Difficulty with selecting 3rd and 4th gear B6 VW Passat

n0brain3r

Hi all,

I've a 06 B6 VW Passat 1.9TDI 5 speed manual estate with about 180k KMs on it. When shifting up or down to 3rd or 4th the gear stick jams just out of gear. If the clutch is released you get that awful gear grinding until it's put back to neutral.

It will eventually with some persuasion pop free(Feels like you pushing something out of the way) and engage the gear (1st,2nd and 5th are fine) and it doesn't happen all the time maybe 1 in 4. It happens more often with 3rd than 4th in fact until the last couple of days I thought it was only a problem with 3rd. It doesn't appear to exist if shifting with the engine off.

I had it back to the main dealer a few months ago but typically the problem had disappeared a day or two before I brought it to them and only came back a fortnight ago. They found nothing and wanted a fee to put it on the ramp and investigate further so I declined!

I've done some googling and haven't found any gearbox problems with this model can anyone suggest what it might be or how to identify the problem.

Thanks guys

nb

paddyp

n0brain3r wrote: »

Hi all,

I've a 06 B6 VW Passat 1.9TDI 5 speed manual estate with about 180k KMs on it. When shifting up or down to 3rd or 4th the gear stick jams just out of gear. If the clutch is released you get that awful gear grinding until it's put back to neutral.

It will eventually with some persuasion pop free(Feels like you pushing something out of the way) and engage the gear (1st,2nd and 5th are fine) and it doesn't happen all the time maybe 1 in 4. It happens more often with 3rd than 4th in fact until the last couple of days I thought it was only a problem with 3rd. It doesn't appear to exist if shifting with the engine off.

I had it back to the main dealer a few months ago but typically the problem had disappeared a day or two before I brought it to them and only came back a fortnight ago. They found nothing and wanted a fee to put it on the ramp and investigate further so I declined!

I've done some googling and haven't found any gearbox problems with this model can anyone suggest what it might be or how to identify the problem.

Thanks guys

nb

Change the oil asap crunching = metal particles = preamature wear

http://www.cars-guide.com/volkswagen-forum/second-gear-crunch---2006-passat---help-t1172.html

Tea drinker

yeah, I changed mine (03 model) and added molyslip - made a big difference.
Mine wasn't as bad as yours, and I wouldn't expect it to fix your issues 100%.
If you haven't the money and time for a gearbox, well it might be worth it.
The little plastic balljoint under the gaiter (it just pulls up on mine) needed some grease.
And changes were better after this.

n0brain3r

That's just the thing when I had it with VW I asked the service guy should the gearbox oil be changed and he replied with a straight no it wasn't normally done and I didn't question it

Tea drinker

Yeah VW say it's lifetime oil, but look at all the people who had big improvements changing it? Don't know why they don't include it as a high mileave service item, surely cooked oil with inevitable bits of metal and probably low level as well is not good for a 'box....

n0brain3r

Tea drinker wrote: »

yeah, I changed mine (03 model) and added molyslip - made a big difference.
Mine wasn't as bad as yours, and I wouldn't expect it to fix your issues 100%.
If you haven't the money and time for a gearbox, well it might be worth it.
The little plastic balljoint under the gaiter (it just pulls up on mine) needed some grease.
And changes were better after this.

Is there much involved in changing the oil? What sort of money are we talking?

I can change fairly freely when the engine isn't running so I guess the balljoint is ok but I suppose it wont hurt to grease it!

n0brain3r

I brought the car to the local mechanic over the weekend and typically before I got there the problem disappeared until I got home again

He took it for a quick spin and couldn't reproduce it so made a couple of observations and a guess as to what it might be.

He reckoned that a clutch pressure plate finger may be warped /displaced and this is what causes the difficulty selecting 3rd .

I bought the car second hand with about 130km on it and have no knowledge if the clutch was ever changed - It has a full service history until the time I bought it and doesn't show it - Would it?

In any case he recommend changing the clutch, pressure plate and probably the dual mass fly wheel or get the DMF tested while it was off the car at the very least. He also said I wouldn't do any damage if I wanted to drive it until it wouldn't engage 3rd at all so long as it wasn't grinding gears.

All in parts and labour he reckoned about €750(Including a new DMF) and he'd need the car for a couple of days.

It only dawned on me afterwards that the gear problem was limited to 3rd (I'm going to discount 4th now as I've never experienced it only the OH who's prone to panicking at mechanical issues:) ) Would a worn / damaged pressure plate not effect all gears?

What do you think of the quote €750 for everything?

Thanks,
nb

n0brain3r

Any ideas guys?

Thanks,
nb

Greyfoot

Not an expert myself but if the friction plate were damaged clutch would probably slip in all gears. Difficulty getting the car into third gear might mean worn synchro but don`t take it 100%.

bbability

There's only one way to get to the bottom of your problem and that's to drop the gearbox and have a look. We're only second guessing what could be your problem here but my experience of a similar kind was to get to the bottom of it quick. The quicker you get to the problem the cheaper it's going to cost. I wouldn't be driving the car if at all possible until you resolve is issue.

When was your clutch/flywheel last replaced?

I would say its a new clutch/flywheel kit required. Hopefully your gearbox is intact. My flywheel partly broke, bell housing got damaged and I lost 4th gear.. I had to replace gearbox and clutch at 70k. I bought gearbox in Traynors and solid flywheel kit from
Luk. 100k later and touch wood I haven't looked back.

n0brain3r

Thanks guys I'll try get it to someone for over the weekend. Can anyone recommend a good mechanic in Maynooth or close by?

Tdireddi

What was the cause of this mate, did you get it fixed ? Im having exactly the same thing happening to myself, mechanic is unsure of whats wrong and is going to check the gear selector however you may be able to save me time and money cheers

yes there

Whats the story with this. Having the same problem.