Bad day at the mechanic

S

Starachell

Member
My lovely girl was due for her MOT and I'd recently noticed that 1st gear was getting tricky to get into so off I trotted to get both things sorted. What I thought was going to be transmission fluid came back as the car needing a replacement clutch and flywheel. The clutch itself feels fine under foot and still has a high biting point, additionally the gears don't make that awful grinding noise when moving through the gate. Changing gear to 1st requires more effort when the engine is cold and particularly when she's been parked facing up a hill. My mechanic has said that the clutch itself is fine but it's the fluid between the gears that needs sorting out and to do that requires a whole new mechanism along with the DMF. I don't pretend to be an expert in this so I'm still struggling to understand why the fluid itself can't be replaced and where this fits in with the hydraulic fluid from the clutch and the transmission fluid. I'm squinting at the bill and wondered if any of you lovely people have sourced your own parts for this sort of job to try and make savings where possible? If you have, are there any suggestions for reliable sources and products themselves? I will be sourcing a second opinion since it's no small job but I'd like to get all of my options sorted :? .

Thanks in advance!
 
Hi, is your car a manual transmission?
If it is then there is no reason why the "fluid between the gears" cant be changed without replacing the clutch & dmf, hes trying to pull your pants down.
regards
 
It is indeed. Seemed strange to me as I would've thought additional fluid would solve the problem but the mechanic wasn't willing to do that on a customer car.
 
So how about this for a logical compromise, change the oil and see if it cures it. If you can lift the car you can take the bolts off with a large Allen key. New drain/fill plugs are about £5 each and the manual box takes about 1.6 litres of oil. So less than £40 in bits and it will probably cure it - worked for me.
If a mechanic isn't willing to do a simple fluid change then they're not worth a minute of my time, nor a penny of my money.
 
Get the oil changed at another garage, make sure they use the correct grade for your gearbox though...or do it yourself. At least you will know it's been done right, then see how it performs.
 
I was hoping a change of fluid would ease the problem so you can imagine my surprise. I might rope in some help to see if I can do it at home or at least take it to a garage for that specific purpose.
 
If you can lift the car it's easy. If not find a proper mechanic who will do it for £20, bring your own oil and take the opportunity to replace the drain and fill plugs.
 
No luck with the DIY job due to lack of space for the jacks and stands! She is however booked in for a fluid change soon so I'm hoping that resolves the problem. Otherwise she's driving well so I'm remaining optimistic.
 
Sorry, I missed this follow up! I took her to munich legends and they changed the fluid without any problem. The gear changes are definitely a lot more positive but now I've got a weird reverberation going on when downshifting to 2nd. Every once in a while I still have problems with first but I think that's just down to short legs :)
 
Good news then! Take it you'll not be going back to the first place? Feel free to name and shame!
It's a bit of a stiff box, that's just how it is. Short of changing the gearbox mounts I don't think much else will make a difference.
 
Very much so! In fact I spent the past 2 weekends driving to Banbury with the other half so he could do the same for his 944. I've gotten used to the stiff gates now as well, the mechanical reassurance certainly helped.
 
Another inexpensive possible solution for you is to change out your clutch hydraulic fluid. My son has two cars with a manual clutch and we do this to his about every three years. He says it makes a very big difference in the shifting as well.
 
I did wonder about that as well but wasn't sure if that was any easier to do at home. We've just gotten some axle stands so it's more feasible now. I'm getting an odd shaking in the pedal when releasing into 2nd so I was thinking about the hydraulic fluid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom