My gearbox is fixed

[Dave Avant]

Well last weekend it was finished but haven't had chance to post about it.

Basically I had problems sometimes pulling the gear stick out of 2nd, and always when stationary, when driving it was fine. Then a week or 2 ago Iwent into 2nd gear and when the turbo came in it went crunch and grind - 2nd gear had totally gone.

Stripped the box and found the selector collar for 1st and 2nd had all the teeth missing on the 2nd gear side, hence no 2nd gear. Its supprising that the car only puts its power through such a small amount of teeth. On the 1st piccy you can see about 3mm of the teeth have been shaved away and thats all the gear runs on, not the whole thing.

Anyway what would be an expensive job cost me £46 to fix!!! DIY always pays, well most of the time. It was just me and my Dad who did the job and were both not mechanics. Obviously there were a few other bits which needed replacing as they were 'damaged' when removed from the box. So the it cost me just shy of £100, then plus a new clutch which I thought while I'm here it'd be rude not to and gear oil etc. As the A4 is designed to accept big V8s there was a decent amount of room to work on it and remove the box which helped and you don't have to remove the drive shafts and dismantle the suspension as they unbolt from the box.

The clutch was in good health and should last another 70,000 miles.

Also so I gave it a service and changed the rear pads with a caliper rewind tool which made it as easy as winding a clock.

One problem I had with the car after its major surgery was a rattle which I pin pointed to the cat - thought I may have dropped/banged it removing it and was going to gut it, but found a loose bolt on the flange, tightened it up, job done.

Since doing the job I have noticed 2nd doesn't move forwards and backwards when you accellerate and decellerate - must have been the dodgy selector collar.

Now if you accidently grind the gears when selecting, try not to as it may do what mine did and eventually wear itself out and the wear being born from the gear grinding.

here are some pics;

[hagis]

Well done! I wish I had the ability to do stuff like that - any DIY work I do usually ends up with me buggering it up!

[Marco34]

Well done Dave. Interesting to see the pics also. Look liked rather a big job! Glad it's all sorted!!

[sladeywadey]

Dave, well done - sounds like you've done a great job there. My 2nd gear isn't the best and I'm also considering changing the clutch myself - is the gearbox mega heavy?

[Dave Avant]

Dave, well done - sounds like you've done a great job there. My 2nd gear isn't the best and I'm also considering changing the clutch myself - is the gearbox mega heavy?

Its quite a heavy box, but liftable by yourself (out of the car). I used a trolley jack and pieces of wood to remove and fit it - also my Dad helped - its best to have 2 people when removing and fitting!! When the box is removed the engine swings backwards so it can be tilted downwards making it slightly easier to get the box back on. I'd guess at the box weighing around 40kgs - my jack weighs 35kgs and it was a bit heavier than that.

One tool you do need which isn't a 'normal' DIY garage tool is a spline bolt tool for the drive shafts - looks like a Torx but has more 'teeth'. And also for changing the box oil you need a VW drain spline security key. But if you're not going to change the box oil it doesn't matter as you can remove the box without draining.

[sladeywadey]

thanks a lot for the hints Dave. Any special tools needed for dismantling the gearbox like pullers etc?

[Dave Avant]

thanks a lot for the hints Dave. Any special tools needed for dismantling the gearbox like pullers etc?

For dismantling the box you need a VAG 1582/3 tool to remove the input shaft bearing. After this you can get away with standard gear and bearing pullers.

The VAG tool is £100!! so I just knackered the input bearing when removing it and replaced it with a new one as it was £17 - much cheaper than the VAG tool.

You don't need any special tools for a clutch change though as you just remove the gearbox in whole and then you can unbolt the clutch assembly from the flywheel.

Also I found the best setup was to drive the front end up ramps and then lift the rear with a jack and support with axle stands. Gives decent height and the car is level.

[onzarob]

Well done Dave, you've inspired me to fix my own clutch when the time comes (Unless it's raining)

[sladeywadey]

For dismantling the box you need a VAG 1582/3 tool to remove the input shaft bearing. After this you can get away with standard gear and bearing pullers.

The VAG tool is £100!! so I just knackered the input bearing when removing it and replaced it with a new one as it was £17 - much cheaper than the VAG tool.

You don't need any special tools for a clutch change though as you just remove the gearbox in whole and then you can unbolt the clutch assembly from the flywheel.

Also I found the best setup was to drive the front end up ramps and then lift the rear with a jack and support with axle stands. Gives decent height and the car is level.

great info - thanks again. How long to remove the gearbox once jacked up?

[Dave Avant]

great info - thanks again. How long to remove the gearbox once jacked up?

Well I got the box out and took the end case off to inspect the insides on a Sunday afternoon.

Its quite a straight forward job with easy access. As I was doing it for the first time it took me a little longer. It took me about 4-5 hours but I reckon it can be off in 3 hours. I used the ElsaWin Audi workshop manual, but even this was a little vague as it said there were only 4 main attaching bolts, but there were more. The bolts at the top are most difficult to get at as they are just underneath the coolant pipes. Also the Elsawin said to remove the anti roll bar and lift the engine slightly to get at the bottom 3 bolts. But I found it was easier to use a ring spanner the oposite way round (the ring spanner thats angled not flat) to get at these bolts as going from the ARB side under the sump was still tight access - so no need to remove the ARB.