My Mk 1 Octy is about to do 80,000 miles and most people keep telling me...that they are suprised that i havent had a new gearbox by now, even at the local garage they have said this and they always say they usually go at 80k is this true im sure there will be people with higher mileage than 80k and still be on their original box.

I am slightly worried as recently my gear box has started to whine only in 2nd gear and the whine goes with the speed of the engine, all the other gears are fine, The garage said that it may be time for a new box as this is the diff as they said failing, is this true or are they just scare mongering.

Gearbox has always felt lumpy over the last 2 years like clumpy selecting the gears but nothing like jumping out of gear or anything else.

Just questioning the gearbox reliability in the octy after what seems to be keep cropping up.

i havent heard this they are a good gearbox the only problem i know of is they like eating the oem diff. as the rivets shear off and cause a mess lol

but thats it the rest is very strong should last longer than 80k for sure but remeber you must take into account the one that have failed what has been done tothe car is it mapped etc etc ows it driven etc etc .

i know poeple on original box and diff runnng 200k miles

My Mk 1 Octy is about to do 80,000 miles and most people keep telling me...that they are suprised that i havent had a new gearbox by now, even at the local garage they have said this and they always say they usually go at 80k is this true im sure there will be people with higher mileage than 80k and still be on their original box.

I am slightly worried as recently my gear box has started to whine only in 2nd gear and the whine goes with the speed of the engine, all the other gears are fine, The garage said that it may be time for a new box as this is the diff as they said failing, is this true or are they just scare mongering.

Gearbox has always felt lumpy over the last 2 years like clumpy selecting the gears but nothing like jumping out of gear or anything else.

Just questioning the gearbox reliability in the octy after what seems to be keep cropping up.

Not having a good time are you , what with the current poor MPG as well.

Gearbox's are generally ok, my has done 120,000 miles, but i guess it depends on what sort of life they have had.

The systems you describe do sound gearbox related, certainly as the whine is linked to engine speed. You have options. Get a second hand one, Get that one repaired or buy new. Depends how long you are keeping car for really.

Mark.

I think the SDi gearbox was weak, don't think any others are a regular problem.

Edit to say, have the gearbox oil level checked/changed - probably won't help but cheapest 1st option!.

Edited 14 January, 201016 yr by Kandy

Not having a good time are you , what with the current poor MPG as well.

Mark.

Lol I will do all i can to get it right

I think the SDi gearbox was weak, don't think any others are a regular problem.

Edit to say, have the gearbox oil level checked/changed - probably won't help but cheapest 1st option!.

Thanks for this, just a bit concerned over the 2nd gear whine, why would it do this in 2nd and not all the other gears...sorry if this sounds silly but this whine in 2nd gear is going with the engine speed and when i de clutch it stops, again all other gears are fine although quite graity/lumpy to select.

Thanks again.

Lol I will do all i can to get it right

Thanks for this, just a bit concerned over the 2nd gear whine, why would it do this in 2nd and not all the other gears...sorry if this sounds silly but this whine in 2nd gear is going with the engine speed and when i de clutch it stops, again all other gears are fine although quite graity/lumpy to select.

Thanks again.

It is not uncommon to get one gear to go before the others, second gear tends to get more stress so i can see why that one would go. The other indications of your other gears becoming graty is a good bet that the other gears will soon be following the second gear.

As stated try cheapest option first like checking oil level. These gearbox's are generally low maintainance and don't normally need topping up unless something like a drive shaft has been changed and gear oil was lost doing it and not topped up.

Edited 15 January, 201016 yr by Bowders1

There are other issues with second gear too; I know several taxi drivers who go through second gears every couple of years because they drive along in second with their hand resting on the lever, stressing the synchro cones.

There are other issues with second gear too; I know several taxi drivers who go through second gears every couple of years because they drive along in second with their hand resting on the lever, stressing the synchro cones.

Yep that is very true also. That is a bad practise

My gearbox has done 106000 miles and has no issues. I'm quite hard on the box aswell as I regularly use the car for a motorsport called autosolo which mainly uses 1st and 2nd gears. I reckon I'll probably see off my clutch this year though as it might not appreciate lots of racing starts with 250ftlb of torque

Some of you symptoms sound similar to mine, the gear change has become quite lumpy and requires effort and the most serious issue i have recently noticed is when using high engine revs and changing gear it is really difficult to pull it out of gear say from second and when engaging third it can make a grinding noise for the moment it goes in.

Does anyone know what this could be atributed to? I know there is lots of mention of the diff but apart from knowing there is something wrong with the gearbox i'm at a loss to narrow down what the specific issue may be!

There is no wineing, its very smooth and changes without problem (although still lumpy) at lower RPM;s. I've just covered 80k.

Any advice greatfuly recieved,

Thanks

The gearbox in my TDI has done 190,000 with no issues and as far as i know is fine

But i did have the oil changed which tobe honest was alot better after, a lot smoother and a lot slicker!

Mine managed 80,000 before a loud bang and a broken gearbox.... a new gearbox and clutch, oh and £2,000 later its much better..

Thank god for the Skoda warranty.

the tdi box is usually pretty good we have several taxi's that we look after which have seen off 400K on the origional box the trick is to change the oil every 40K we use ATF auto gear oil , the 1.6 and sdi's use the old rod change box and these are a bit rubbish they suffer from the crownwheel falling off (rivits break!) and the selectors wear, gears are usualy ok tho

i would get the oil changed and check the linkage for play before condemning the box

My TDi has done 145,000 on the original box and clutch and is fine. As I have said that, it will probably fail tomorrow!

SDi boxes are very weak.

A friend of mine had a box blow on his TDi at 165,00 and another friend had his blow on an SDi at 150,000.

box blowing at 165,000 and 150,000 and you say its weak lol i would say thats bloody good

as you have to take into account if it had been looked after properly and driven properly so an average that is very good imo

A friend of mine had a box blow on his TDi at 165,00 and another friend had his blow on an SDi at 150,000.

Doesn't look too good for me then, not many miles left! :'(

I've already got a whine in first at 81k, coupled with a slight judder through the stick on the overrun. Even though most people say the boxes aren't a problem, there are a surprising amount who seem to have problems at around this mileage.

I've already got a whine in first at 81k, coupled with a slight judder through the stick on the overrun. Even though most people say the boxes aren't a problem, there are a surprising amount who seem to have problems at around this mileage.

that sounds like the diff :'(

box blowing at 165,000 and 150,000 and you say its weak lol i would say thats bloody good

as you have to take into account if it had been looked after properly and driven properly so an average that is very good imo

not so good if he is KMS tho???

that sounds like the diff :'(

That was initially my concern, but it doesn't feel as if anything else is out and progress through the rest of the gears is smooth. I'm inclined more towards a worn gear bearing at the moment, but will have it looked at the next time it comes up for a clutch - I'll probably be going for a solid flywheel at that point, so may as well lump it all in together.