last night i was driving home and the left hand side of my gearbox: reverse, 1st and 2nd felt stiffer than usual then 1min or 2mins later it was fine again my friends where saying it probs got a bit hot. and today i went to the shops and i dont know if im overthinking this but my 2nd feels a bit more notchy or im imagining it. the car is on 100,500 miles and most definetily needs a fluid change but i dont know if that would fix it or not? this is my first car and a dont know if ive effed my gearbox up?!!

 

and the shifter is over to the right hand side of the gear stick area ever so slightly would that be from what happened from last night? just hoping i havent effed the syncros ect?!! or the gearbox of course.

 

please need some advice as i use the car daily

Oil level in gearbox should be checked every 20,000 miles.

 

It's hard as a home mechanic, because the car needs to be level, and you need to be able to access the fill plug (17mm hex Allen key).

 

If it has lost oil the change could be notchy.

But it'd be good to know where any oil has leaked from.

These gearboxes have a tower on the top for the selection

and cable change linkage, so they don't leak out of that unlike old Polo with rod selector.

 

It might also be the clutch, or the release bearing that is worn.

As hydraulic master/slave the pedal auto-adjusts so there's no tell tale 

lower and lower biting point.

 

Is it easy to change into 2nd with engine not running (clutch pedal down)?

What about reverse?

 

Also possible is the cable ends that wear and flex after about 10 to 15 years, or the gear lever mechanism after about 20 years. 

There is an adjustment procedure for the cables where you lock the tower with a plastic key, and gear lever with a 5mm rod, then release and relock the sprung cable ends

 

(Reverse does not have synchromesh)

Edited 18 February, 20242 yr by dvderlm