Mk5 Golf gearbox problems

Plenty of experience and expertise on here so looking for advice or opinions. Following my 116i low oil pressure thread another driver wrote the BMW off requiring a new car. Found a cheap 1.6 fsi golf with the 6 speed manual box. Test drove fine round the local roads near the dealer. Price agreed and car dropped off today. Car pops out of sixth, joy.

Bought sold as seen no warranty etc as was £600. Private sale I’m screwed but as this was a dealer do I have come back or wiggle room etc?

Google suggests everything from low gearbox oil to imminent death.

Thanks

Bump?

As it’s a manual it should presumably be easy enough to check the gearbox oil as usually there’s an inspection/level port and/or there ought to be some signs of leakage around the places it mates to other bits of the car.

If you were to drain and refresh it and see a load of swarf it would indicate some disintegration.

One thought but what about wear to gear linkages?

Sixth seems like an odd gear to have issues with to me. It’s the cruising along gear and the engine never gets worked in the top two gears.

There may be some underlying consumer rights that the garage cannot sign away.

Could be worn selectors in the gearbox but I’d try a gearbox flush and oil change first as where 5th & 6th gears sit they can be prone to starvation issues if oil is low or overdue a change.

My first port of call would be linkage/mount movement.

My mk5 would do this after taking it through a Ford (water). No idea why.

but as this was a dealer do I have come back or wiggle room etc?

Yes.

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/problems-with-a-new-or-used-car-your-consumer-rights/#:~:text=This%20Act%20gives%20you%20the,term%20’right%20to%20reject’.

Might just be the shifter cables need adjusting. There are plenty videos on YT showing how to do it.

Thanks all, I have 2 litres of gear box oil ready to replace it and have been looking for tutorials on the adjusting shifter cables.

Engine is spot on and very smooth for a 150k mile car and the other gears are all fine too. Shifts smoothly and no nasty noises from the gearbox. If I hold it in 6th its fine, not rough or noisy it will stay in 6th with gentle throttle so hopefully just oil.

For £600 and no other issues, I’d just use gears 1-5

Good luck OP let us know how it goes!

What Jambo said

If I hold it in 6th its fine, not rough or noisy it will stay in 6th with gentle throttle so hopefully just oil.

I had same problem last year with my vw in 5th gear (5sp box), had to hold it in on a journey until i got home. Fixed it by doing the cable adjustment reset.

Had a problem a couple of years ago with the same box when reversing. When selecting reverse my shifter wouldn’t go right in until i released the clutch, then It would engage with a clunk noise. Same fix as above.

Looks like my weekend is sorted. I have just under 2l of mtl redline mtl gl4 spec gearbox oil. Internet suggests between 2.1l and 2.3l needed.

Mtl says can be mixed with other synthetic and conventional oil. Any issues with topping off with another brand as long as it meets the spec?

Mini update. Undid the fill port to see what the levels like and lots of filthy black oil poured out. Looked like used engine oil but smelled reassuringly transmission like.

Also looked like someone has been in there recently as it was wiped clean. Suspect overfilled in an attempt to fix it. The mtl oil I have isn’t suitable so need to get some G052 spec stuff.

Managed to get under the bonnet though as the release cable had snapped so that was a win.

Are we likely to damage the other five gears by still driving it?

With no oil in it? Yes!

Another Golf owner who had the same problem on a mkV, albeit six years ago at around 100k miles. I paid £400 for a transmission rebuild as the car was otherwise fine. Still running under new ownership a further 70k later, so don’t regret the spend.

The fill port not the drain bolt. It still has oil in.

It was overfilled, then. Do the cable reset, fill it with the oil you have unless it’s wildly out of spec, then fill it with the right stuff next weekend.

Had similar on a 6 speed Touran. Noisy in 6th, but not jumping out of gear. New cogs, bearings and if I remember correctly a new nut that holds the show together.

If the shift cable check and adjust does not cure your problem, then it is an easy job to lower the tranny, remove the end cover and have a look. Not easy to see on my picture, but the bearing in the end cover was shot and this allowed the the shafts to float. I can’t remember exactly what was replaced though.

£100 or so in bits from VW fixed it and the vehicle is still on the road.

I know on the earlier 5spds o2b if I remember rightly 5th was out of the cluster and could be swapped easy as you could do it in situ

Emailed a couple of places for very rough quotes and opinions. Nothing planned until oil and cable readers tried. Mtl meets gl4 spec so that and another cheap gl4 spec oil to try.

Update, tried resetting the gearbox cables first. Logic being if it solved the problem I could then buy the proper spec transmission oil.

It didn’t fix it but… The cable end on the linkage nearest the engine was damaged. One of the three fingers had snapped so it wasn’t fully gripping the cable. Topran branded replacement ordered.

Hoping this might be the cause but I’m not overly optimistic. Still got an oil change to do so…