Chris_gilly

hi all

im new! first post so be nice

im doing a bit of reserch regarding a fault on a "t" reg 2.0 turbo

when in 5th gear if you put your hand on the gearstick, if it moves slightly sideways it makes a grinding noise?? any ideas?

i do know the box is fairly low on oil but i would be suprised if it would cause that as its fine otherwise

thanks

Eprom

Could be the large nut on the back of the gear cluster, it can be tightened up without removing the box, is the box noisy in 5th gear when driving at motorway speeds?

Chris_gilly

yes thats exactly how it is how do i do this?? thanks for the reply

Splitpin

What you're describing (in particular the sideways gearstick motion and the noisy mesh) doesn't sound exactly like the typical symptoms of the loose input shaft locknut thing. First thing you tend to notice with that is the car jumping out of fifth when you lift off the throttle.

If the oil level is "low" it's probably worth topping up immediately, as much for the general health of your gearbox as to see if it makes a difference to this problem. Ideal for the five speed box is a little above the top hole on the stick.

If it is the locknut, you need to take the dropgear and centre diff casings off the back of the gearbox, tighten the input shaft nut up to torque and stake it down properly so it can't loosen again.

This can be done with the box on the car as Eprom says, but it's literally a pain in the neck that way and there's more opportunity for crud from the underside of the transmission tunnel to get onto the exposed internals and contaminate them.

Given that what you're reporting doesn't sound like a textbook case of this, if you take it to bits and find the locknut isn't loose, then this wasn't the cause of the noise.

If the nut does turn out to be loose, it's not a bad idea to take the synchro and 5th gear package off the shaft and examine them for damage before putting it back together. If you've been driving round this problem for a while it's possible to wear the synchro cone through, or crack the hub (or both), and it's much better to do the job once than have to take it all off again if you discover somethng still ain't right.