Gearbox finally gave up

Powercat · Post by **Powercat** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:28 pm

It's all over for my gearbox, the first oil change lasted three months or so and then last week I had to do another one, this time it only lasted 150 miles.
And now I'm stuck in Belgium

tried ringing with a friend all the local garages that might rebuild gearboxes, the best quote was â‚¬2800 the worst was 4000,

I have decided to take the gearbox off myself, hire a car and take the gearbox back to the UK where I know I get rebuilt for a low price.
Changing the gearbox oil is a great way of keeping you on the road but it's only a matter of time before you need a complete rebuild

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 3:14 pm

Oh Dear.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Been there, done that - albeit not quite so far from home but was carless from mid-December 2009 until late January 2010 whilst the box was rebuilt.

I hope you can get the box off without straining yourself and get it successfully back to the UK for repairs. I take it you don't have Continental Recovery who could get everything home for you?

Powercat · Post by **Powercat** » Wed Jul 27, 2011 6:10 pm

Hi X5sport
No I've got no cover for any kind of recovery service, I usually fix it myself, I used to drive those kind of trucks for a living,
normally I get sumone to tow me with a rope but Belgium is a bit far.
The hire car is under â‚¬200 for seven days, and I've got the gearbox booked in for Monday in the UK and all being well pick up Thursday,Much easier for the guys to repair my box when I bring it to them bench ready.

Powercat · Post by **Powercat** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 12:33 pm

Okay the gearbox is now off, it took me about 3 hours or so, some of the bell housing bolts at the top were a little difficult

, and I managed to avoid taking off the exhaust to get to the gearbox support on the drivers side

.
Picking up the hire car tomorrow and then back to the UK and then wait for first thing Monday morning to drop the gearbox off for a rebuild.

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:38 pm

I can see now why the company that did mine took 6 hours to strip and refit, plus 12 hours to rebuild everything!!

Well done you.

wilkoturbo · Post by **wilkoturbo** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 4:56 pm

Wow top man love DIY

Sanj · Post by **Sanj** » Thu Jul 28, 2011 11:20 pm

Considering your current predicament - where you are, this is something to bow down to.

Wish you all the luck I can muster.

Keep us posted buddy, safe journey back...

Powercat · Post by **Powercat** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 6:31 pm

Many thanks for the support guys, I got my hire car today and then got plastic sheeting and a big piece of wood for the gearbox to sit on,
So I'm already now for the journey home tomorrow.

AW8 · Post by **AW8** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:21 am

Mindful you were picking up box thursday...............Hope trip & fitting go ok

jason@bwchiptune · Post by **jason@bwchiptune** » Fri Aug 05, 2011 1:54 am

Have a safe trip back,have some picks of you your broken parts from the gear box to show you

Hope to see you again at the bristol meet this weekend

Powercat · Post by **Powercat** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 5:40 pm

many thanks Jason the gearbox is great

It took me six hours and a lots of sweat but now it's all done and driving great

I am not back in the UK until Sunday afternoon so I won't be making Bristol this time, but I look forward to meeting you all at the next one, hopefully

Thank you again Jason for getting me back on the road and completing the operation in the time I needed

X5Sport · Post by **X5Sport** » Sat Aug 06, 2011 5:52 pm

An achievement to be proud of.

I'd be interested to see the piccies too, just coz as an engineer I want to see what the failure mode was, and what broke. Even more so having suffered a failure nearly two years ago.

Well done to Jason too for getting you back on tbe road.

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