Confused about gearbox codes

[SquidgyB]

I know this comes up a lot, but I can't find any straightforward info on gearbox codes...

Right - I have a noisy reverse idle gear. It's a difficult noise to describe accurately, but it's not a click or tick, but it gets louder the quicker I go and I'm generally worried that it'll develop into something much worse, so I've decided to replace the box.

I've been quoted £740 for reconditioning the entire box, which is well out of my range, so I'm looking at an ebay/forum bought replacement and having it fitted for labour cost - I'm thinking £100-150 for the box and probably £150-200 labour - please correct me if I'm way out on the numbers.

First thing is finding a suitable box - and I'm confused with the box codes;

Where do I find the code on my box?
What other codes will work with the box I have, or can someone point me in the right direction for the info?

These are a couple of examples of what I think are straightforward swaps, but I need some help to be sure before I pony up and buy the thing.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-GOLF-Mk3-GTi-2-0cc-8v-Gearbox-5sp-Tested-Good-/180706954479?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2a12f94cef

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/95-GOLF-MK3-GTI-8V-5-SPEED-MANUAL-GEARBOX-VGC-DEN-CODE-/250863198958?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a689ca2ee

Am I right in thinking that as long as it came from a 2.0 8v Golf Mk3 then I'll be ok, or is it more complicated than that?

Any help here is very much appreciated - thanks guys.

[WadGTI]

Might want to check there is still oil in it. Alot of of posts I hve read say been reduced the noise levels with an oil change.

VW do the gear oil for £5 a litre. Might be worth going down this route before paying £++.

[SquidgyB]

Thanks, I'll give that a try this weekend then

[gasketface]

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?action=search2

[SquidgyB]

Yup, I used the search already - I read through a pile of posts, found two interesting websites;

http://www.scirocco.org/gears/

http://boneybradley.webs.com/thegearboxes.htm

But it's difficult and time consuming to try and sift the information I need regarding the issues I'm having from the vast amount of general info available on the general topic of "gearboxes".

Anyhoo - this isn't a narcy response - I've been using forums long enough to know the etiquette rules and I did search, didn't find the answers I wanted so I made a new thread...

[boneybradley]

Yup, I used the search already - I read through a pile of posts, found two interesting websites;

http://www.scirocco.org/gears/

http://boneybradley.webs.com/thegearboxes.htm

that second site looks good   


although maybe a little out of date?