Short story: the saxo we are driving to mong. and back has developed a ‘clunk’/knock when lifting off the gas in gears 1-3 lowish speed.
Also doesnt go into reverse first time and is very noisy when in.

Garage reckons gearbox…sounds reasonable?

Have quoted £150 to fit a second hand one we source…again sounds reasonable?

How can I tell which second hand one is a good one? They all claim 70k miles etc but no way of telling!
THIS ONE looks good?

While they are in there, will they have to remove the clutch (also not the best)? If so is then a good/cheap time to wack on a new clutch kit?

Really appreciate the help.
Jon

If you’re driving it to mong and back is it worth replacing the gearbox?

To answer the question though, if replacing gearbox and they are already in there and can do the clutch for a reasonable price i’d go for it.

This will be a total gamble. Do you feel lucky?

The only way to tell if a second-hand box is any good is by fitting it.

You can turn it over by hand and select all the gears on the bench and that’ll give you and indication that it works – sort of, but in the car and out on the road is the only way to check really.

Replace the clutch, unless you know the old one was recently replaced.

Unless the Saxo is in mint condition I’d get another car to be honest.

Hth

Marko

We are pretty committed to this vehicle now having spent a small amount on MOT/timing belt/water pump etc.

I know the saxo will never run on in England however I would rather spend a couple hundred now than have it catastrophically fail enroute and leave us stranded in the middle of nowhere.

Doesn’t your garage have any connections for gearboxes? May be better than risking one off eBay.

I’d agree with Marko though. I wouldn’t be spending that sort of money on a Saxo – there’s loads on Autotrader for £500ish.

Get a second and third opinion IMO before commiting. i.e. two more quotes.

It could be a combo of selectors/syncro mesh etc- it may need a gearbox, it might need something less drastic- a repair.

Im NO mechanic or have experience of gearboxes but I wouldn’t go with just one opinion/quote. Unless of course you earn £500 an hour in your job and an extra hour of your time is priceless.

booked in with a gearbox specialist for diagnosis tomorrow but lining up options, sadly no I don’t earn that much and while the saxo is definitely on a one way trip it would suck majorly not to get there!

Hang on . . .

the Saxo we are driving to mong.

I thought that was an ‘auto correct’ for ‘moon’ 😆

If you mean Mongolia, then I’d get an exchange box fitted. Usual fault on these is the input shaft bearings and the differential bearings. I doubt you’ll see change out of £500 for a rebuilt box and clutch though.

Marko

May as well be at this rate!

Going to try have our lovely local garage source a box for us, sadly 500 is going to cut our fuel budget waaay to much!

I recently changed an engine and gearbox in one of these, quite simple as there is a lot of access room.
Why not do the job yourself with a s/h box, this will give you a lot of confidence to fix stuff on the way if it develops problems….

fantom biker- would love to, have been doing everything else so far.
How hard is it? can you point me at a guide?

Saxo boxes go all the time.

As a previous saxo owner my best advice is to go on the saxperience forum and ask advice. Someone may even provide and/or help you fit a box. They are mechanically simple cars.

Are you sure it’s not just the mounts?

This looks like a decent guide meaning loads of pictures!

Did you even try googling for a gearbox replacement guide?

If you have tools and a spare couple of hours, give it a go!

Decent trolley jack- some metric wrenches and sockets- a some means of bodging up a guide bush to get the clutch lined up and your laughing.

Worth getting a second opinion on your current box. Its my experiance that french cars eat plastic gear linkages they come with for breakfast. The metal aftermarkets last heaps longer.

Also lower engine mount is above lh drive shaft an often doesnt get changed with the rest due to havin to drop the oil, pull the shaft and replace the box seal/oil

Does it clunk/clatter when you turn the ignition off ?

Whereabouts are you, I’ve got a workshop and all the tools….?

I am in exeter Fantom.

Update- the bearded wise men at exeter gearbox centre gave it a drive and are 99% sure it isn’t the gearbox! Excellent news.

