Only happens for about the first minute or two of driving on icey mornings, almost like the gearbox oil hasn't warmed up, but getting the car into 1st/2nd/3rd gears is difficult, not impossible but i am greeted with a nice "clunk" and a notchy feeling as if i'm having to force it into gear.

After 2 minute's or so it goes and doesn't do it in any other conditions other than very cold mornings.

Is this normal and should I just let the car warm up on idle for a 5minutes before setting off to get some heat into the engine/gearbox fluid?

Thanks, Chris.

I too am beginning to get this... maybe its time for a change of gearbox oil?

Is that included as part of any service? mine is coming up to 50k now and will soon need ANOTHER service.

Is this normal and should I just let the car warm up on idle for a 5minutes before setting off to get some heat into the engine/gearbox fluid?

I think this is a Catch-22. A diesel needs to be driven to warm up (as they're very thermally efficient so won't warm up if left to idle), but it shouldn't be driven when cold because the oil isn't up to temperature

Chris

Mine's notchy too. Not really bothered to be honest. Often a quick clutch re-press, or a bit of elbow grease normally sorts it out. Seems to just be "one of those things"

Is gearbox oil subject to the same heating up thing as with the engine oil?

I think this is a Catch-22. A diesel needs to be driven to warm up (as they're very thermally efficient so won't warm up if left to idle), but it shouldn't be driven when cold because the oil isn't up to temperature

Chris

That's why you have fancy multigrade oils to allow them to flow when cold. The best way is to drive it gently when cold avoid heavy throttle openings and "snatched" gearchanges. Slow the gearchange down, even double clutching if you know how, and change early. Once the engine is up to temp, then start work it harder:)

Mine's notchy too. Not really bothered to be honest. Often a quick clutch re-press, or a bit of elbow grease normally sorts it out. Seems to just be "one of those things"

Is gearbox oil subject to the same heating up thing as with the engine oil?

It's normal. Every single VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda I've had (and there's a few) has been notchy on 2nd until the gearbox oil warms through- it takes a few miles.

The gearbox oil doesn't get as hot as engine oil, but it does warm through friction.

My vRS gearbox is notchy at the best of times, worse when cold and was from new. A lot of reviews of the VAG 6 speed gearbox mentions the notchy gearchange, Skoda UK, aka, a bunch of cretins, state nobody has ever complained about it (apart from me).

A reason why I won't but another Skoda, no way I'm paying towards the wages of these numpties.

Why should any modern car require slow gearchanges or double de-clutching? I thought Skoda were alledgedly now a proper car maker, rather than still the manufacturer of comedy cars to the circus?

I think this is a Catch-22. A diesel needs to be driven to warm up (as they're very thermally efficient so won't warm up if left to idle), but it shouldn't be driven when cold because the oil isn't up to temperature

Chris

The kindest thing is to start it, give it a few seconds for the oil to pump around, then drive away, but drive gently for a few miles. You're right- it will hardly warm up at all at idle.

Mine gets opened up about once a month literally at the moment, SWMBO drives it most of the times & boy does she drive like a granny.

Oh, I digress , double clutching? WTF is that :confused:, do you need have dual controls fitted

I think i'll just take it nice and steady as always then and remember to FULL depress the clutch instead of being lazy and just pressing it most of the way down like normal, hopefully this will eliviate the issue, prehaps also a gearbox oil change might be in order but i'll leave that to the dealer?

Is it included in any service i.e. 60,000 and what's the cost?

Chris.

Well, I just took mine out for the first time this morning, and it was fairly OK. It's not been freezing, but it was a little notchy into 2nd (left it in 1st and started without moving stick)

Oh, I digress , double clutching? WTF is that :confused:, do you need have dual controls fitted

Double declutching is a technique that used to be necessary on cars without a syncromesh. It basically involves taking the car out of gear (clutch up), matching engine revs, then selecting the desired gear.... shouldn't be necessary in a modern car with a syncromesh, but I know some people still like to do it (morning Jon :wave: )

AFAIK, the gearbox oil is never changed as a service item and is "maintenance-free". Shouldn't be too much to change though..... guess it depends on the cost of the oil!

Chris

Was easy enough to put some oil in the gearbox that came with my conversion. It had been drained by the people that supplied it, so good job it was checked prior to being driven. I think I'll be renewing the oil again soon with some limited slip diff specific stuff soon.

Double-declutching IIRC is roughly:

You kick the clutch down to take it out of the original gear. When the box is in neutral you let the clutch come up and kick it back down, then engage the new gear.

If you change down you blip the throttle a little to roughly match the engine speed.

That's what I remember from the AIM guide I read a few weeks back (I will have to study it properly sometime soon and start working on my slowing down on the brakes vs using the gears excessively skills, I found myself coasting too much in all honesty, which isn't great for fuel economy in this car either)

PS Typical I posted this as Mr ScoobyChris posted his proper explanation

AFAIK, the gearbox oil is never changed as a service item and is "maintenance-free". Shouldn't be too much to change though..... guess it depends on the cost of the oil!

Chris

Depends if the box has a drain plug- not all do.

Why should any modern car require slow gearchanges or double de-clutching?

Because most drivers now exhibit a total lack of mechanical sympathy.

Check my orginal post, I said slower, not slow.

"mechanical sympathy" :confused:

i had to check google for that one

in the modern world of super dooper grade oils, high quality parts and lack of poo giving i don't feel the need for mechanical sympathy myself:)

double clutching is not needed on new fangled cars. Syncroish (sp) has killed that off.

Yep mine is abit rough at times, even more so when it's been left standing for a few days, but once it is warm it's fine. Most gearboxes are abit rough when cold, I've had worse than this one.

double clutching is not needed on new fangled cars. Syncroish (sp) has killed that off.

Not needed, but can prolong the life of a gearbox (in theory!) and also make gearchanges lovely and smooth. Most race/rally drivers use this technique as the gearboxes they use don't have syncro's to save weight and minimise wastage of power. Watching their pedal work is astounding!

Chris

My old Mk3 Gti started to struggle into gear when warm, and was stiff when cold.

It was low on oil, and it was revolting, so I took it to a garage, and got them to flush the old crud out, and put in new oil. Soon after, I poured in some slick 50 gear box additive in. (some say slick 50 is a con, but for the g box it worked a treat (liquid teflon ).

Drove for another 30k after that and it was silky smooth, never had anything other than silky changes.

Conclusion, if you've done 80k or more, I'd say check the level, and top up. But to really sort it, get a garage to flush and replace the oil. And slick 50 is your choice.

hope that helps, D

ps: the advice about gentle and slow is also excellent.

This could be stiff or badly adjusted gear change cables??

I've not noticed the gearbox being notchy on my VRS? Whether the engine is warm or cold it seems pretty smooth, but then again I'm comparing it to my old Peugeots' where changing gear was like stirring soup!!

My first Fabia vRS had a smooth gearbox, the current one is a turd. There appears to be quite a variation on gearbox quality with the vRS, even allowing for owners different perception and objective opinions.

As an aside, the 5 speed gearboxes on our intergalactic mileage and highly abused company Octavia's and our own 6 year old Polo have all been consistently good.

In my experience gearboxes also seem to get smoother with age.