Garages Just Don't Understand Galaxys.

[Scorpiorefugee]

This all relates to my old MK2 given to my son 3 1/2 years ago. He recently comlained that as a result of severe vibration at speed and loss of reverse and first his local (well recommended) garage had told him that the gearbox was shot and the dual mass flywheel also shot and that it was all beyond economical repair). I did a round trip of 200 miles to lend him my wife's picasso and brought it back. I had some vibration on the way back which I instinctively put down to drive shaft but other than that and the gear problem it drove beautifully.

 

I dropped it into my local (2 ageing mechanics trying to earn an honest crust) asking them to look at the vibration first to decide whether it was worth doing much more. The soon reported NS drive shaft joint sleeve badly split and totally dry with rust and one brake pipe nearly rusted through. The previous garage said that they had checked the drive shafts and they were fine. Both problems must have been evident at the earlier MOT!

 

A new sleeve, grease, brake pipe and 2 rear tyres (both badly worn on the inside) and I took it on a 200 mile round trip at speeds rather more than the legal limit in short busts with no vibration. On the way back I lost 3rd so I took it back to the garage and asked them to check the gear linkage as is well reported on several other posts. The next day thay phoned to say that they had tried to get it to a "specialist" as advised but had lost all drive an the clutch was burnt out and the vehicle incapable of movement. In dispair I assumed that they had been unable to get secong and the clutch had failed because someone was trying to drive it with only 4th upwards. Luckily, I found this on Utube.  

 

 

Working on the hope that the clutch may have survived I managed to manually engage 2nd and drive it the 2 miles home and that is when the fun started.

 

Resetting the cables just made it worse but I eventually dicovered that the casting which is bolted to the gear selector rod was loose and wobbling. Having checked the 8mm nut I managed to tighten it a couple of turns but the cast lever was still loose so I took it off, losing a lot of skin in the process to find that the spline was badly worn but that did not explain why the nut wouldn't at least stop it wobbling. I replaced it with a washer under the nut and after found the correct position I eventually got all six gears but no reverse and I couldnt get reverse even by operating the thing manually. A while later and having lost more skin I found that I could get reverse with the casting off and tightening the nut while pressing down and than noticed a that the muck had been scraped off a ridge on the gearbox casing. After deciding which part of the bit I had dedicated a lot of skin to remove and refit several times I ground about 5 mm off and replaced it. I now have all gears and the gear change feels so positive it is like driving a new car.

 

So, why didn't anyone notice the loose nut and the drive shaft ptoblem. I couldn't see the nut becaus I was working alone but someone could have saved a potententially lost drive shaft, a badly burnt clutch and a lot of gear change problems for little cost.

 

Now all I have to worry about is poor turbo action and a sound a bit like blowing exhaust coming from the same area  - possibly linked. :5: 

 

Questions.  Does anyone know why the cast lever I had trouble with became lower to stop access to reverse? Possibly wear or a missing spacer?

 

Any suggestions for low power up to 2000 rpm which picks up suddenly and slight loss of power generally?

 

 

[seatkid]

Seem to remember something about a pinch bolt that often slackens and something consequently dropping off into the box.

 

The power thing is possibly another sticky turbo actuator problem, or a minor leak in the vacuum tubing somewhere, requiring revs to develop enough vacuum to move the actuator. The blowing noise may be a clue that you have a leak in the boost pipework, either at a joint or a small hole in the intercooler, again requiring revs to get to the required boost/performance.

Edited October 24, 2016 by seatkid

[Scorpiorefugee]

Hello Seatkid,

 

I'm not sure how that image appeared on my post 'cos I just put a link on but that is for the 5 speed box and my problem was with a component with the same funtion but without the lever  and i n a different position. I think the 6 speed arrangement is shown at the end of the video. However, the problem was simply with the spline on the bit under the nut next to the fellow's thumb, unless the image may change if someone plays the video. I read the bit about the bit dropping into the the gearbox and was greatly relieved to find the problem unrelated to that. I now think the new lower position of the lever (for want of a better term) is a result of the wear on the tapered spline so I'll wait for my mutilated hand to heal before trying to find and fit a replacement - if the old tub lives that long.

 

I finally noticed that the garage had failed to replace the soundproofing cover off the top of the engine which explains the noise and you are probably right about the sticky actuator as on a short trip this morning I noticed that after the turbo had finally kicked in I could hear it whining quite loudly on tickover intermittently which seems to support this. This is a far better position to be in instead of the option offered by 2 garages.

 

And finally, I have to ask if your now ageing motor is still alive and giving joy. I am seriously looking for a suitable MK2 to supplement my MK3 as , although it's ok on long motorway runs provided I have a cushion to sit on, the MK2 is way way better in just about every respect on normal roads and round town.

[Scorpiorefugee]

And finally.....

 

My son managed to lose the gears again and I have redone the fix with a vengance and it now seems OK.

 

However, It now appears that this problem is very common but then, why did I have to sort it out myself????

 

The good news is that the casting is available - Part no 7M3 711 046B listed as about £65 RRP. What that means as a final price is something to discover the hard way but I was sent the following link by a very helpful chap at TPS.

 

https://www.partslink24.com/vwag/vw_parts/illustration-mailing.action?mode=K0LWRGBGB&lang=en

 

Now all that is needed is a durable elbow length glove or a large box of plasters.