Whenever I drive my car from a cold start, 2nd gear always engages with a crunch. I have been told this is called 'baulking' which is caused by the cold gear oil being too thick to allow the synchromesh to work. Does anyone know if this will cause premature damage/wear? I was also told, to fix this, all I would need to do is replace the transmission fluid. I would like to know if this is good advice and also what spec/viscosity gear oil I'll need to use. After the car is warm, the gear changes couldn't be smoother, it's just the first two or three changes from 1st to 2nd on any given journey.
I have heard stories of '2nd gear crunch' being an issue on a lot of VAG cars past and present. However, I don't think this is acceptable for a 2 year old vehicle with just 25k, supposedly built to a high standard, to be having this problem. I've had the car since 18k and this issue has been present since I bought it from a VW dealer with full VWSH. I assume the gear oil to be the stuff put in at the factory so why am I getting this problem??
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
|
I complained about this on my owned from new Mk IV Golf SDI.
Garage denied problem existed.
Problem also existed with my recently departed Passat PD TDI. Never got worse over the 110,000 miles I had it. Both cars were fine after the first few changes.
I've heard some people recommending a synthetic 80/90 gearbox oil to cure the problem.
Tried jumping from 1st to third gear a time or two as well to get around the crunch!.
|
Thanks for your reply; it seems as if the problems you've experienced are identical to what I've described and reinforces my statement that a lot of VAG cars seem to have this issue.
Has anyone else also experienced this? What did you do to resolve it? Can anyone give me the correct recommended spec/viscosity of gear oil needed?
Many thanks.
|
My Passat 130 tdi on a 54 Plate. It had an issue where 1st/2nd gear where notchy. Some days it was fine and other days it would be notchy when changing gears. I had the gearbox changed then a new clutch and dual mass flywheel and finally the thinner gearbox oil. My car has been fine for the last 6 months. I think your issue will be trying to convince VW that you have a problem. I hope you have access to a good dealer.
It may be wothwhile posting here www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/
Edited by bhoy wonder on 20/03/2008 at 15:10
|
SNIPQUOTE!It may be wothwhile posting here www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/
Thanks for your reply, I have actually already posted on the VW/Audi forum and I was advised to take it into my local dealer, which I have done. They told me the usual that they couldn't find anything wrong but could change the gear oil for me if I wanted; I figured I could do this myself rather than pay them to do it.
I'm by no means particularly mechanically minded and I may be completely wrong, but my theory on this is that as the gearbox is smooth as butter once it's warm, it can't be a gearbox fault; it's telling me there is a problem with the oil as it only happens when the oil is thick/cold.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 20/03/2008 at 19:09
|
|
|
|
|
My 12 year old Citroen XM has the same problem, it had it when I bought it and still has 60,000 miles later but it is no worse and changes quite smoothly once warm. If you leave a pause in neutral when changing it doesn't do it but it makes a bit of a slow gearchange. The problem with mine is wear, it was probably driven by an over enthusiastic driver in its younger years. Mine does have synthetic oil as standard so can't do much about it.
|
After trying out numerous ways of alleviating this problem, like you, I've also tried pausing in neutral momentarily and this does help slightly. In my case I can't see there being wear on the gearbox as it's low mileage and in very good condition. The only thing I can put it down to is the oil being too thick when it's cold.
Does anyone know the correct recommended spec gear oil to use? I have searched google and a number of other websites but can't find this info anywhere!
Cheers
|
|
VW change the oil for me under warranty.
|
Golfgt, you need to change your gear oil to Redline MTL, which is 70W-80 GL4 and fully synthetic.
You can buy it from demon-tweeks.co.uk, also you might be able to buy it from opie oils.
My Passat and Golf do not have this problem, as far as I am aware. But I want to change the gear oil in the Passat sometime, it's been in for 7 years. I will be using the Redline MTL, I have heard good reports about it.
|
|
Thanks a lot quizman, just what I'm after. I'll hopefully get it sorted this weekend!
|
|
Have you tried double de-clutching as a no-cost solution?
|
|
|
|
|
