6 hours ago, wilcopshot said:

I only managed to get back under the car today. And only for an hour or so, but it was productive. After some more levering I decided there was definitely something I had not undone. I got an 8mm hex and took off the surround sheet of metal above the flange (picture 1). I hadn't tried it yet as it appeared to only be attached to the transfer box. Once off it revealed a super secret bracket. 2x 16mm bolts (pic 2) later and the gearbox is swinging with ease, ready to drop. Then the alarm went off to get the kid from school and my time had run out. I'll get that gearbox dropped at the weekend and start on the actual flywheel. Then I'll try and remember how it all goes back together. I'll watch some videos on alignment before I do the final tighten on the sub frame bolts, and see if I can get ahead of any alignment issues. I'll also look in to those prop shaft couplers while I'm at it.

 

Is there anything else that is worth looking over while I'm £1k of labour deep on this thing?

Oh, I thought you had that axle shield off and loosened the 2 bolts already..my mistake. But yes, when shield is off, you get access to the 2 last bolts for the bracket yes. Weekend work it is, and struggle is a thing. But once this is done, think of all money saved and You have tackled one of the toughest jobs on this car!!

Well done, yes that shield and  bracket is what I was referring to, I've never really seen it properly till now, I was working by feel!!!

Mildly terrifying, but actually went pretty smooth with my planned method. Got the Mrs to slowly unscrew the chain on the engine hanger while I was underneath (to one side) with a lever gently nudging it in the right directions, with a jack to help in places and hold it up while I adjusted the chain and reset the thread for more distance. Flywheel replacement tomorrow! Not sure how to approach getting it back in just yet. Might have to marry someone stronger.

Nice one!!! Very well done. Just think about the amount of money saved and experience gained! Try to find the small black plastic thing that is supposed to be on top of the red ring. It is ventilation for diff oil. Should be loosely on when mounted.

Found it. Snugly back in place. How important is the aluminium gasket between the engine and the gearbox? I forgot to put it back in place before putting the new flywheel on. The old one got a bit bent out of shape anyway, so I got it back on by snipping one of the thin bits. If it's very important to be intact I'm gonna have to order a new one, and more flywheel bolts so I can re-do the flywheel with it in place.

22 minutes ago, wilcopshot said:

Found it. Snugly back in place. How important is the aluminium gasket between the engine and the gearbox? I forgot to put it back in place before putting the new flywheel on. The old one got a bit bent out of shape anyway, so I got it back on by snipping one of the thin bits. If it's very important to be intact I'm gonna have to order a new one, and more flywheel bolts so I can re-do the flywheel with it in place.

Well, in the elsawin manual it says "Do not forget to mount the metal gasket..." it believe it is a distance gasket, so I would mount it...but maybe actual VW mechanics in here might provide a more accurate answer...?

Guess you mean this alu gasket behind the flywheel?

32 minutes ago, rbhelle said:

Guess you mean this alu gasket behind the flywheel?

Yeah that one. I've got it back in by snipping an already damaged section. It was a bit bent out of shape from the initial levering. I'm guessing it's just for space and maybe acoustics?

8 minutes ago, wilcopshot said:

Yeah that one. I've got it back in by snipping an already damaged section. It was a bit bent out of shape from the initial levering. I'm guessing it's just for space and maybe acoustics?

Likely space and to reduse vibration/sounds? Dunno actually, I followed the service manual by the book and disconnected my brain 😆

Just now, rbhelle said:

I followed the service manual by the book and disconnected my brain

I disconnected my brain, but didn't have the service manual 🤣

Just now, wilcopshot said:

I disconnected my brain, but didn't have the service manual 🤣

Hehe, I know that status all to well also... But, on the bright side, afyer you tackled this job, the rest is like a walk in the park....an obstacle park....blindfolded....with big f....mittens 🤣🤣

Everything back in order again?

Howdy fellas!

Sorry for my absence. Had bad weather (I was working outside), other commitments, and a bit of a procrastination phase as far as getting the gearbox back in.

I got my brother in law and nephew to help me get it lined up. They left me with the last couple of inches to go. I eventually got it all back up and in position, but couldn't for the life of me get that last 1/4" to meet up. After half a day trying I decided to bite the bullet and buy a transmission floor jack and start from scratch. With that, I managed to get it in by my self. It took 6 hours. When it finally effortlessly pinched together I was holding it and I'd left the bolts out of reach. I actually called my mum on the phone (the car owner) to come out and hand me the bolts. There was no way I was letting go at that point.

Reassembly from that point was pretty good. Aside from having to put the sub frame on twice because I forgot the steering column rubber seal, the whole car was rebuilt in about 16 hours. That may seem long but I was taking my time and fixing up some stuff as I went (all the steering loom connectors disintegrated in my hands when I took them off). I managed to get the sub frame bolts to line up almost exactly on their previous markings, and the tracking feels good, but I will take it for alignment once I've had a quick go over the adjustable bits, making sure they can still be adjusted and don't need to be replaced.

The first drive of the car was good from my perspective, however my mother noticed something, which has developed in to a larger issue.

When coming to a stop and gently pulling away, the car is jerky, like the gearbox is fighting the brakes. It jolts when you select Drive or Reverse. At times it even stalls when trying to get in to drive, and then repeats that when selecting drive and reverse until you clear the fault codes. I did a DSG reset, which improved things, but hasn't completely sorted it.

I did some scans, clears, drives and scans again. 2 faults seemed to be recurring.

1. P1741 Clutch pressure adaptation: adaptation limit reached;

2. P0716 Input Shaft Speed Sensor-G182: implausible signal;

I believe P1741 may have been fixed by me tightening the transmission oil bolt. There was a bit of oil around it so I'm assuming it just needed pinching a little over spec. I only loosened it to make sure I had the right size hex key, and probably didn't pinch it up enough. I changed the oil filter, but haven't gotten round to the oil itself yet.

The second one seems to be recurring. I don't know if it had this fault before. I never thought to scan it before starting the flywheel replacement. It could be an old fault that is being made more apparent by having a new flywheel, or I suppose I could have damaged the gearbox at some point, though it never fell or anything. It did roll on to it's side when I first removed it, but it was about as gently as a 100kg chunk of metal can roll.

I haven't gotten round to the transmission oil change yet. Judging by the state of the previous filter, it may never have been done, and could help. That P0716 code troubles me though. I'm worried I might be disassembling the mechatronics section next to get at that sensor if this oil change doesn't smooth out the ride.

Thanks again for all your help. Here's hoping I'll get this gorilla off my back soon. It really is a lovely car to drive, even with it's currently clunking.

Cheers,

Greg

The oil filter!

5 hours ago, wilcopshot said:

The oil filter!

Holy mother of g....!!

You have read about the faults here? http://wiki.ross-tech.com/wiki/index.php/17100/P0716/001814

Might be that you damaged the sensor wiring during disassembly or assembly?

Also it is vital to refill dsg oil when oil is up to temp in order to get the level correct. Refilling is thus done in 2 steps. But guess you are aware of that 😀

Edited 30 March, 20251 yr by rbhelle

Just realised I never gave you the punchline to this long joke!

It was the machatronics unit in the gearbox. An electrical error. I had to send the mech unit away for a professional repair, and it's been driving good as gold since!

Takes a bow