Gearbox situation

Associate
Joined
28 Feb 2012
Posts
673
Location
Far Far Away!
Hopefully a knowledgeable mechanic person reads this:

Got a slight whining noise coming from the gearbox, mechanic says the bearings are probably rogered and its on it way out. Gears 1 & 2 whine, but are not very loud yet. He said the fluid level was very low and he topped it up which might help the situation but it's more than likely too late.

The cars done 76k mileage, the clutch bearing is also a little whiney when not depressed, so that'll needs attention if i wanted it all fixed.

it's a ford fiesta 2001 zetec-s LX 16 valve mk4.
paid £650 for it, (I know, i probably paid too much :( )

just wondering what I should do with it, could the gear box / clutch go at any time, should i run it until the MOT runs out in 10 months time? or cut my loses and sell it for bare minimum price?

how much do garages normally charge for this sort of work etc

Cheers guys
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Oct 2009
Posts
13,839
Location
Spalding, Lincs
Personally I'd drive it and hope for the best.

When I got my car the gearbox was noisy as hell, I took the plate off the bottom of the box and there wasn't a drop of oil in there. Filled it up with new oil and it quietened it down a lot, but it still whines. It's done 8k miles like this in the past 5 months and not got any worse :)
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Aug 2003
Posts
15,917
Location
UK
You could have the gearbox sent off to gearbox specialist for quote -Depends what needs replacing.
You could buy a second hand one from a breakers -£50 on ebay
You are probably looking at 6 hrs labour to take it out and refit it afterwards @£50hr = £300
In doing so you are exposing the clutch anyway so there shouldn't be much extra charge for this, if at all.
I'd change the clutch (kit) while you were at it. £60 odd on ebay inc the slave cyl
 
Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
1,017
Location
Nuneaton, UK
Tbh, that all sounds normal for an IB5 box in a mk4 fiesta. You won't find many that don't sound like that, a fresh rebuild one won't sound much better. (been there done that)
 
Associate
OP
Joined
28 Feb 2012
Posts
673
Location
Far Far Away!
I guess i should ask around for some quotes then guys, I basically bought it as a run around until I could afford something better, and the 10 month MOT remaining was ideal. I thought I better get it looked at to see if anything minor needed replacing, which in some respect now needs 2 major parts replaced (i assume, just my luck).

Would going to ford direct be a good option, or not?

"bmh.01 - what does IB5 mean? cheers"
 
Associate
OP
Joined
28 Feb 2012
Posts
673
Location
Far Far Away!
Would a local garage do it cheaper? or should i just run it till it goes? Could it go tommorow or could i Have a while left (from any experience you guys have)
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Aug 2003
Posts
15,917
Location
UK
Would a local garage do it cheaper? or should i just run it till it goes? Could it go tommorow or could i Have a while left (from any experience you guys have)

Take your time, get some quotes, do some research, come back here with your findings and we can either laugh or suggest you to get it done.

Choose a REPUTABLE garage, not just the cheapest you can find!
There is a world of difference between the two!
 
Associate
OP
Joined
28 Feb 2012
Posts
673
Location
Far Far Away!
maybe it's the age and mileage, but it was a bit sad to hear that the fluid level was very low :(

Plus the clutch bearing has a whine to it as well when not depressed, so that's on it way out too. both whines are not majorly loud, but definetaly noticable
 
Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
1,017
Location
Nuneaton, UK
"bmh.01 - what does IB5 mean? cheers"
It's the manual box model used in most fiestas and mk1 focii, and its crap. If you search around you'll find you aren't the only person who experiences this, at one point the local ford dealer mechs had a competition as to who could rebuild one the fastest as they were doing at least one per week. I've done the one in my sisters 1.25 mk4.5 and it was hardly any different after, its never gotten any better or worse in the last 3 years so i'd stick with it for the time being. They can be had of ebay for peanuts if it does completely die.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
28 Feb 2012
Posts
673
Location
Far Far Away!
Evening guys, so the latest is, I've got a new clutch kit and a second hand gearbox ready to be fitted to the car hopefully in the next week or so, My next problem would be the rust spots on the bottom areas, I've taken some pictures of the main spots that are the worst...

I'm looking to fix up the rust spots, can anyone tell me what the best stuff to buy is, looking in halfords and theres a few things but not sure which one to buy..

4u6idk.jpg


5aneva.jpg


33tqhok.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom