Vehicle: Completely standard 86 Mk2 8v GTI. 120K miles
Symptoms: Second gear very difficult to engage when cold after 020 gearbox rebuild.
Background: Transmission whine and second gear synchro just starting to give difficulty selecting. So used recommended VW specialist who rebuilt gearbox with many parts as needed including second gear synchro, drilled out Diff rivets and replaced with bolts, new clutch. All VW parts bought from main dealer. Excellent job and when car warm there is no whine now and has strong clutch feel.
Now though left with very difficult to engage second gear when cold - it is only a little stiff to select when warm - plus a stiff to select first gear but can live with it. All symptoms far worse during this very cold January weather. Much better on warmer days.
Took car back and mechanic very understanding. Kept car overnight to re-enact problem first thing in the morning but by the time he clears car out of garage amongst all the others and drives down very bumpy lane in first, problem gone. He checks out the gear selector rods. (I had the gearstick and other parts replaced without problems a year ago). He then offers to strip down gearbox again if I am not happy but asks if I can put some mileage on it first. Have done so with no improvement so still a bugger to drive down my road first thing. Gearbox oil correct - last half litre through speedo cable hole as is needed on early mk2's.
Question: In order to save the hassle for him and me to open up the gearbox again and maybe not find anything wrong would it be worth using another gearbox oil e.g. Redline MTL for £40? Or is this a common problem on rebuilt gearboxes although I have never known of a new car in which such a problem would be acceptable. Is a VW synchro made of steel ?
Thanks for any advice / personal experiences !
