Stiff 2nd Gear

[David8831]

My 1990 GTI 16V with 85k miles has just started being very stiff to get into 2nd gear. Not crunching, just stiff. Is this a common problem? Any advice?:1zhelp:

[Crasher]

Yes it is common as it gets cold outside (the oil gets thicker) and if you force it into gear you will wear out second gear synchromesh and then need a box rebuild. Get the box fully hot and drain the oil, leaving it to drain overnight if possible. Then clean around the speedo cable drive and remove the M7 bolt (it can be a cross head or an 11-mm hex) and then carefully draw out the speedo cable taking extreme care to not drop the drive off the end into the box. Then refill the box with 2 litres of Red Line MTL oil and a carton of Slick 50 gearbox treatment. In around 100 miles you should notice the difference. To avoid damage to the syncro, take it a little higher in first and go straight for 3rd until the box is warm. This used to be standard practice on older Ferraris.

[David8831]

Thanks Crasher, I have finally got hold of my 2 quarts of MTL, still need to get hold of the Slick 50.

My car is a 1990 and I believe that I can fill it entirely through the 17mm oil level plug on the side of the gearbox, is that correct? Obviously a very long piece of 1/2 inch tubing is needed.

I assume that the drain plug is the torx head bolt under the gearbox? Any idea what size it is, I know it's bigger than a T30, I assume it must be a T40?

David.

[Crasher]

It is a 17-mm hex (Allen) key. To fill the box, first of all thoroughly clean around the speedo cable fitting and then remove the faster holding the cable in. This is usually a 11-mm set screw (bolt) but can be a cross head or even a hex key. Carefully remove the cable (do not drop the gear on the end of the cable into the box) and fill the box with 2 litres of oil through this hole. Remove the 17-mm hex key bung on the side of the box to check the level is correct. You are quite right in pointing out the side plug as being an issue on earlier boxes, up to 1988 it was too low and could cause fifth gear to run dry if the level was checked there.