CHANGING 182 gearbox & clutch & release bearing- Tips etc appreciated

[clio182nurburg]

Hi all,
My 182 gearbox is past it.
cant get 1st anymore from a stop. 2nd crunches all the time...
the gearbox took a hit when the car had a crash so is definately dead.
Im going to put a new one in on the bank holiday weekend at the end of the month.
but i am no pro mechanic and would appreciate any help or info that might be useful.
there is an old thread in the guides section but it was slightly confusing.

What is the best way to remove the gearbox? Is it much harder to remove the whole engine and do it off car to save removing subframe?

Ive only got the girlfriend for help although i have benched pressed a gearbox before it'll probably get me on the head.

its only on 52k will i need a clutch? as its a weekend I wont be able to get parts so need to order everything beforehand. otherwise the girlfriend will have to drive a stripped out mk2 golf to work. which she hates,,


i have a 172 'box to put in it. but the clutch release bearing which i dont have has worn a groove in its guide? is the 182 box identical so i can use its bearing /shaft? not sure what i need ill post pic of the new box...
please help need 2nd gear back and 1st would be nice. :race:

 

[coxxy]

with the box off you might as well put a clutch in it

 

[James.f]

The box will have to be dropped from underneath unfortunatly, so subframe etc needs to come out,

The 172/182 boxes are all the same, the only difference you will find is the Cup one, which has a speedo sensor on top of the box to work the speedometer,

 

[clio182nurburg]

Few pics, 172 gearbox to go on



worn clutch release bearing shaft?
hopefully can take off old gearbox? if identical


This must be the speedo drive. can i just remove it and fill the hole with silicone? not blocking the drive from still spinning of course

 

[clio182nurburg]

Oh carp.... 1st and 2nd have GONE :dead:
can smell clutch now when pulling off in third.
when you hold the gearstick at the gate of 1st gear and start pulling clutch up you can actually here the gear teeth grinding and 2nd just feels blocked!
So guess Ill start stripping the car down for the new box tomorrow.
will attempt the subframe tilt, slide box out method
do I really need to undo the UJ joint so the steering rack doesnt pull on the steering column? and undo the exhaust manifold?
thanks for any help.
will post pics etc as I go...
think I've got a bent suspension rod! also from the crash.. so will investigate.

 

[Faboka]

Just subscribed. Be interesting how you get on. Just in case I ever have to do this myself.

 

[clio182nurburg]

Just Started on the car! Few pics.


What Im doing...

Loosened Hub nuts abit (30mm) using a 600mm breaker bar THEY ARE TIGHT.

Loosened the Wheel Bolts.

Loosened the top suspension mountings using 6mm hex to stop the rod from turning and a funky spanner on the 21mm nut


Then I put the car up on axle stands at a fair height (be careful people)

Remove Front roadwheels.

Then Removed the subframe undertray (4x13mm bolts)

And the Front bumper - seemed too easy. 13mm headed bolt each side near the wing under the arch liners. (get the right bolts not the wing bolt). 2 twist clips on the grille (poor and can break), Alarm bonnet wire and 2 headlight washer jet hoses and it was off.
I think It should also be connected to a lower front panel which Ive misplaced so unsure?!

Remove Airbox and air feeds. Bit fiddly (one bolt front and back of airbox, undo hose clips/vacuum pipe)


Remove Battery (13mm on wing side of battery)

Remove Engine Cover (4 Torx screws T25 possibly)

Remove Ecu and all black bracketry. Pic of ECU connector below...has a sliding plastic locking pin. slide it out to be able to remove the connector.




Removed Passenger side suspension and tie rod end

Drained Gearbox oil (8mm square!! drain key) My oil was almost black somethings must be bad!

Remove driveshaft gaiter (3 bolts onto gearbox)

Somehow just about pull hub off driveshaft end and remove the d'shaft from the car!




Unsure what Im going to do now.
thinking about remove the subframe completely.
And just undoing the gearbox and dropping in on the floor.
what do you think?

 

[ducman]

Top work - well done for taking it on yourself. Fraid i cant give u any advice except to say if your working on your own use the safest possible method as u dont want to get squished!!

 

[Sean6545]

Your getting there, next undo the rack to colum pinch bolt, and the 4 bolts that bolt the rack to the subframe. Seperate the bottom ball joints, undo the 16mm nut for the front engine mount, remove the rear dogbone mount, remove the 4 16mm bolts holding the frame on and lower it down on some jacks.

Then remove the 3 bolts holding the starter on and move it back behind the exhaust manifold.

Remove the reverse light switch connector, remove the crank sensor.

Remove the 3 16mm bolts on top of the gear box which the mount uses whilst holding the engine/gearbox up with a jack under the sump.

Remove the 7 bell housing bolts and lower the engine/gearbox so that the gearbox is pointing towards the ground. Then wiggle and remove.

 

[clio182nurburg]

Nice one I think I've broken the back of it now as I've just managed to get the new gearbox and clutch on. on my own.:approveics later
not tested the gears yet but clutch seems to work.
bench pressing the gearbox was entertaining but do-able.

