Passat 6 Speed Gearbox Problem

[jeepjunkie]

Unfortunately my Passat TDI 130 Sport SE with almost 60,000 miles has been diagnosed with a worn gearbox as it has developed a whine indicating worn bearings!? *** a gently driven dealer serviced Passat with gearbox problems already! This car was supposed to be a keeper for quite a few years! Thankfully it is not noticeable in town driving which is where it does 90% of its miles.

My choice is... trade it for another car, get new gbox from VW, get it reconditioned or live with it...

Does anybody know of a company in central Scotland that can repair/recondition these gearboxes?

Cheers

[vwtdi130pd]

there used to be a place in glasgow called transmition services i will look out there phone number for you it was just off cumbernauld road
ps just changed my gearbox oil to find it only had 1ltr in it my car too is vw serviced from new and there is no oil around the gearbox did they ever fill it up !!!

[smoothace28]

check to see if there is a re-call for that problem as ive seen re-calls for b6 gearboxes

cheers neil

[martin1810]

Does it whine in specific gears or in all gears. Whine in all gears is usually the diff bearings. Still in the gearbox though. Bearing changes are not that hard or expensive.... But the labour involved is.

[cazyp]

Seems to be a common fault with the 6 spped box. I'd get down your local dealer and try for a repair/part repair under warranty.

[jeepjunkie]

there used to be a place in glasgow called transmition services i will look out there phone number for you it was just off cumbernauld road
ps just changed my gearbox oil to find it only had 1ltr in it my car too is vw serviced from new and there is no oil around the gearbox did they ever fill it up !!!

Did this sort your gearbox?

Cheers

[jeepjunkie]

Seems to be a common fault with the 6 spped box. I'd get down your local dealer and try for a repair/part repair under warranty.

Been down that road on Thur and since it is not under warranty VW are likely only to contribute £200 towards a VW repair. Not much cop!

Cheers

[jeepjunkie]

Seems to be a common fault with the 6 spped box. I'd get down your local dealer and try for a repair/part repair under warranty.

Spoke to a couple of indepandent specialists and a VW mechanic who say this is a rare issue?

Cheers

[mbuk2456]

My tdi 130 53 plate passat with 85k on the clock that hasnt had a hard life has just started to whine as well. the vw Specialist that i use has told me that it a rare problem but reading on here there seem to be quitre a few! I tempted just to keep it and wait until it gives up completely! A new box from Vw is just over two grand!

[jeepjunkie]

My tdi 130 53 plate passat with 85k on the clock that hasnt had a hard life has just started to whine as well. the vw Specialist that i use has told me that it a rare problem but reading on here there seem to be quitre a few! I tempted just to keep it and wait until it gives up completely! A new box from Vw is just over two grand!

Same here, just going to keep running it. My whining noise is faint so sometime I think I'm imagining it. Anyway got the car checked out by a specialist swho recommended not spending any money on it. If it does fail then I know people who can get me a box for not much cash and it it runs fine for another couple of years guess where its going to get traded :)

[cazyp]

There are plenty of these boxes now at breakers yards - c'£100/£150

[mbuk2456]

Same here, just going to keep running it. My whining noise is faint so sometime I think I'm imagining it. Anyway got the car checked out by a specialist swho recommended not spending any money on it. If it does fail then I know people who can get me a box for not much cash and it it runs fine for another couple of years guess where its going to get traded :)

How many miles has yours done and what year is it? Im tempted to trade mine now but then again it could last another few years! Ive had the car for 3 years and other than a rad and the usuall air mass problems its been good to me! Anyone know what will happen when the diff bearing gives up all together? Will it just whine like hell or it is a case of no gears?

[jeepjunkie]

2004 and 50,000 miles. 1.9tdi se sport.

[cazyp]

How many miles has yours done and what year is it? Im tempted to trade mine now but then again it could last another few years! Ive had the car for 3 years and other than a rad and the usuall air mass problems its been good to me! Anyone know what will happen when the diff bearing gives up all together? Will it just whine like hell or it is a case of no gears?

Usually you will not be able to select gears.

[mbuk2456]

There are plenty of these boxes now at breakers yards - c'£100/£150

Ive had a look and i cant find them at this price there plenty of ones for a golf/fabia/A3 about but the passat A4 and A6 tdi boxes are more expensive

[gun_em_down]

Same here, just going to keep running it. My whining noise is faint so sometime I think I'm imagining it. Anyway got the car checked out by a specialist swho recommended not spending any money on it. If it does fail then I know people who can get me a box for not much cash and it it runs fine for another couple of years guess where its going to get traded :)


I had the same whining problem with my VW Passat 53 reg- 6 speed gearbox, it had done around 130k. I was also given 2 options, a) New gearbox from VW, which costs just under £2,000, or b) recondition the gearbox (approx cost £600)

In the end I searched high and low for a used gearbox from Salvage Companies and luckily I found an exact match gearbox which had only done 58k, for £300..... The salvage place was located in Rotherham (South Yorkshire), sorry cannot find the tel number at the moment, but will re-post as soon as I get it.. Mechanic chargedme £200 to fit, so all in price of £500 and now the car is running smoothly.... no whining from gearbox.

Trust me this is a commen fault with these VW gearboxes, especially the 6 speed

[mbuk2456]

Ive had a gearbox specialist have alook at it for me and he reckons its the main bearings not the diff bearings that are gone and quoted me approx £600 quid to recon the box plus another £200 quid to take it out and re fit it which seams alot of money!

