Gearbox. Carn't get into 3rd!

A

Audied

Member
Hi all, son went to college this morning and has lost 3rd gear ( careless I know!) Had a search on here and not really worked out what to do. Would a box oil change really get the gear back, it's been getting worse in a few gears just lately and now 3 rd won't go in.
All help/ advice welcome. Thank you
 
...if it is the synchro wouldn't I still be able to get it in gear with engine off? Just thinking if it could be something else. I've cleaned out the gunk around the gearstick and sprayed grease around the selectors
 
When my AMF gearbox failed (around 290,000 miles) the first indication apart from slightly crunchy change into 3rd for a few weeks previously was leaving the local Tesco and finding that after 2nd there were no further forward gears that I could engage - the gear lever would not go further across the box than the first plane. Selector would also not go further into the box when moving the lever on top of the gearbox by hand either. I had Reverse, 1st and 2nd and that was it. Luckily home only 6 miles away in 2nd. Swapped it with the 150,000 mile GPK gearbox recently out of my BHC (when it was PTW-swapped) and instantly back to full function again.

Realistically it sounds like a proper failure and the easiest replacement would be a MYP/PTU/PTW/NTG 6-speed if you can source one unless you can source a suitable 5-speed maybe when someone else is doing a 6-speed swap (from WOM or within A2oc?). I've sourced PTW / NTG for around £200 each for my two tdis and very happy so far.
 
I had the third gear issue, replaced the tower bearing & fresh oil in the box, its been fine for 2 years now, worth a try, total cost under £40.
Hope this helps
 
Robin_Cox said:
When my AMF gearbox failed (around 290,000 miles) the first indication apart from slightly crunchy change into 3rd for a few weeks previously was leaving the local Tesco and finding that after 2nd there were no further forward gears that I could engage - the gear lever would not go further across the box than the first plane. Selector would also not go further into the box when moving the lever on top of the gearbox by hand either. I had Reverse, 1st and 2nd and that was it. Luckily home only 6 miles away in 2nd. Swapped it with the 150,000 mile GPK gearbox recently out of my BHC (when it was PTW-swapped) and instantly back to full function again.

Realistically it sounds like a proper failure and the easiest replacement would be a MYP/PTU/PTW/NTG 6-speed if you can source one unless you can source a suitable 5-speed maybe when someone else is doing a 6-speed swap (from WOM or within A2oc?). I've sourced PTW / NTG for around £200 each for my two tdis and very happy so far.
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Thank you. Looks like I need to get fluent in A2 😄
 
Audied said:
Thank you, I'll have a look into seeing if I can do that..
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As others have said 3rd gear synchro is classic, both my tdi90s have had issues with it. Here is what I'd check, 1. Do you have a water catcher above gearbox? If not the box probably has alot of water in and will have caused issues with the tower selector at the least. You'd see emulsion / water in gearbox oil if you drain it. 2. Is there alot of play in the selector tower, when you wobble side to side? 3. Try resetting cables , there are good videos on YouTube. 4. Tower bearing and seals replacement, depends on your skills, it's not the easiest and springs might have rusted out, check before getting parts. Removing the selector tower is pretty easy, as is fitting a complete replacement tower. Not sure if that will fix it or how to diagnose the problem before buying parts. 5. If new box required jdd 5 speed is an option but comes with the need for some grinding to make it fit, some guidance on the forum if you search, or 6 speed as mentioned above. original spec tdi90 replacement box probably not a good idea due to very common 3rd gear issue... Good luck.
 
Thanks for all your support, I can physically push it into 3rd , I've tried oiling it and moving the selector up and down. I should have said before car is on 186k and it's quite hard to put it into most of the gears. I'm going to get a garage to change the tower bearing and go from there, if that doesn't solve it, not sure what to do
 
Remove the tower bearing & look at the bearing to see if you can see any ball bearings there, in my case there was not even when ball left, completely disintegrated, the oil was like soapy water, took an hour to sort. £40 parts oil etc & could save you a lot money and aggravation.
 
Ami said:
Remove the tower bearing & look at the bearing to see if you can see any ball bearings there, in my case there was not even when ball left, completely disintegrated, the oil was like soapy water, took an hour to sort. £40 parts oil etc & could save you a lot money and aggravation.
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Do you have any drawing with the bearing in question shown ?
 
Does this thread help.

Gear change issues 2003 TDi 150K miles

I know this is a regular topic but I've not been able to find reference to the problem I'm experiencing. Poor gear change to 3rd and 4th is common but in my case the problem appears to be temperature related. I made adjustments as this video The selector lever appeared loose in the gearbox...
www.a2oc.net
 
birtyA2 said:
Does this thread help.

Gear change issues 2003 TDi 150K miles

I know this is a regular topic but I've not been able to find reference to the problem I'm experiencing. Poor gear change to 3rd and 4th is common but in my case the problem appears to be temperature related. I made adjustments as this video The selector lever appeared loose in the gearbox...
www.a2oc.net
Click to expand...
Good find Justin, the tread shows the bearing & rubber sill as well as the reset procedure, add to that 1.9 liters of gearbox fluid & you are done, when changing the fluid first undo the hex refill bolt to make sure you can refill before draining.
 
Son drove car yesterday and he said 3rd had come back,so I'm presuming it is the bearing as the oil I sprayed on must have helped, I've just driven it and it goes in 3rd about once every ten tries! I'll get the tower changed, fingers crossed it solves it. I'll update when it's done.
Thank you all.👏👍
 
Hi all,well the garage had it in this week, they went to change the top bush and found the shaft had completely worn, it looked like it had been at the bottom of a river, bearings in it missing too. So new expensive Audi shaft time, at least it looked like it would fix the problems. New shaft fitted, new oil and sadly the same problem, only gets into 3rd every so often. Gutted is an understatement! ☹️
She who must be obeyed is not happy with me spending lots without fixing it too....
They adjusted the cables while they had it. Could they have got that wrong?

Only other thing I can think of - apart from a new gearbox - which would probably mean a new duel mass flywheel and clutch too? - Is that it's always had a slight leak in the brake master cylinder ( no sign of any leaks in the braking system) as I'm sure you know it feeds the clutch slave too. Could a faulty slave stop it getting into just one gear? Sounds unlikely I know.
Any advice welcome please
 
It's the ideal time to replace the gearbox with a six speed - The codes that work are MYP, NTG or PTU - The best one in my opinion however is a PTW if you can find one as the lower gears are longer and more suitable for urban environments. You'll want to get your ECU remapped for 50 quid or so to get the power to pull the sixth gear if you haven't had that done already. Economy doesn't suffer but the driving experience is significantly better.
 
Sorry to hear that the tower replacement hasn't solved your issues. It's always frustrating when the issue turns out not to be an easy fix.

If I were in your situation I'd remove the new tower, sell it on here and use that to part fund a replacement box. If you can find an affordable six speed it's probably the way to go, several folks on here are really happy with the results.

If you are paying a garage to do the work it will start getting a bit pricey, and often when replacing the gearbox, the clutch and possibly dual mass flywheel gets done too if it's old/worn out. The dmf will likely cost more than the replacement box if it needs replacing too, if it's just the box then not too bad.

If you need help identifying suitable gearboxes I'm sure someone on hear can point you towards some options.

Good luck.
 
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