I removed the subframe in the end.
by far the easiest method.
The top 2 steering rack securing bolts were difficult to get to and needed a 16mm ratchet spanner.
I just cable tied the rack up so there was little weight on the UJ joint rather than undoing the column to rack pinch bolt.
Hopefully I wont have caused any damage to it.
I couldn't undo the drivers side tie rod end as it kept spinning. So just undid the lower balljoint and left the hub/suspension /tierod connected.

Still need to refit the subframe and fill the gearbox with oil and bolt the driveshaft on etc then we'll have a go.

Dont really want to put the car back together without upgrading something. I always modify something! So I think Ill order some powerflex bushes.
Already done the dogbone. Might have time to do wishbone bushes otherwise Ill just do the inner and outer Anti roll bar bushes.
Taken about 9hours so far so pleased with that really. I like my tools so have afew air tools which made it easier.

I hope I wasnt too far out with the torque on the pressure plate bolts! anyone know what it should be? I tried the origonals and they seemed to be 18nm so that what I did them upto again but with a little threadlock just in case. they wont be off for 60k miles hopefully!!!

 

[clio182nurburg]

Does anyone know where the earth strap goes? ive took it off and cant figure out where it goes!!!

 

[Sean6545]

In theory, it should lay back roughly where it came off. It will be near the 5th gear end caseing somwhere.

 

[clio182nurburg]

I took both ends off the wire! I think it goes from the gearbox to the chassis leg somewhere, will look through some pics and see if i can see it.
pics soon..

 

[clio182nurburg]

I have never seen so many 16 and 18mm bolts/nuts! Im used to VW 13/17/19mm so it was odd to me...
the subframe was not too bad to remove really except there are 2 small bolts into it that hold a heat sheild around the steering rack that need removing if your leaving the rack in situ.


Pic showing PAS line Bolted to front of gearbox through lower gearbox mounting bracket which is held to 'box by 3 more bolts.

Gearbox off! yey!




New clutch

Old clutch

Old vs new release bearing

New release bearing fitted and release bearing shaft swapped over due to wear.
copper slip used as lube should be ok.

I think the slop in the gearstick linkage has gone. The new box came with standard linkage wheras the previously fitted aftermarket short shirt linkage hole is too large i think. I wondered why there was so much left to right play in the gearstick! will vernier caliper it later.

 

[ducman]

Have really enjoyed this thread - thanks a million for posting it and especially with all the photos. I think my Gearbox will need a rebuild soon - i wouldnt be too afraid of tackling it myself now having followed your post!

 

[clio182nurburg]

cheers chap.
I found You really need a good set of tools to do the job otherwise you will struggle! I used various concoctions of extensions bars and ratchet spanners with socket adaptor on etc.
The gears appear to be 500 times better than before. The oem linkage was 12mm i think and the aftermarket 12.2. well the difference was 0.2mm anyway and just that created a large amount of play in the left and right of the gearstick which translates to up and down at the gearbox end which is VERY important to get the gears right. In short. the aftermarket linkages are bad IMO!

I used an engine crane on gearbox side of the engine as well as the jack under the sump to hold the engine up and even though i took some of the weight when I undid the last upper gearbox mounting bracket it still dropped abit that engine is heavy! if you dont have a crane you definately want it well proopped underneath before undoing the gearbox mounting!



Few pics of the Anti Roll Bar Inner Mounting
I will be replacing them and the outer ARB bushes with powerflex ones which im about to order form Kam racing dont have time to wait for the group buy.
I sheared both outer ARB bush clamp bolts when I undid them. They were rusty as hell. Will be getting some stainless ones and stainless nylocs nuts.
I wouldnt attempt the inner ones with the subframe on the car.
More next weekend... just got to get some elf 75w80 gearbox oil, type d coolant, powerflex bushes and afew new bolts and put her back together!:race:

 

[Faboka]

Excellent. Thankyou for take the time updating this thread.

 

[cookstar]

I'm going to need to do this job soon, is it not a good idea to have the flywheel skimmed, or are they quite tough on these?

 

[STEVE.M]

The box will have to be dropped from underneath unfortunatly, so subframe etc needs to come out,

The 172/182 boxes are all the same, the only difference you will find is the Cup one, which has a speedo sensor on top of the box to work the speedometer,

If @NorthloopCup could remove this to avoid people being mislead, thanks.

 

[STEVE.M]

Few pics, 172 gearbox to go on
View attachment 56884
View attachment 56885
View attachment 56886
worn clutch release bearing shaft?
hopefully can take off old gearbox? if identical
View attachment 56887
View attachment 56888
This must be the speedo drive. can i just remove it and fill the hole with silicone? not blocking the drive from still spinning of course
View attachment 56889
View attachment 56890

You can use a JC5-129 in a 2002 Ph2 172 with no ESP or cruise & Cup & not utilise the speedo drive.
But if you have a 182 & require a speedo drive, JC5-130 is what you need.