Gearbox / clutch noise

[Munson]

Hi all, I'm new on here, thought I would join after having a bit of a nightmare with my mk3 gti 8v (anniversary). I bought the car from a guy I knew who hardly used it, he had owned it for almost 2 years and only covered 4000 miles. Prior to that the car was owned by a mate who moved abroad and the car sat for over 2 years and was only started ocassionally when he was home. The car has only done 65000 miles. I knew when I bought the car it might need a few things done to it because it had been sitting for a while.

One of the first things I noticed was that the clutch was very sticky and had a high bite point so knew it would probably need to be replaced fairly soon. I also noticed that when sitting idle in traffic, there was a knocking noise that would disappear when the clutch was fully pressed. The car seemed to run fine but one day after starting the car for the first time in the day, the noise was much worse and was now happening when driving rather than sitting idle. The noise was so bad that I didn't drive it for fear of breaking down. At this point I took the car to a local garage. They diagnosed that the gearbox was shot and that I might as well change the clutch at the same time. So I went ahead and ordered a reconditioned gearbox from a reputable company that specialise in VW parts and had it fitted along with a new clutch.

When the garage took the car for stray drive, the same problem was there. After many discussions with the garage and the gearbox supplier, it was decided to also change the thrust bearing, no change. So now the gearbox was removed and sent back to the supplier where it wad inspected but nothing abnormal found. They are going to replace all bearings as a matter of caution then return the gearbox to the garage.

I have read thru some older threads of similar problems and the advice is generally to get a reconditioned gearbox. Since I have replaced this and the clutch, is there anything else that could be causing the problem?

I appreciate any help!

Cheers!

[Wayne]

Sounds more like the thrust bearings have dropped out / worn of the crankshaft.

[harlemex]

input shaft bearing.

[thai-wronghorse]

seems odd on a Golf with such low use / mileage.

[Munson]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Wayne, what would be the cure if this was the cause of the problem? As I mentioned below the thrust bearing was changed but made no difference.

Harlemex, I mentioned this to the garage and gearbox supplier having read some old threads on here. The gearbox supplier assurese these have been replaced as part of the recon. I take it these are internal on the gearbox?

Thai-wronghorse, i agree, especially since the car was fitted with a reconditioned gearbox around 40000 miles.

I found it very strange that the same problem occurred after fitting the recon gearbox and new clutch. My immediate thought was that the garage had diagnosed wrongly and I'd spent a fortune for nothing. I have now paid more for repairs than I did for the car and suspect the problem will still be there when the gearbox goes back in.

If there is anything else you can think of, let me know. Might be easier for the garage to have a look while the gearbox is out.

Expecting the gearbox back from supplier tomorrow.

Cheers again guys.

[Wayne]

If you have a noise that goes when the clutch is pressed it has to be gearbox or clutch but maybe you have a engine bearing problem.

[AudiA8Quattro]

What about the pilot bearing on the end of the crankshaft?

[harlemex]

+1 on that. I reckon that could be nail on head as I had an issue with said bearing a while back.

[rubjonny]

there isnt one on a MK3 GTI, if you mean the one on the end of the crank that the box/input shaft fits into which you see on some audis/automatics?

might be the flywheel wasn't fitted properly, or the wrong clutch was fitted. the flywheel changed at some point, and there is a different clutch kit to match it. if you look at the flywheel, if it has 2 dowel rods its the early style which uses the same clutch as the MK2 Golf 16v. if it has 1 dowel rod its the later style so you need the late type MK3 GTI clutch kit.

maybe get the flywheel checked for flatness, if in doubt put another one on. if it was me I would buy a MK2 GTI flywheel and then you know you can use a MK2 16v clutch kit. usually these are cheaper than the later style MK3 GTI clutch kits

[harlemex]

I think I might have lost me bearings  I am getting abit confused with all the bearings now. I dont know the name of this part that was wrong with mine, but rubjonny should know. I am talking of the first part in the clutch the input shaft actually goes into (if you see what I mean!). It has some movement and I presume its on some kind of bearing. Anyhow mine was the culprit as it was all rough and noisy. Maybe you could clarify the above confused mess Rubjonny!