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Hi guys

I got the 4 back from MRC on Friday (other half drove it back and has been driving it this week, I have only driven about 15 miles in it since) after having the gearbox rebuilt over the fact that I didn't like how 2nd and 3rd engaged a lot of the time, especially when "making progress". 3rd normally felt the worst, not crunching when going in to gear, but felt notchy through the gearstick I suppose if you follow. I explained that the box basically felt like a bit of a bag of crap in general but the higher gears seemed ok as far as I knew.

I would also experience with increasing frequency, a scenario where I would be going at speed from 2nd to third to fourth, clutch fully down, not punching the gears in, where when trying to go from 3rd to 4th, it didn't want to do that an would do its bloody damndest to go in to second, which is always nice, luckily I never fully engaged the clutch back on any occasion where I found myself in 2nd....

Explained that 2nd and 3rd were the main issues but to have a look at everything when the box was cracked open and replace as necessary/advise if any mega expensive bits were found wrong. Gearbox work is farmed out to a 3rd party, so I can't fault MRC workmanship on this to be clear. After stating what I felt in my non-mechanical simple mind was particularly wrong with the box, the gearbox guy asked them to ask me again, as if he couldn't see for himself from inside the box, as the expert?

For clarification, this is exactly what I had done for the job -

New Flywheel
New Clutch
New Master Clutch Cylinder
New Slave Clutch Cylinder
New "Robnic" Clutch Pipe
6x new Clutch Bolts
10x new Flywheel bolts
New 2nd Gear
New 3rd Gear
2x New Synchro rings
2x New Synchro hubs
2x New Seals
New Sleeve
New Drive Flange Seal
4x Gearbox Oil

Jules drove the car back down the M40/M25/M3 and wasn't wowed at all, actually stating that while it felt ok, she had problem gearing down in to 2nd at one point when cruising down a slip road, and gearing down accordingly while slowing, taking over a second or two for her to get it to take 2nd. She is a gentle driver and isn't great at explaining things, but that is what she said. Clutch/flywheel engagement etc feels absolutely lovely at least.

I took it out for a 15-20 min spin and found that full clutch down gear changing (not like I would anything but that ever) from 1st to 2nd, then 2nd to 3rd in particular, didn't feel much different to before, not smooth like 4th/5th/6th that just slip in, these still feel that they sort of "pop" in.

Sorry for the "We enjoyed your little story!" length of this post, I just honestly don't know if the box is supposed to feel like that, especially after forking out to have it rebuilt specifically due to this and it made sense while having the clutch/flywheel etc done.

Obviously this will be totally subjective, but how do your gearboxes feel? My old girl is on 90k miles if it helps.

Thanks,

Nick.

From the parts list it doesn't look like they've replaced the gearbox selector forks... if your finding the change not to be as direct, it could be that there has been wear on the forks themselves..? This would explain why 1/2/3 aren't great if the vehicle has spent a lot of time on short journeys. Resting your hand on the stick while driving in these circumstances COULD cause the forks to "grind down" and cause an alignment/selector issue...

Thanks for the reply. I don't hold on to the gearstick while driving normally and neither does the other half to my knowledge. It has felt like that since we bought the car, but did get a bit worse during the 14k miles we have put on her.

Out and about so I will google what is involved in that work, but surely based on what I had described on more than one occasion, that should have been picked up?

Arse, so that is right up in the guts of the box again then. Why would those not have been changed as a matter of course based on my description? I can't see it being the gear selector linkage as I would have expected that would have made all changes vague/sloppy.

I really need to drive another B7 to see what theirs is like but I know nobody around these parts with one. Will have my friend drive it tomorrow to see what he thinks as he has half a clue. I don't think I am wrong in being unhappy with the end result? Again, this isn't down to MRC as far as I am concerned, they didn't do internal box work.Will speak to them in a few days after I have a better idea of where things lie, .

That's not good..


What have mrc said about this? Surely they would have road tested it?

We're are you? I'm in London / Essex if that helps.

Due to the fact that I haven't had a chance to drive her properly yet, I have held off calling them as I am not sure it will achieve as I wanted to see how other people's boxes on these feel to make sure that I wasn't imagining it.

