just ordered my 5th gear nuts today.Nearest dealer was Bannockburn, so only 15 mins away. Nuts will be here monday. Asked mechanic there what the torque setting is for these nuts and all he said was FT mate FT. (What does this mean i wonder) lol

Full Torque, of course...

The torque settings aren't too massive - 40-60Nm for one and 80-100Nm for the other, but staking the nuts properly is far more important.

staking the nuts properly is far more important.

agreed

just ordered my 5th gear nuts today.Nearest dealer was Bannockburn, so only 15 mins away. Nuts will be here monday. Asked mechanic there what the torque setting is for these nuts and all he said was FT mate FT. (What does this mean i wonder) lol

Good old FT. Standard setting for all fastners

Got my 5th gear nuts on Monday.They cost

It seems i have this problem too LOL! Does anyone know what size (socket/spanner) the nuts are, and what grade of oil is recommended for the gearbox?

Cheers, Mark

They're 32mm, IIRC - either that or 30, but I'm pretty sure they're 32.

EP 80W90, IIRC.

The garage that sorted mine said new nuts weren't necessary and that they wouldn't work loose again. Sorry, but I can't add to that. I assume they were given a good peening or whatever it's called to fix them in place. The cars gone now but saving

Done my 5th gear nuts today. Quite an easy job. took the gearbox end casing off and the nut was loose. Could have reused it but fitted new one instead. Nut size is 32 mm. Will test drive tonight but am confident that it will be ok. A big thanks to all who helped with this problem:thumbup:.

you need to use a new nut, the reason they fail is because they have become brittle and the shoulder brakes off.

Actually, that's not always true - I've had two which have been loose on boxes I've bought, and they hadn't broken off, and in both cases just re-torqued properly and staked.

Been for a wee test drive and all is well. At least i can do 70 now without the valves comin through the bonnet:D.

Hi guys,

First off v.handy post as i too have this problem. unfortunately being away from my parents house at uni I only have limited tools so upon attempting to peen the replaced nut yesterday with a tough old screwdriver I mangled the nut more than distorting the shape so putting it back together i can still hear a slight noise in 5th while accelerating (but not as bad as before) so guessing it wasn't enough.

i know i have to do it again but i was on very borrowed time, doing it on a friend of friends car park and beating the start of 2 days of solid rain by 20mins ha ha!!....just a shame it didnt work!,...ah well at least i have loosened the bolts for next time!

i now have a dot punch but was wondering, when i was doing the nut up to FT it almost got there and then the gearbox would spin. Obviously it was set in high gear but did anyone chock then engine at all or do you think it is tight enough??

don't wana have to take it off for a 3rd time!

cheers.

It was a while ago I did it now, but if I remember correctly, I put the engine into 5th gear then had a friend step on the brake while it was tightened. If I need to press the foot brake and do something myself I often use a large golf umbrella and fold the seat as far forward as possible. Wedging the umbrella between the pedal and the seat. Heavy objects do just as well I'm sure :-D

sounds like a good idea, although randomly it has stopped making the noise now?!! i drove 70 miles without it whining.

Im guessing it is just peened enough and tight enough, but may take it off anyways and peen it proper now im home because she is going in the admart!

cheers.

I have the same 5th gear noise problem on my Felicia. I've obtained the 2 nuts mentioned and am about to tackle the job, but I'm uncertain about the transmission support removal. When I look in the engine bay I see one nut and one bolt which appear to hold a rectangular plate over the transmission support. Is it as simple as removing these 2 and the plate (supporting under with a jack of course)? Or is there more to it. My Haynes manual is not too helpful - it says 'remove the self locking nut and the 2 bolts and take off the mounting plate from the top of the mounting' but no mention of any further bolts etc.....

Any advice very welcome, thanks.....

OK, trial and error worked it out! The locking nut is on a bolt that needs to be removed from underneath the car with a ½ extension bar for the socket. The other bolt comes out from the top. Managed to lower the engine/transmission enough on the jack to gain access to the 8 bolts holding on the end cover. Getting cold and dark now so that's for tomorrow......