Just a long shot really, wondering if anyone recognises this car and knows anything about it?

Tom

Edited 1 March, 201115 yr by tomsimmons

Might help if you say why you want to know about this car....

1. it is for sale?

2. did the driver cut you up and you want to have words, etc

....

Might help if you say why you want to know about this car....

1. it is for sale?

2. did the driver cut you up and you want to have words, etc

....

He he, good point

No, I'm not looking to kill someone - honest, well not yet anyhow?!

This is the new addition the Girlfriend got, the one I'm trying to figure out if it's had an auto to manual gear box change or not.

Tom

He he, good point

No, I'm not looking to kill someone - honest, well not yet anyhow?!

This is the new addition the Girlfriend got, the one I'm trying to figure out if it's had an auto to manual gear box change or not.

Tom

Take a look at the options sticker. There is usually one in the service log and one in the boot under the carpet. Half way down on the RHS of the sticker it will give you the 3-character transmission code.

Take a look at the options sticker. There is usually one in the service log and one in the boot under the carpet. Half way down on the RHS of the sticker it will give you the 3-character transmission code.

That's the problem, the options sticker and the VIN all claim that it's an auto, as do Skoda.

I just find it almost impossible to believe that in an 8 year old car someone went to the hassle of removing an auto box, for what ever reason, and replacing it with a manual and all the work involved.

Tom

Surely the cost of changing gearboxes I guess it can't be that much of a "mod" to many cars.

Can the DLVA check their records for their car and see if it has changed? (no idea if this is possible).

Otherwise as above, check the transmission code on the service book and boot floor.

Surely the cost of changing gearboxes I guess it can't be that much of a "mod" to many cars.

Can the DLVA check their records for their car and see if it has changed? (no idea if this is possible).

Otherwise as above, check the transmission code on the service book and boot floor.

DVLA still have it as an auto.

The cost of the change, I've no idea, but you would need at a rough guess to remove all the control gear for the auto, change the fly wheel and clutch, and a clutch to the pedal box, add the hydraulics for the clutch. I'm guessing that the ECU might need changing too?

If your auto box was blown, it would seem to me you'd just go the easy route and replace with another auto. If you wanted a manual car it would be a lot easier selling the auto and buying a manual.

If the cars service record is to be believed, and I have no reason not to - the mileage and MOT details all tie up, for the first 6 years it was well cared for by the same Skoda garage for everything. I've phoned them, they've never made a change from auto to manual, or vice versa, on any car, "it wouldn't be worth it" was their reply.

Tom

I do know of such a conversion, but only when the owner (a mechanic) had a complete, written off donor car for parts.

I do know of such a conversion, but only when the owner (a mechanic) had a complete, written off donor car for parts.

Which I can't imagine is all that often.

As you say, you'd need to be a mechanic with a donor car, the cost of getting a garage to do this would be huge.

Tom

I had a VRS in 2001 that was down as a TDI, with both skoda and DVLA1 and on the V5

I had a VRS in 2001 that was down as a TDI, with both skoda and DVLA1 and on the V5

I've seen many cars where the V5 is wrong and a VIN search gives the wrong result, but the options sticker is correct.

That's the problem, the options sticker and the VIN all claim that it's an auto, as do Skoda.

I just find it almost impossible to believe that in an 8 year old car someone went to the hassle of removing an auto box, for what ever reason, and replacing it with a manual and all the work involved.

Tom

What is the transmission code? Maybe Skoda did a VIN search which could be wrong.

What is the transmission code? Maybe Skoda did a VIN search which could be wrong.

The sticker in boot/service book says:

gearbox: FDB

engine: ALH

A nice chap at one of the Skoda dealers took the VIN and decoded that to give me the negine number etc and was able to tell me where it was built etc, but also got that it was a 4 speed auto.

I'm pretty sure it must be a mistake, but Skoda Type Approval didn't seem very welcome to the idea.

Tom

What is the transmission code? Maybe Skoda did a VIN search which could be wrong.

The sticker in boot/service book says:

gearbox: FDB

engine: ALH

A nice chap at one of the Skoda dealers took the VIN and decoded that to give me the negine number etc and was able to tell me where it was built etc, but also got that it was a 4 speed auto.

I'm pretty sure it must be a mistake, but Skoda Type Approval didn't seem very welcome to the idea.

Tom

The sticker in boot/service book says:

gearbox: FDB

engine: ALH

A nice chap at one of the Skoda dealers took the VIN and decoded that to give me the negine number etc and was able to tell me where it was built etc, but also got that it was a 4 speed auto.

I'm pretty sure it must be a mistake, but Skoda Type Approval didn't seem very welcome to the idea.

Tom

FDB is definately a 4 speed automatic gearbox. I've not known the options label to be wrong but I have seen VINs that don't match the label. That's why I asked.

OK, I managed to contact the original owner, he sold the car with a faulty auto box.

So it has indeed been changed from auto to manual, just not very well!

Now I need to find out if it's possible to improve the linkage action because 1st is hard to engage from anything other than a complete stand still, the whole shift action seems to be very slightly twisted (not front to back, but slightly diagonal).

Finally, when I scanned the car with the VAG-COM it reported it was unable to reach the TCM module?! (think that's the right, sadly my computer restarted and I've lost the saved message and not had time to re-scan)

Tom

The ECU is coded for automatic transmission and the auto box/TCM isn't there.

If you bought the car from a dealer, I suggest you take it back and have it coded to match the transmission change.

I know some ECUs won't let you change the transmission type. In that case you would need an ECU coded for a manual box or would need to visit a tuner who may be able to help.

It was a private sale, not even a eBay one so there is no come back at all.

What is TCM?

Would you expect this car to have any sort of traction control? I put one wheel on gravel/mud at the side of the road yesterday and gave it some wellie but the wheel just seemed to spin.

Tom

...What is TCM?...

Transmission Control Module - I assume it was removed with auto box

If you scan the engine with VCDS, what do you have for PartNo, Component and Coding?

Afraid I'll have to wait until tonight when she brings the car back home. Should have told her to take mine this morning - oh well.

Tom

Never had a chance to read the code this weekend, been none stop, but what you've said makes sense.

I did have a quick look at the gear box this weekend, well I popped the bonnet and pulled up the gaitor around the gear stick. I've linked to some earlier photos I took, sorry second one (probably the most useful too) is blurred.

I noticed that the counter weight think in first is very close, in fact looks to me like it could be touching, whatever that black plastic thing is with a bolt through the corner of it.

When I took these photos I was looking to perform the realignment as I have done on mine, then discovered it was a different set up.

So two questions...

1. Can a realignment be done on this setup, if so how?
   
2. If it is hitting, is it possible to undo the counter weight, move it round a little, then adjust the cables?
   

Thanks

Tom

Never had a chance to read the code this weekend, been none stop, but what you've said makes sense.

I did have a quick look at the gear box this weekend, well I popped the bonnet and pulled up the gaitor around the gear stick. I've linked to some earlier photos I took, sorry second one (probably the most useful too) is blurred.

I noticed that the counter weight think in first is very close, in fact looks to me like it could be touching, whatever that black plastic thing is with a bolt through the corner of it.

When I took these photos I was looking to perform the realignment as I have done on mine, then discovered it was a different set up.

So two questions...

1. Can a realignment be done on this setup, if so how?
2. If it is hitting, is it possible to undo the counter weight, move it round a little, then adjust the cables?

Thanks

Tom

Tom, as a last resort I looked in the Haynes manual! It suggests that the one pictured above is for the O2J box made up to April 1999 so I guess yours may have been swapped out at some time.

If so it says that special tools are required to accurately adjust the linkage and is best left to a Skoda garage.

Can't comment on the weights but you may have a mixture of earlier and later bits.

Mike

Tom, as a last resort I looked in the Haynes manual! It suggests that the one pictured above is for the O2J box made up to April 1999 so I guess yours may have been swapped out at some time.

If so it says that special tools are required to accurately adjust the linkage and is best left to a Skoda garage.

Can't comment on the weights but you may have a mixture of earlier and later bits.

Mike

Mike

Seeing as the company network has gone belly up I dug out the Haynes and had another look.

I don't know if there are different revisions of Haynes, but as you said the pictured adjuster is a O2J and from the section headed )2J transmissionup to 04/99 next to the exploded view it seems that limited adjustment is possible, but not very clear how. There is then another heading O2J transmission form 05/99 - on. This goes on to detail adjustment as per You Tube video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp9ggefOjAE) and almost the same as the O2M box.

So it would seem that after the 05/99 the O2J gear stick must have changed from the pictured one to something similar to the O2M version.

So what I now need to do is try and figure out what they are talking about for the minor adjustmen you can make on the earlier O2J, and also see if I can confirm that this dodgy Ambiente that I have with a second hand manual box is indeed binding one what ever the plastic bit is in picture 2/3.

Very tempted to write to the geezer who we bought the Ambiente from and complain, I would have thought twice about buying the car if I knew it was formerly a auto that had been changed to a manual etc.

Tom

Edited 14 March, 201115 yr by tomsimmons

So what I now need to do is try and figure out what they are talking about for the minor adjustment you can make on the earlier O2J, and also see if I can confirm that this dodgy Ambiente that I have with a second hand manual box is indeed binding one what ever the plastic bit is in picture 2/3.

Very tempted to write to the geezer who we bought the Ambiente from and complain, I would have thought twice about buying the car if I knew it was formerly a auto that had been changed to a manual etc.

Tom

The minor adjustment just seems to take out any slack in the linkages the way I read it. I am wondering if you have a mixture of bits on the gearbox from different eras - pre and post 1999.

Perhaps showing it to an experienced VAG mechanic would help. Someone may have replaced the auto box with a mongrel bag of linkage bits and weights to fit an old pre-1999 manual box and was happy just to get it out of his garage for sale. Definately worth pursuing so you can find who did the changeover and why. You may have a case if the arrangement is not fit for purpose - and why did they not change the V5? Is this a legal requirement I wonder?

Mike

On the grounds that you would only attempt the change with a donor car available, I was kind of assuming that all the bits would be from one vehicle.

Guess at this stage that's probably not a safe assumption.

I'm not sure whether you are oblidged to tell the DVLA when you change the transmission type - be interesting to find out.

The thing I'm most interested in/concerned about is whether all the traction control/ABS functionality is intact and functioning correctly.

Need to find me a slippy surface to have a play on I think.

Tom