shaft bearing replacement is a specialist job?

Cheers

[CovKid]

Not particularly specialist (use the search feature) but you do have to pull the gearbox out to do it. You'd be well advised to remove it anyway and check that as well as release bearing. If the box hasn't been out in some years, who knows what you might find.

[mrbodly]

I'll pull the box and see what I find. Would be good to find and fix what is causing the noise.

[itchyfeet]

btw, I know Aidan has other things on his mind at present, please see LINK (Sorry to hear about this Aidan).

i think thats been there since last summer