Need to find a two post lift to drive it through the gears while looking under to find what’s loose.

Currently at the metal man in chagford having some underbody protection bolted on…a box of suspension parts turned up today too, something else to learn!

jota180 – Member

Are you sure it’s not just the mounts?

My first thought as well.

Need to find a two post lift to drive it through the gears while looking under to find what’s loose.

No you don’t. without load, chances are you’ll see and hear nothing.

Get somebody holding torch. Get another with gorilla arms to hold the top of the engine and rock it back and forth like anything. Look at all mounts and contact points and look for a suspect.

Only you know which role you would be best suited…

This may sound ridiculous but have a really good look underneath the car. My college thought his gearbox had gone in a 04 fiesta and was getting all sorts of quotes untill he took it to the 3rd garage who found a large stone jammed in the underneath of the car in the channel for the gearbox.

Once removed the problem was solved.

could it be that there’s no gearbox oil in it for some reason? And therefore not working correctly and making strange noises probably through some ( slightly worn) parts moving without lube. Should be easy to check by draining / or not and replacing probably from the engine bay.

just an idea?

had a weird noise in my missus’s saxo.. thought it was the gearbox..

turned out the rear exhaust mount just under the engine had sheared thru and as a result it made odd noises when lifting off etc.. took ages to find.. but removed the broken mount and its been fine ever since..

also.. the ‘rubber ball’ part of the gear linkages can wear meaning much sloppiness in the gear selection..

number 5 in this diagram..

the ball and socket joints in the linkages labelled 2 and 3 also wear and cause issues..

another thing to look at could be the gearbox roll pin (google it) that causes loads of sloppiness in the linkage.. (and is less than a quid to replace)

as said above drain and check if its got gearbox oil in… and if theres any metal floating about in it when you drain it..

To remove a Saxo box:

Disconnect\ remove battery and battery tray
Remove air intake pipes
Disconnect gear linkages from gearbox, there are 3
Disconnect sensors on gearbox
Disconnect clutch cable from arm on top of gearbox
Disconnect cables from the starter motor and remove the starter motor
Remove wheel trim cover on both sides and loosten hub nuts ( 30mm socket), the wheels needs to be on the ground to do this as its very tight, it also helps if you bend the tabs on the but out,
Loosten the wheel bolts
Jack the car up on both sides, remove the the wheel bolts and wheel, and put an axle stand underneath( a good place to put it is at the back of the wishbone at the bush)
Loosten and remove the ball joint retaining bolts on both sides
Split the ball joint with a splitting tool on both sides
Pull the strut off of the driveshaft on both sides ( be careful as you can pull the driveshaft out at this point so have an oil pan under where the driveshaft goes into the gearbox)
Remove the splash guard from the bottom on the gearbox
Remove the lower gearbox mount
Remove the driveshafts, they just pull out, oil will spill out so have an oil pan underneath it
Support the gearbox, use a jack or something like that
Remove the gearbox bell housing to block bolts (6mm Allen head on these bolts)
Lower the jack and wiggle the gearbox and it should split and allow it to be completely removed
Remove the clutch and bearing and replace it, be gentle with the bolts holding the pressure plate to the flywheel as they can snap
Fit a new clutch, be carful with those bolts!
Wrestle the gearbox on like a man from the top, a jack underneath can help too. This is the hardest but as you need to align the first motion shaft into the friction plate.
Stand back and admire your work and to stop the bleeding on your bashed and cut hands from wrestling the gearbox.
Reassemble everything in reverse of disassembly

Don’t forget to refill with oil, its also with fitting new oil seals to the diff when fitting the new box as they cost buttons and are prone to leaking.

Any saxo \ 106 gearbox will fit it so don’t be afraid to get one not specific to your model as long as the ratios are the same

Yup got some fresh gear oil lined up and copper slick for the linkages.

thanks for the diagram spacehopper, very helpful I’l have a look.

gorilla

-yup that would be me 😀

Hopefully the metal man will have had a good poke around underneath too.

Cheers, will update