Speedo cable replacement - dropped spindle into gearbox!

[rich1]

oh dear! i replaced the speedo cable on my 91' 8v Gti and have managed to drop the plastic spindle that attaches to the cable into the gearbox, i can just about see it so may drain some oil and see if i can fish it out. has anyone had this problem before? and what happens if i can't get it?
all help much appreciated,
richard

[dubslug]

i believe as its juat plastic it gets mashed up, but best to remove it if u can dude

[Gambit]

yes you can fish it out if you drain the oil out. alternativily take it a drive let it get mashed up then change the gearbox oil and buy a new one!

[rich1]

thanks for your help lads, i'll do my best to fish the thing out, im sure i'll manage,
cheers

[jettaTx]

Yeah i had this problemwhen i took the box off my old jetta bloody annoying and the oil stinks to high heaven.... got it out though!!

[rubjonny]

Don't leave it in there whatever you do, even if it does get mostly chewed up you still run the risk of having plastic chunks jam the selector forks and other nasty things.  Just isn't worth the risk when you consider how much money/effort it would cost you for a second hand gearbox

[mk1]

Definitely get it out, had a g/ box to o/haul due to not being able to get reverse. When I stripped it, guess what was wrong, the plastic speedo drive was jammed in the selector forks  .
Steve.

[rich1]

i really do want to get it out, but how do i go about doing so? i can drain the gearbox oil but where do i go from there, how can i fish the bloody thing out?
am i right in thinking that the 8v gearbox takes 2 litres of gearbox oil and also how do you undo the gearbox drain plug as it has a hex inset into it?
i have tried to search on this topic but the search faclity doesn't seem to work.

thanks for your help people!

[mk1]

Getting it out may be tricky, take as much stuff away so you can look down the hole to see if you can see it. If you can, fish it out with some long nose pliers or similar, if you cant then you have to take the box out and turn it to allow the drive to drop out. If it doesn't come out you have to strip the box.
Steve.