2001 Toyota MR2 MK3 Roadster - U.K. 5 Speed Manual
Gearbox suddenly stopped working, making horrendous noise. Jams up, stuck in gear. Also necessary to physically force stick to keep car in gear and prevent it from jumping back to neutral.
Been diagnosed with "catastrophic gearbox failure" by several mechanics, having had details described to them, including one who tried to drive the car.
Seemingly two main options:
- Remove old gearbox and replace (~£200/$270) with choice of second-hand gearbox (~60,000 miles, ~£300/$400) Total = ~£500/$660 (1month/3month warranty)
- Remove and completely recondition existing gearbox, or replace with reconditioned gearbox and re-install = ~ £1000 ($1320) (inc. 1 Year warranty)
So basically, the second option being double the cost of the first.
Do I take a chance with a used gearbox and get it fitted for £500/$660 all-in, or my existing one completely overhauled or replaced with another reconditioned gearbox, guaranteed for a year, spending £1000/$1320 to fix a 15 year-old car?
Any suggestions most welcome.
Cheers,
David.
How long will you be keeping the car for? Is the rest of the car ok? Is it likely to throw up any other big bills soon? Whats your financial position? All questions I don't need the answers to but you need to think about them. Also remember quality is remembered long after price is forgotten.
For piece of mind I would go for the refurbishment if keeping for 18 months plus. If any less than than its hard to justify especially as you will never see that cost back come resale time.
I'd just chuck in a used gearbox. In all probability it will outlive the car, and it's the cheaper option. These cars aren't known for gearbox failure, I think you've just been unlucky there.
I would put in a 6 speed box from a face lift model car.
I would use a used gearbox but...
I'd want to inspect it before I bought it. Manually make it go through the gears (done by manipulating the shifter mechanism by hand), check for play on the input shaft (very slight play) check for obvious leakage of gearbox oil inside the bell-housing and at the diff output and drain the oil and check for metal bits in the oil.
Expect to pay £250 to £300.
I would go for the used as it's not a common failure in these cars! And I would try and upgrade to the 6 speed from the FL!
Bumping an old thread because my car almost certainly suffered a catastrophic gearbox failure this evening!
It was making a strange scraping noise which initially I attributed to a section of loose plastic undertray (as some had been peeled off a couple of weeks ago after I drove through an unexpectedly deep puddle in the road) however the acceleration then became jerky between 3rd and 5th gear. I pulled over to inspect the engine bay and underside of the car but could not see anything abnormal. I drove on and about 5 miles later the car began making a strange whirring noise (sounded almost like a plane engine). Just as I was pulling into a residential street, dropped car into 2nd and the car literally seized up and came to a halt! Checked engine bay, smoke rising out of it (hard to tell which part of the engine bay it was coming from though). Basically, it seems the gears have melted or something! Luckily I was able to get the vehicle recovered to a friend's just down the road.
My car is touching 130k now and I spent around 700 quid getting it through an MOT in April (corroded subframe, brand new replacement). If the gearbox (or whatever the fault is) replacement/repair is going to cost £500 or more, I am going to have to question the financial viability of keeping this car on the road! Gutting!
Does the engine run if you put your foot on the clutch?
Quote from: "rbuckingham"Does the engine run if you put your foot on the clutch?
I see where you're going with this one. Does sound more like engine than gearbox, doesn't it?
Quote from: "rbuckingham"Does the engine run if you put your foot on the clutch?
Yeah, it does. I'm 90% sure, at least. I'll check and get back to you. Thanks
Basically:
> the car is stuck in neutral
> engine starts fine (no knocking, grinding noises)
> no gears can be selected
> when you press the clutch, the engine sound becomes a bit higher-pitched, like a humming noise
> the rear wheels are locked in position
I have a brief audio clip of the humming noise, I will try and upload it somewhere online and put up a link here.
Gearbox bearing gone and sound like you will need a new box, good news is the engine sounds like it's ok
Yes, I'm not a mechanic obviously but I think the engine seems okay. Can you suggest how much it might cost to fix, if the problem's what you think it is?
Best thing to do is replace the gearbox. Probably looking at £200 - 300 for a second hand box and I imagine a garage would want a couple of hundred for a day labour assuming nothing else is wrong.
Blimey, that's at least 3 gearboxes gone in the last month http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=59669 - a bit of a worrying trend!
Quote from: "rbuckingham"Best thing to do is replace the gearbox. Probably looking at £200 - 300 for a second hand box and I imagine a garage would want a couple of hundred for a day labour assuming nothing else is wrong.
Yeah, well, I need to decide whether it is worth repairing or just writing the car off then either breaking it or selling as is...£500 of repairs is, I'd modestly say, not far off half of what the car is worth IMO. Tough decision!