Felicia 1.3 gearbox

[Rui Paz]

Hello to all,

i have a Felicia 1.3 Combi GLXi from 1998, and it makes some noise when i go in 5th gear.

All the gears enter good, but the 5th gear makes that annoing noise, i've checked the valvoline and it is ok.

So now i'm thinking of change the gearbox.

Can someone tell me if i can put other gearbox, like from VW or other Skoda diferent from mine ?

It is hard to find original gearbox or 2nd hand gearbox equal to mine, and the ones that i find are expensive.

Also how or where can i find the reference of my gearbox ?

Any suggestions ?

Thanks.

Edited 3 November, 2010 by Rui Paz

[djaychela]

Sounds like the typical problem of the nuts for 5th gear coming loose - there is a thread on here somewhere about it, which should do the trick,. it's an easy fix.

A different type of gearbox is not a realistic option.

[Rui Paz]

Ok,

i will search for that topic, the only problem is that i don't know about mechanics and also my english is not the best

So my problem are the nuts of the 5th gear, i hope that is a common problem and if so it's an easy fix.

But can i put other gearbox brand/model (some other VAG) or not on my Felicia 1.3 ? Witch ones ?

Thanks

[RobinSLXi]

The Favorit and Felicia are the only cars that use the Skoda-designed FWD gearbox - previous models were rear-engined and later models were VW-based. A Favorit gearbox may be usable with some modification - the mountings are different for a start - but really the only straightforward option is another Felicia box. Bear in mind the 1.6 and diesel models have different ratios which may not be suitable for the 1.3 engine.

[J242]

whats the difference between the 1.3 and 1.6 ratios? and would it be a straight swap? always fealt the gears were too close..

[RobinSLXi]

I'm not sure if there's a difference in spacing but in terms of final drive the 1.6 is actually geared even lower than the 1.3! Probably because the 1.6 is quite torquey with a pretty flat power delivery (it's the most diesel-like petrol engine I've ever driven) whereas the Skoda lump is happiest when revved a bit. The ratios in the 1.3 box were revised at some point (around '97 I think) and the later one is supposed to be a bit better. There's a post from a couple of months back with all the numbers from the technical documentation - IIRC the thread may have originally been about something else but I imagine a search on 'gear ratios' or similar should get you there eventually. Fitting-wise there may be minor differences between earlier boxes but post-1997 they all use exactly the same casing, although you may find a diesel box still has the adapter plate attached (the 1.6 plate attaches to the engine instead).

[djaychela]

ALL the older boxes use the same ratios, so there's no difference in the spacing - only the final drive is different. I wasn't aware the 1.6 had a different final drive. However, the 1.3 isn't "low" geared - it's geared to do over 140mph in top gear at 7000rpm! Do you mean "lower" in terms of numerical ratio, rather than actual gearing?

The later boxes do have slightly different gear ratios.

The boxes are interchangeable, I've fitted both to the same car, but obviously parts aren't interchangeable between them (I think the diff is, but pretty much everything else is different, IIRC).

Fav boxes will fit in a Felicia, it's only the rear mounting bolts that are different and it's dead easy to swap them between Fel and Fav boxes (three bolts) or make up the appropriate bits with nuts, studding and washers.

[RobinSLXi]

Quite right you are, thanks for the heads up. Looking again, I see I had it slightly wrong - early 1.6 boxes actually had a shorter 4th and 5th than everything else, but the same final drive as the 135MPi. Later 1.6 boxes have the standard ratios. I think I must have incorrectly inferred the final drive thing from road test data - the 1.3 is faster in all the gears (except 5th), but of course that's due to it revving higher, not the gearing

Here's the post I mentioned: http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/171787-gearbox-questions/page__view__findpost__p__2088767

[J242]

i just find myself skipping first gear most of the time, goes like stink from standstill in 2nd, then revvs its guts out at motorway speeds :(

[djaychela]

If you think yours is bad, you should try my gearbox. Top gear is about third-and-a-half, it'll do 97mph at 7000rpm in top.

Which translates to "buzzy as hell on long road sections"!

Damn good in the forests though!