[jeepjunkie]

UPDATE: -

After a year of the gearbox whining and slowly getting worse my wife and I decided now was the time to do something about it before it failed...

Car currently at a gearbox specialist to get repaired... Looks like the main bearing. Should be back next week :-)

Basically if you suspect a gearbox problem go to a specialist and get it fixed. Main dealers are pretty much a waste of time unless of course you are still under warranty. If you get to a situation where a bearing collapses you are looking at serious £££'s

[scotty33]

UPDATE: -

After a year of the gearbox whining and slowly getting worse my wife and I decided now was the time to do something about it before it failed...

Car currently at a gearbox specialist to get repaired... Looks like the main bearing. Should be back next week :-)

Basically if you suspect a gearbox problem go to a specialist and get it fixed. Main dealers are pretty much a waste of time unless of course you are still under warranty. If you get to a situation where a bearing collapses you are looking at serious £££'s


I agree totally,

I bought a passat with failed 6 speed g/box, struggled to find a second hand passat 6 speed, so used an Audi A4 box instead. There were some differences, but nothing that could not be 'got around'.

Original gearbox in my car was shot to bits, with nothing inside suitable for re-use. Suggest owners do not run these until they fail completely, it does away with the recon option!
Unfortunately the oil is considered fit for the life of the car, I feel this is not really a sensible way to treat a £2000 gearbox and think an oil change every 50-60k is probably a better way to go?

[jeepjunkie]

I agree totally,

I bought a passat with failed 6 speed g/box, struggled to find a second hand passat 6 speed, so used an Audi A4 box instead. There were some differences, but nothing that could not be 'got around'.

Original gearbox in my car was shot to bits, with nothing inside suitable for re-use. Suggest owners do not run these until they fail completely, it does away with the recon option!
Unfortunately the oil is considered fit for the life of the car, I feel this is not really a sensible way to treat a £2000 gearbox and think an oil change every 50-60k is probably a better way to go?

That's great getting a similar box to fit!

[jeepjunkie]

Well Passat back yesterday from gearbox repair.

Required new main bearing.

Great bunch of lads at ASK Transmissions.

Like new again :D

[passat tdi130]

Well Passat back yesterday from gearbox repair.

Required new main bearing.

Great bunch of lads at ASK Transmissions.

Like new again :D

what was the cost of repair..??

i have a passat tdi 130 sport 03 plate 173,000 miles no whine clunks bangs etc it is also a private hire taxi..!!

[jeepjunkie]

£650 + VAT

Cheers

[scotty33]

That's great getting a similar box to fit!

My 51 plate passat saloon had a FRK code gearbox.

The A4 gearbox I used has code GBA

I don't know how far out the ratio's are but seem fairly similar to my 6 speed passat estate

The Audi uses different inner CV joints, so the drive flanges on the 'boxes differ, I think they can be swapped over easily. I no longer had the passat ones so used the Audi driveshafts complete.
The Audi box did not have a Vehicle speed sensor fitted, , though the port for it was present, it was fitted with a blank. I fitted one to it OK

[passat tdi130]

ouch...!!!!

well at least its all ok now..!!

[dannyboy201062]

I bought an `03 Passat sport 6 speed about 3 years ago with 50 K on the clock. Part of the deal was that it was fully serviced. I didn`t really trust the dealer but all the service parts appeared to have been replaced. I then checked the gearbox oil and it was almost empty. Filled it up and could not find a leak. I made sure to check the gearbox oil every 10 K since then and it always needs a top up but still no obvious leaks. 115 K on the clock now . My Nephew has an identical car with the same mileage and his gearbox started whining @ 75K. He hadn`t been checking the gearbox oil and it cost him 2,000 Euro for a gearbox overhaul. I now see my car is staining the driveway with an oil leak and the engine oil level is o.k. I better check it soon. I don`t know where these gearboxes leak oil / use oil but it seems oil level check is very important................dannyboy

[Chipped2]

Totally agree with a gearbox oil change every 60k with intermediate checkups. Mine has had that and is on 132k is chipped and seems fine. It's the 130 sport 6-speed and pulls boat, caravan and trailer.

[scotty33]

I just looking into taking my own advice! It seems I need 2.4 litres of oil for the 6 speed.

Opie oils suggests 2 oils; the Millers offering does not correspond to a VAG spec
and Fuch's Titan Sintofluid 75w-80 which is equivalent to VAG

G 052 171 A1/A2 A1 A2 being 0.5 or 1 litre I think.

Vagcat says I should be using

G 052 911 A2

Anyone know if the VAG part no. has been superceded? I know there are other specs for VAG oil

Sintofluid 75w meets

G 052 512
G 052 178
G 055 726

I take it this oil is for the 02 series transmissions? Iguess anything would be better than not changing or topping up the oil, but it would be nice to put the right stuff in! Any advice appreciated.:beerchug:

[scotty33]

I went with the Fuchs Titan Sintofluid 75W-80. from Opie Oils, delivery was quick and I got my Forum Discount (:beerchug: Stuart)

The dark brown 'mank' that came out convinces me that it was money well spent. I did both of my cars, both approaching 130k miles.
I also drained only approx 1.75L from each box so this fill for life idea is nonsense.
Easy to do on the 6 speed, just need a 10mm Allen Key for drain and fill plugs. 5 speed uses a weird 12 point splined 'Security' fitting I think.



Also found that the data sheet for sintofluid 75W-80 states that it does correspond to G052 911, so no problem there.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/FUCHS%20-%20TDS/TITAN%20SINTOFLUID%2075W-80.pdf