Vw transporter t5 5speed gearbox problem

**rorym91** · 08-04-2014, 07:09 PM

My car has just started making a grinding/clunking noise when its in 3rd or 4th and it happens when u accelerate and when u stop accelerating? Has any body had a simliar problem? Hoping its nothing major but by the sounds of it, it sounds major?

**Sunny43.5** · 08-04-2014, 10:09 PM

What gearbox manual or auto , I recently replaced the drive spline in my T5 2.0 litre petrol manual it was making a noticeable noise when changing gears . If it is then it should be changed fairly quickly as it may just tear out the splines without much warning have a look here this was done a week ago 2005 2.0 petrol manual T5 drive train spline question . scroll down and you can see the offending part .The best way to see if it is the shaft is to jack up the front wheels one at a time and rotate the wheel if there is a noticeable amount of free play before it seems to engage that's what I experienced . The drive axle turns normally but there is free play right where it enters the gearbox casing .

**rorym91** · 09-04-2014, 06:15 AM

yeah its manual 5 speed, yeah i had it up on the hoist yesterday arvo at my mates workshop and i was moving the wheels and it had lots of play and wasnt making a weird clunking noise then to, my mate and his dad seems to think its the front engine mount but im pretty sure its not tho, im gonna ring up wayne penrose today see what they say. thanks for the reply to and ill suss out that post

**Sunny43.5** · 09-04-2014, 08:57 AM

IF has lots of play I would look into the splines regardless the T5's were known for spline failure , the noise I used to hear was not usual it was sort of clunking grinding sound on down shifts and take off but it definitely was the spline in the end . If you look at the two photos in my post you can clearly see how much wear was on the splines this wear related to at least 25-30 plus mls of free rotation at the outside diameter of the wheel quite a lot .

**rorym91** · 09-04-2014, 07:30 PM

yeah i dunno what noise it is, its like a grinding clunking noise, yeah im pretty sure thats what it was doing when i had it up in the air? ive got it booked in to go to wayne penrose a guy that works on vw's on tuesday so hopefully he can find it and its not to much to fix. when i rang him i asked what were some common issues and yeah he said the splines but he was trying to tell me that if it was that it would stop driving so i was thinking this could be the start of it?? how much did u end up paying to fix that and is it possible to do it your self? another thing is i lowered in 40mm about 2 months ago and was wondering surely that wouldnt of done any harm to it??
thanks for the replys

**Sunny43.5** · 09-04-2014, 09:22 PM

Okay the spline was around $400 from VW but there are cheaper ones on Ebay from Europe for around $200 link here VW transporter t5 axle spline | eBay Now I used the factory one as I heard that VW had beefed them up after earlier failures so fingers crossed . No the spline wear would not stop you from driving as it will still be meshed with the axle but when it lets go then you will come to a stop as it will strip off the splines you could see from mine that it was real close to failing and yes it made noticeable noise as well during up down gear changes . How did you lower the van change the struts or fit lower springs ? the only part I could think of that may be compromised would be the drop link but I doubt that would cause the noise or maybe the lower camber bushes . When I changed both front struts I also did the camber bushes as they were pretty flogged out but there was no noise just a loose front end so to speak , I replaced the spline at the same time it was easy to do you can unbolt the lower control arm and then unbolt the large nut in the centre of the disc rotor on the drivers side there is an axle support bracket with two bolts once that is off the axle comes out real easy . The spline has an allen key bolt inside the end as it is undone it pulls the shaft out for you as it has a spring at the middle to keep tension on the spline . Once I replaced the spline ALL the noises stopped and there was no slackness in the drive axle area I was real happy .

**rorym91** · 10-04-2014, 06:06 AM

awk thats not that bad i guess, so u reckon get the vw ones if thats the problem? nah just changed the springs. awk sounds ok to do but dont wanna **** anything up lol, and whats it like putting it back in? yeah hopefully its just this and not something major

**Sunny43.5** · 10-04-2014, 03:37 PM

The replacement was just a reverse of removal you only have to have the allen key bolt in place with an allen key insert the spline and push the collar back into the box [that's the bit with a small spring built into it] and hold then start to wind the allen key inwards once you pick up the first turns on the thread you can let go and just use the allen key to finish off the fitting slide the axle back into place bolt up the support bracket and refit into the back of the rotor . I would suggest you compare your splines to the photo of mine and make judgment call based on how yours looks .
Howard

**rorym91** · 12-04-2014, 07:42 AM

yeah, ill take it to this guy on tuesday and see what he sais then if its that ill have a go doing it myself once i get the part. did u just go through vw to get the part and that? hopefully its just that tho not something major like the whole gearbox is ****ed then i dont know what im gonna do lol