Thanks for the replies guys, it's good to know, the auto box has to stay as this is my fiance's car and not mine, she is not a fan of manual....not yet anyway, i am mechanically minded but i am thinking i may take it to a specialist, it seems to hold for a while but changes very smoothly, i got a feeling that if it's going to cost too much to fix i will just get a second hand gearbox when this one finally packs it in.

Many thanks.