Gearbox won't engage when cold

[Colesy]

Hi all,

Went to view an S2 at the weekend which had a pecular problem with the Gearbox.

The car was a 1993 6 speed Avant.

The current owner admitted to the fact that when cold the gearbox won't engage gears very easily and it takes a little while for it to warm up. I'm in no way a mechanic so I was wondering what could be causing this? When warm the gearbox engaged fairly well, it was slightly notchy but in no way bad.

Any ideas?

Thanks

[Rusty]

Mine's a bit like this, it engages but you have to be gentle. Some new 'box oil was my first port of call, it helped a bit, OE VAG stuff is about £10 per bottle, box and centre diff take about 2.7l and rear diff a further 1l. My car has done 165k and other than selecting 1st when cold, it's fine. The linkage might also need a tweak, the linkages are very tight clearance wise, so any wear can lead to some unwanted interference and thus notchyness / engagement difficulty.

[iain1067]

I would ask the seller if he has changed the box oil, i have done this on my car and the change when cold isn't good, once it's warm it's fine

[newsh]

first and second are really hard when cold on mine, when warm its fine, I think its a linkage issue.

[bsavictor]

Gearbox problem

I would also check for a faulty pressure plate

[Colesy]

Thanks for all the replies everyone, while this sounds like it might not be a huge issue, I think it could be one to steer clear of.

The seller didn't seem very genuine and I knew he couldn't be trusted when he told me that "the button on the key was for the remote central locking which worked up until very recently and it just needed a new battery". I was pretty sure that S2's never had remote central locking? And if they did that the button he was refering to was for the light in the key... He also tried to blag that the AC worked, which it didn't.

If someone is going to lie about something like that then you just don't know what to believe...

I might start up another thread on this as there could be some funny stories!

[s2avant]

Remote locking was an option (mine has it) but the remote locking key is massive in comparison to a normal key.

Ben

[Acidburn]

first and second are really hard when cold on mine, when warm its fine, I think its a linkage issue.

Just out of interest john are you still on the 5 speed or now a 6 speed box?