Skoda Octavia 1.6 FSI hole in gearbox!

[raf300]

Hi all, 

 

I bought a 2006 Skoda Octavia 1.6 FSI estate back in June 2016 (83,000 miles), this replaced my beloved Alfa which was great however a family car was needed. The Skoda has been really good and I have driven about 4000 miles in total so far. 

 

Over the weekend I noticed a burning smell in the cabin when driving. 

My local garage has looked over the car today and told me there is a hole in the gear box. The smell was due to oil coming out and hitting the exhaust. 

 

The garage has said to either find a secondhand gearbox or go to a transmission specialist and have a reconditioned boxed fitting. This could cost anything up to £1200 all in.I cant believe this has happened and seems it is just bad luck. 

 

Has anyone got any advice on what to do, should I go secondhand or reconditioned? 

Also does it look like this is the problem?

 

I have put some photos below. 

One photo shows the hole, which looks to be at the top of the casing. You can see this in the mirror. 

The other photo shows that the gearbox is a MQ200.

By the way are original gearboxes gold in colour, my garage said that looked strange and could the car already had a recon box put on in the past?

 

Edited 27 February, 2017 by raf300

[grldtnr]

If it were me, I might try a bodge repair before spending money on a replacement gearbox.

My answer would be to get some chemical metal putty,plug hole with it ,screw in a suitable sized self tapping screw.

It's the sort of hole that supports a screw, maybe it did,when original,even maybe some sort of tag, should it be a replacement.

For the sake of few pounds, Me a bit of bothering,I would try a bodge first, you might even try some molten lead.

[skodacarman]

The gear box housing is made of alloy that is cast in a resin-bonded sand mould.  When this is done badly, the result can be cavities called 'blow holes' which is just what this looks like.  

 

You could try taking it to a specialist welding shop that can handle alloy welding and see what they would quote to weld it up. Might be cheaper than a new box.

[raf300]

I thought about that, but the mechanic found a short metal pin, almost looks like parts other gears, sitting the in the engine bay. He thinks something must have given way inside. 

 

Also did Skoda VAG ever make the gearbox casing gold? 

Just seems a bit odd as all the second hand ones on eBay are metal colour. 

Edited 28 February, 2017 by raf300

[Phil-E]

Never seen a gold gearbox so must have had a recon box fitted at some point.

 

If the gearbox is working fine and there are no funny noises I would be tempted to repair the hole/block it up and do a couple of gearoil changes a few hundred miles apart to get rid of any metal contaminants.

[skodacarman]

I wonder if it's been patched up at some time, then painted to cover up the patches.

[mikey vrs]

Id say thats had a reconditioned box fitted,if something had broken inside & exited the gearbox casing id have expected a lot more damage & you may have driveability issues & noises,if the car still drives ok with no noises from the box then id do as others have said & try to repair that small hole & drain & refill the box with new oil & drive the car & see what happens.

[jong123]

thread the hole and use thread lock on the screw used to fill the hole.

Looks like there was a screw there fore some reason.

How many miles has the car covered ?

[raf300]

Car has covered 86,000 miles, 2006. I have found a transmission specialist that can pick up the part, inspect it then decide if it is repairable or needs a full rebuild. 

i would have tried the temp job of filling the hole and giving it a go.  But as it is are only family car I couldn't take the risk. 

I will report back on what the specialist finds when they take it apart. 

 

 

[jong123]

I look forward to reading the outcome.

[raf300]

My car is fixed. 

Gearbox needed a full rebuild. I can't remember exactly what the transmission said, but something along the lines of a cog or disc was floating around, plus a pin had pierced throughth casing. A repair was not feasible. The specialist were great, they picked up and rebuilt then sent gearbox back to my local mechanic. 

I also got new clutch kit fitted as well as no extra cost in labour just parts. 

 

 

Edited 11 March, 2017 by raf300

[raf300]

Update on my gearbox rebuild. 

 

The car has been ok but the gearbox feels notchy and occasionally you have to be conscious not to rush gear changes. 

 

Ringing the garage to see if there is any reason to take the car back in. They mentioned they used semi synthetic oil in it and do so in many gearbox rebuilds. 

 

Now my question is what gearbox oil should the octavia Fsi 1.6 use, after a rebuild? 

 

Any info will be much appreciated. 

 

[wiilydog]

Sounds like they used normally gearbox oil as vag gearboxes are very fussy about what oil is used, either get some proper vw gearbox oil from your skoda dealer or use some

 

 http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-976-fuchs-titan-sintofluid-fe-sae-75w-synthetic-manual-transmission-oil.aspx

 

[raf300]

Thanks Wiilydog. 

 

By the way how much oil is needed for FSI 1.6 gearbox? 

Edited 20 May, 2017 by raf300

[wiilydog]

Don't know specific capacity for your box but 2 litres should be enough

[blackspaven]

Yup, heard numerous times that if it isn't VAG oil, you motor won't sound happy. Odd, and annoyingly expensive, but there you go!

[oilyscouse]

That gearbox takes 2.0l of oil. Autodata says fill it through the level plug then start car on ramp in gear for 2 minutes then check oil again. I usually pump oil through the reverse light switch till it comes out the level plug. That way you fit 2 litres in with out having to re-check. Ive always used 75w/90 semi synthetic in manual gearboxes and never had a problem.

[raf300]

19 hours ago, oilyscouse said:

That gearbox takes 2.0l of oil. Autodata says fill it through the level plug then start car on ramp in gear for 2 minutes then check oil again. I usually pump oil through the reverse light switch till it comes out the level plug. That way you fit 2 litres in with out having to re-check. Ive always used 75w/90 semi synthetic in manual gearboxes and never had a problem.

Interesting you say you run semi synthetic as he specialist said they also put semi synth a lot of gearboxes they do and rarely have any problems. 

 

Is is it possible that a new rebuild box will feel notchy because it is new? 

 

Plus sometimes after a drive, car is turned off and putting it straight into reverse from first sometimes doesn't go in. You have to go into 1st and then back to neutral and then put into reverse ?

[wiilydog]

Does the change get better when the oil is hot? as vw spec gearbox is very thin and think its a single 75w grade and putting in the wrong stuff in will make it very notchy especially first thing in the morning when the oil is cold.

[raf300]

No not that I can tell but I don't use my car every day and it's not that cold in the morning the last few weeks. 

I would say it is random, sometimes smooth change sometimes feels notchy. 

[raf300]

Update after driving last night. I would describe gearbox as tight and notchy. Seemed better by end of the evening but not always smooth when changing gears. 

 

I am am going to take car back to specialist and discuss having fully synthetic gear oil put in.