MK4 Gti - 1st gear bearing noise

[HOLEIN1]

hi there guys

got my car back today from getting a few bits n pieces fixed up and my mechanic has informed me that the bearing in my trans is on the way out, causing a bit of noise in 1st gear especially when cold

from what he said, these things can go without much warning and cause big damage to the internals - no suprise there

my question is however is whether this is the case (ie. fine one day, farked the next) or if i can get away with running it like it is a little longer

also, what sort of money should i be paying for this to get fixed, this guy has quoted just over 1k, although i understand this is a big job, this seems a little pricey as the part is cheap as chips...

quite annoying too as the car only has had older previous owners and has only 70k on the clock

any suggestions welcome

[Jmac]

Mate seriously i would fill your trans with Syntranx and give this a couple of hundred ks to settle in and give the oil time to coat the bearings , and this may rid the noise for a fair while, i recommend it .
Jmac

[h100vw]

A gearbox is chock a block full of bearings, how the mech can say that one is going to let go seems well sketchy to me.

There isn't a problem with mk4 gearboxes that I am aware of.

Hopefully Jimmymac will be along to confirm my thoughts.

Is your mechanic at a VW specialist, what are his credentials, do they include enough VW experience to make judgements of this nature.

As for costing a grand to fix. It's a good half a day or more to remove and re-fit a gearbox. Plus the labour to do the bearing. Doesn't seem overly expensive to me.

I'd spend money on fresh oil (maybe Redline) before pulling the gearbox off.

Gavin


Beaten soundly!!

[Jmac]

I will confirm that this Box never had issues, but like we are suggesting a good and let it settle in around 200ks , this gives time for the bearings to get a coating, so what i am saying dont look for a miracle right away but this will probably do the job, look for the cost of a flush its worth a try. Back to my first sentence they generally never had issues aprt from a select few losing a diff pin and firing it through the casing but hey mate thats not whats going on and you should have been hearing some sort of whine, just on bearing diagnosis- say in second you hear a whine that doesnt mean its second bearing, illtry and make it simple when you select a gear you then hard lock it mainshaft to layshaft and diff, so the adjacent gears are then free spinning which means they rely on the bearings ( with me?????) So if you are hearing a whine in 1st it will be 2nd gear bearing thats noisy and so on and so on.
Any way enough of the nitty try the oil dude
Jmac

[HOLEIN1]

Is your mechanic at a VW specialist, what are his credentials, do they include enough VW experience to make judgements of this nature.

i wont mention names, but yes i spose you could say that this guy/workshop has lots of experience with VW, audi etc etc

i am fairly mechanically minded and understand how everything works, but from what this guy ws saying today has left me extremely paranoid, you should have seen me drive the car before to get some takeout! slower than a learner driver in a 100 zone! haha

just wanted some opinions on what others thought, as the guy today said that the thing could go at anytime with little notice and totally shag the rest of the gearbox and causing thousands more damage as a result... its this that of course concerns me more than the noise itself...

had the gear oil changed to some new synthetic stuff, so i guess ill monitor it over the next few 100 k's and see what happens...

I will confirm that this Box never had issues

this is interesting, as ive heard that the boxes in the Gti's have had a number of problems due to the more powerful engine causing things such as bearings and syncros to wear much quicker... although this would have alot to do with how the car is driven of course... not disputing what you have suggested, just repeating what ive been told in the past/read on forums etc

oh and for the record i believe its the bearing on the input shaft if that makes any difference...

thanks for the suggestions so far...

[Jmac]

Yeah it will be the bearing on the input shaft mate but if it is in 1st then its second gear bearing ( i know it sounds silly ) but if you read previous thats how it works.
Leave it for a couple of hundred mate and see how she goes and yeah if you drive it like you stole it and put your knee through the sunroof during changes then yeah somethings gonna give like you say.
Jmac

[HOLEIN1]

yher will do, thanks for the input guys