Thanks, I am in Mytchett, Surrey, so other side of the M25 . Won't get a chance to drive the car on her normal daily run until Friday sadly. If you have sifted through all of my waffle Sam, how does your box feel when shifting normally through the gears, do all changes up at least engage smoothly/the same? Changing up with 2nd & 3rd are chalk & cheese compared to 4th/5th/6th. I bought the first 4 I saw, so I simply have no idea on this sadly.

The RS4s that I've driven have had a lovely shifting action. Isn't there a manufacturer's remanufactured box that you could buy? Gotta be better than refurb parts lotto.

I'm probably teaching a grandmother to suck eggs here but make sure you don't force the change between 2nd and 3rd as it might be something simple like this causing it i.e. too much force. I've noticed a few times I've missed the gate going from 2nd into 3rd especially when hooning it around a bend probably due to the force on the car/gearbox, then panicking cos I can't find 3rd gear! Apart from this though the gearbox is nice and slick and I haven't found any issues.

Shopp, thanks for the input, all those parts that were replaced were brand spanking new OE (except for the Robnic pipe of course), not sure where the refurb parts lotto comment is coming from chap?

Jezza, Appreciate the reply/advice, but I am talking about just normal shifting in daily commuting, not even hammering/rushing through the gears at all at present. I am being specifically gentle due to the running in period of the clutch/flywheel alone, let along the new bits in the box.

To clarify I mean the replacing-some-parts-and-not-others lotto method of refurb. "Remanufactured" is the only term that has any legal value. All the others could mean as little as "lick of paint".

All I can say is that I am not an gearbox expert, so the box was given to an expert and I told them "have at it" regarding making it work good, depending on the expert to inspect/replace/advise before replacement as needed.

That's the frustrating thing. I know you are not one to skimp on this kind of thing (quite the opposite) so it's a bummer you didn't get good service by doing all the right things and trusting the right people (MRC).

When I had my gearbox rebuilt, admittedly by a Russian outfit I had never used before, I wasn't exactly blown away by the difference either. The only real difference was that it was no longer grinding on shifts where it did before. (mostly downshifts into 3rd) I also changed second and third gear, all synchros and a bunch of other things.

What I will say is that it seemed to improve after a bit more usage, perhaps a break-in period applied for stuff like the synchros and the detents, but then you can buy a brand new car and the gearboxes seem perfectly smooth from day one. Anyway, I've since also done the flywheel and clutch plus stiffer mounts for the box and rear diff in an effort to make it feel nice. It probably feels all right now, but I'm not impressed. I seem to remember that the only other B7 I drove before buying mine had buttery smooth changes which mine is incapable of, but I only drove that car briefly and it was slow as **** so I didn't buy it. Probably a mistake as it was cheaper and had buckets, engine power is more straight forward to recover most of the time. But I digress.

When a friend of mine who has a higher miles B7 drove my car though he couldn't shut up about how much better my car shifted than his. So it may be possible to make it seem worse by paying too much attention to it. Actually, whenever I drive it after 3-4 months of hibernating it seems to shift absolutely lovely for the first few minutes. Heh.

Never had any real issues getting into gear though, so not entirely comparable, just wanted to say that in my experience rebuilding gearboxes doesn't necessarily make them feel as new. And you only find out after the box has gone back onto the car, obviously, making it a very inconvenient procedure. Mine's been off again twice since then.

Mr Footlong wrote:Due to the fact that I haven't had a chance to drive her properly yet, I have held off calling them as I am not sure it will achieve as I wanted to see how other people's boxes on these feel to make sure that I wasn't imagining it.

Thanks, I am in Mytchett, Surrey, so other side of the M25 . Won't get a chance to drive the car on her normal daily run until Friday sadly. If you have sifted through all of my waffle Sam, how does your box feel when shifting normally through the gears, do all changes up at least engage smoothly/the same? Changing up with 2nd & 3rd are chalk & cheese compared to 4th/5th/6th. I bought the first 4 I saw, so I simply have no idea on this sadly.

I'm near bagshot if that helps?

Do you know what they filled the gearbox with, I had the oil in mine changed as it had never been done, but I feel it doesnt shift as well'since, looking to drain it and try another oil soon