bad gearbox repair (1 Viewer)

[Alenina]

After water ingress we had our gearbox repaired but its come back with 2 problems: a whine from the end casing of the gearbox when coasting in gear, and a side to side wobble at the front of the vehicle when under load eg doing 30-40 uphill. The garage (Geartech Midlands) says it cant get the parts to fix the noise problem, and doesnt know whats causing the wobble and is taking a long time to fix it. Has anyone else had these problems please and is the garage's excuse re failing to fix the noise issue reasonable? Is it really that hard to get parts, and shouldnt they have checked they could get all parts before starting to fix it?
Geartech are gearbox specialists and have a good reputation and one other well respected transmissions specialist here said that if Geartech cant fix it then neither would they be able to.
They think the wobble is due to either engine/gearbox mountings or drive shafts, but a third garage i took it to said these are ok. Can anyone suggest what else it might be please? We're pretty sure its not tyres, wheels or wheel bearings. Thanks for any help.
2000 Fiat Ducato 1.9 TD. 44,000 miles, owned from new.

 

[TheBig1]

gearbox whine is a bad end bearing and because its a transverse box (side to side of van) I expect the wobble under load is the engine/gearbox mount (rubber block) is loose or failed

 

[wizza]

The wobbling is probably a drive shaft normally gets worse under load and the faster you go, the problem is diagnosing it could be nearside or the offside

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Alenina]

gearbox whine is a bad end bearing and because its a transverse box (side to side of van) I expect the wobble under load is the engine/gearbox mount (rubber block) is loose or failed

thanks, i had one garage check the engine/gearbox mountings and they said theyre fine, but Geartech suspect theyre causing the problem. but i cant get engine mountings, not from fiat anyway. do you have any idea which of the mountings are most likely to cause the wobble, or could it be any? we strapped the engine to the front of the chassis and it did reduce the wobble a bit.

 

[Alenina]

The wobbling is probably a drive shaft normally gets worse under load and the faster you go, the problem is diagnosing it could be nearside or the offside

thanks, what can be wrong with a driveshaft? i've had it looked at by another garage and they say its ok. Geartech, who did the gearbox work, say they didnt even remove the driveshafts from the vehicle, yet the wobble was not there before they did the gearbox - so it looks like they did something to cause it.

 

[tonyidle]

thanks, what can be wrong with a driveshaft? i've had it looked at by another garage and they say its ok. Geartech, who did the gearbox work, say they didnt even remove the driveshafts from the vehicle, yet the wobble was not there before they did the gearbox - so it looks like they did something to cause it.

The driveshafts were not "removed" to repair the gearbox but if the gearbox was removed from the vehicle then the driveshafts had to be disconnected from it. The usual way to do this is to disconnect the suspension arm at each side so that the hubs and therefore driveshafts can be pulled away from the gearbox.

I know it's hard to describe your side-to-side wobble but if it is causing the vehicle to move on the road, and given what may have been disturbed during the gearbox repair, I would be asking detailed questions of Geartech. And seeking their assurance in writing that it is safe to drive.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[dave newell]

I don't know what the problems you are experiencing are caused by but if it's any help U have a gearbox from a '98 Ducati 1.9 in good working order, yours for £150 if it's any help.

D.

 

[The Nomad]

Old Indian trick............ reduce the inflation in both front tyres by maybe 10psi, then take it out for a run, and see if wobble is much less, or goes away.
If it does, then one of your front tyres has a deformed sidewall, either due to over-inflation for yonks, or standing in one spot for yonks, or age of tyres causing delamination.

I'm NOT sating that is the cause of the wobble in your case, but I've seen it twice now since I learned of it as possible explanation many many moons ago....and it costs nowt to rule it out.

 

[Wildbill]

As above could be tire problem take them and get them put on a balancing machine
If there's tire wall failure that will see it
Bill

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Alenina]

I don't know what the problems you are experiencing are caused by but if it's any help U have a gearbox from a '98 Ducati 1.9 in good working order, yours for £150 if it's any help.

D.

thanks, do you know if its the same as my gearbox and what the mileage is?

 

[Alenina]

Old Indian trick............ reduce the inflation in both front tyres by maybe 10psi, then take it out for a run, and see if wobble is much less, or goes away.
If it does, then one of your front tyres has a deformed sidewall, either due to over-inflation for yonks, or standing in one spot for yonks, or age of tyres causing delamination.

I'm NOT sating that is the cause of the wobble in your case, but I've seen it twice now since I learned of it as possible explanation many many moons ago....and it costs nowt to rule it out.

we spoke to a tyre dealer who told us that if there was a problem with the tyres we would get the wobble all the time, eg at constant speed on the level, not just when under load like going uphill. also Geartech said they swapped the wheels around and it made little difference. also, suspecting weak or damaged engine/gearbox mounts, they strapped the engine to the front of the vehicle to reduce movement and the wobble did reduce slightly, suggesting it's not due to tyres. but thanks for the tip - i'll try it tomorrow. it has stood for a long time in the same position - a few months (tyre dealer said this wont make any difference). is 10psi enough of a reduction given that the pressure is 60 psi?

 

[TheBig1]

thanks, do you know if its the same as my gearbox and what the mileage is?

dont worry too much about high mileage as the same vans get used by courier firms to do space ship mileage in a couple of years

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[The Nomad]

As above could be tire problem take them and get them put on a balancing machine
If there's tire wall failure that will see it
Bill

No they won't. The problem isn't one of inbalance per se, but of unequal amounts of controlled deformation around the tyre circumferance at a constant weight load.
A tyre with such a problem may be perfectly balanced in terms of spinning weight.

 

[Rally man]

A failed engine/gearbox mounting would have to be totally shot to give you a wobble as described, normally you will have a harsh vibration from a failed mounting.
I agree with wizza drive shaft problem, most probably the inner joint damaged or misaligned when it was removed or refitted.
You don't mention any problem before the repair so it must be down to the garage repair, dig your heels in & get them to sort it out.
As for the whine they should have replaced all the bearings if you had water ingress, this stinks of incompetence,did they have the apprentice doing the job ??

 

[dave newell]

thanks, do you know if its the same as my gearbox and what the mileage is?

Around 120,000 I think, I can check monday. I believe it will be the same box but not 100% certain, I can get you photos on monday. The can it came out of was collected from mid Wales and driven about 80 miles to my workshop in Telford, the driver commented on how good the gearchange was, I never drive it myself.

D.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[mitzimad]

how can you overhaul a gear box without removing the drive shafts
?

 

[simsy56]

Sounds like mountings to make it 'wobble'.

Craig

 

[dave newell]

Checked this morning and it's done 97,000 miles.

D.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[dave newell]

Here's a couple of photos of the gearbox.

D.

 

[gus-lopez]

Engine mountings here possiblyIf not he'd no where.

Link Removed

 

[dave newell]

Would you be interested in this gearbox or not please?

D.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}