Six months ago I paid £500 for a little red felicia 1.3, 66,000 miles

I've had very few problems with it except a slight whine in fifth gear

Yesterday I was driving with a heavy load up a slight hill and fifth gear blew

I've took it to a garage and it needs a new gearbox.

Do you think it is worth replacing, as I think the cost would be quite high. Possibly more than I paid for the car.

The only other option I can see is scrapping it.

Which is a shame :(

Depends how cheap you can get a second hand box for and if you can get away with re-using the old clutch etc.

If you can get the box cheap enough and the clutch is in good condition then it will probably be worth it.

The 5th gear whine is very common and should be fixed asap to avoid what has happened to you. It is a very easy fix and takes about 1 hour to do.

Phil

Ah, yes did attempt a fix of the whine but the bolts didn't appear to actually be loose.

I found a gearbox for £100, but not sure about labour costs at a garage as I wouldn't be confident installing it myself.

Shouldn't take them long. I've removed and refitted a box single-handed in 1h45 from driving the car into the drive to road testing it - it's as easy a FWD box as you'll ever get. If they want more than 3 hours labour then they're a) useless and taking the mickey. Even a hideously difficult and heavy box (like a Mk3 Mondeo 6 speed) is only 4 hours book time and that involves removing the front subframe.

Does anyone know if the gearbox in the 1998 skoda felicia 1.3, with the different headlights and grill, is the same as the one in the 2000 model?

Thanks for all the tips, might be able to keep it on the road after all!

yes they are the same as long as its a 1.3 box my 2nd gear went on my 1.3 did a clutch on my 1.6 and only took 1h 45mins

The boxes will all fit - there are some differences between the pre-97 ones and the later ones, but you can replace one with the other without any issue. I'd think a 98 and 2000 would be identical.

Ah, I have been quoted £260 for fitting a new gearbox and clutch, the gearbox itself would cost £100.

Might have to sell the car on here!

£260 for fitting, as in for the labour to fit the gearbox and also the parts for the clutch? So your total including the box would be £360?

Edited 2 August, 201213 yr by djaychela

I think the question here is more "how good is the shell?" There are a few 1995 and 1996 Fellies around here, so if £400 is going to keep the car going for 2 or 3 years, when you could be spending £500 every 6 months on "new old cars" then I'd say the fix should go in!

If it's £260 just for the fitting then that sounds steep!

I paid for 4 hours labour for removing checking/removing gearbox and sending to specialist, then refitting gearbox, new clucth, DMF and slave cylinder.

I think for a straight forward swap of boxes you should be look at a couple of hours labour tops. A garage is much quicker than a DIY-er that can do it in under 2 hours so I wouldn't think it unreasonable for a garage to manage it in under 2 also.

Phil

afraid the quote for the fitting of a new gearbox and clutch was £360

a little too steep with my present financial circumstances.

Car is on the bay!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180943576469?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

A shame, it was still looking good after 12 years!