Stiff gears and crunching reverse - clutch gone ?

Pras

A2OC Donor
1.4 TDI 150k miles original clutch and not slipping!

So far I have adjusted the linkage and greased the cables/mechanism, cleared out the gator/stick from debris and greased as well.
this made 0 difference.

Without the engine running all gears select fine, reverse is a bit difficult to disengage.
Once the engine is running all gears are stiff and there is a loud crunch when selecting reverse even at stand still.

Any ideas whats wrong ? clutch gone ?
 
Any gearbox oil? Could be gearbox lacking oil, clutch failing, leaking slave cylinder or needing flushing or selector tower seizing up
 
I suspect this is the 'top hat' that lives on the end of the gearbox, covering the input shaft, the release bearing slides on the Top Hat.
Over time the sliding of the release bearing scores the top hat, this then makes the release bearing bind on the top hat, this then makes the spinner plate 'drag' on either the clutch cover or flywheel, either way the gearbox input shaft is not totally disengaged from the engine, and therefore is turning the gearbox input shaft, hence the crunching reverse (no syncro) and the stiff forward gears (syncro but likely well worn at this mileage)
The cure is to replace the top hat and release bearing, but it would be madness to not also replace the clutch cover and spinner plate and the pivot bolt and cross arm, this is obviously a gearbox off job
Suggest fitting LUK clutch kit, change gearbox oil at the same time

Cheers,
Paul
 
Thanks Paul, I already changed the oil 5k miles ago!
So a Luk clutch kit is all I need or extra bits as well?
Will start to get quotes and then decide if to bin the car or not ?
 
As @audifan said "selector tower seizing up". I have had gear selection issues before.In my case the sleeve bearing failed.this meant that input from the gearstick wasn't accurately selecting the gears.Might be worth checking for any lateral movement from the input shaft.It should rotate and move up and down only.If that is okay then it's most likely gearbox off
 
The gear changes are smooth again and no crunch in reverse...
All I did was drench the selector tower with AC-90 (penetrating oil) then grease it.
And 2 weeks after this the gear changes were fine again and have been since.

Any ideas what the culprit might be?
 
Glad it has worked. If the tower is constantly getting wet, this can penetrate down into the bearing and eventually into the gear box as a rusty sludge. The main reason for water there is the bonnet plenum chamber drains either not aligned with the catchment "cups" or the nozzles either missing, mis aligned or partially blocked with debris. Easy to check the cups are correctly located, the one you are most interested in is bolted very near the ABS pump.

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It does not matter which engine you have the 2 drains are the same and in the same place. The other drain is more rectangular and is located between the cam belt cover and slam panel.


Here is the underside of the bonnet drains, note that the nozzle is missing from the right side drain and when fitted the nozzle is at right angles to the passenger side one ( the one you are interested in.

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Unfortunately to see if they are lined up the best way is to place a phone with its light on and film the bonnet as it shuts, adjusting the camera a couple of times to get a good shot and then the collector cup if needed. Clean out the plenum chamber to make sure the drains are clear and no rotting vegetation. The cup is fitted with a drain tube make sure it is there, fitted and clear. Another source of leaks can be a loose bonnet in the rear mounts or gap in the seal that fits around the engine bay.

These are not my pictures and credit is due to those members, thank you for them and I would mention you but can't find who they belong to.
 
I had already checked the cups and nozzles are free of debris. will try and get a camera in there to check the alignment.
 
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