085 gearbox why bother

[anwar bham]

Hi im hoping some one could help here my 1.4 8v gear box is dead for a while it was making a whining noise and one day it suddenly lost 4th gear 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th were sounding awfull too like metal clanging and grinding.

im guessing its the main bearings my question is

reading the threads the 085 gearboxes are sh**te and tend to break at 50-60k miles
is it worth getting another gearbox if i get a second hand one the donor car could have clocked up 40k miles so i only have 10k left before this one goes i belive this problem is not only on the ibizas but also polos, golf and lupos

Should i just scrap the car or are there any other more reliable gearboxes i can use

 

[m0rk]

My old 1.4 had a main bearing whine at 50k, couple of gearbox oil changes & it still whined all the way until 120k when I sold the car.

And it was given a very hard time for that 70k.

No other gearbox will fit though, so you're stuck with it - just wait for it to break & pick a cheap replacement up, easily changeable in a morning.

 

[anwar bham]

so are the problems with these 085 gearboxes due to the oil or cheap bearings

 

[m0rk]

it's because they're ****.

but the main problem is the drivers.... rather than the hearbox

 

[Cupra Kid]

I was told they have plastic bearings in them which might explain why they don't last very long, also VW reccomend that the oil is never changed which i think is stupidity as a good few crunches and anything could be floating in it.

I'm like M0rk though, i had one that whined from 55k and 40k of abuse later it was still going strong. Best thing i can say is be direct with you changes and dont let the car struggle along in high gears as my mum also had a 1.4 and she was awful for doing 10mph in third, needless to say it didnt last long.

My other half now has a 1.4 with the same box thats on 55K and never makes a sound.

At least with the boxes coming in Polo's Golf's, Arosa's, Lupo's, Ibiza's and Cordoba's you wont have trouble finding a cheap replacement. Certainly not worth scrapping the car over.

 

[CraigW]

Im at 116,000 miles in my 1.4 and its still on its first gearbox. No whining or anything like that. The changes are still smoothish etc.

 

[anwar bham]

Thanks well im hoping changing the box will also fix the stiff clutch problem that the car had

 

[old 'uns]

Thanks well im hoping changing the box will also fix the stiff clutch problem that the car had

nope

 

[Fl@pper]

Thanks well im hoping changing the box will also fix the stiff clutch problem that the car had

it's a start but check the pedal assy and change the cable too while it's off - should sort it