Leon Cupra R 225 Gearbox Advice

[SubZero]

Hi people, need some advice on my gearbox.

It's got the standard 6 speed manual, but has had a "grinding" noise coming from it when the clutch is engaged but not giving it any throttle. When accelerating it is fine, and gearchange is smooth, although it does "crunch" as soon as the clutch bites. I recently had the clutch and central slave cylinder replaced, and this has not made any difference to the noise so I think we can eliminate that.

The noise has been there since I bought the car. I've driven it for around 2000 miles and the noise seems to be getting worse. A gearbox specialist took it for a drive and has advised it is the bearings, and has quoted around £400 to repair this.

However he has also advised that these gearboxes are of poor quality and that there is another component (pinion bearing or something) which can go and that usually knackers the whole gearbox.

So my dilemma is, do I:

1. Get the bearings replaced, and take a risk on the pinion bearing? £400
2. Try to find a low mileage replacement gearbox? Apparently they are like gold dust... Anyone know roughly how much they go for?
3. Get the whole gearbox rebuilt? A mate had this done for around £900

Seat Leon Cupra R 225 (BAM). Everything is standard on the car, has full Seat service history upto 100K and has now done 112k miles.

 

[SubZero]

Have had a quote for £550 for a gearbox that has done 45k miles... Does this sound reasonable?

 

[cupra_r_ick]

why would you want a box thats done 45k for £550
when you can get yours recon for £400
i second hand box should be no more than 200
im guna get mine reconed with an LSD fitted

 

[vwdom]

mines back at the dealer i bought it from having this same fault sorted new gearbox casings,bearings and new 3rd gear under warranty thank god, the casings are £££'s on their own

 

[cupra_r_ick]

casings ! why !?

 

[SubZero]

I think the specialist was referring to repairing the bearings only, is this sufficient? I'm not too knowledgeable on gearboxes; and my concern is I get the bearings sorted but then something else goes wrong on the gearbox because it has done 112k... Hence the option of replacing it with a lower mileage box. What do you think?

 

[SubZero]

Hi,

What's a reasonable charge to have an LCR gearbox taken out for inspection? And can anyone recommend any gearbox specialists in the West Midlands?

Thanks

 

[vwdom]

casings ! why !?

because the bearing races spin in the gearbox casings which wears them out its a common fault it seems

 

[SubZero]

Update: Gearbox was stripped out and inspected, found the gearbox casing was worn. Basically the noise under deceleration was a bearing grinding against the casing. All the bearings are still in brilliant condition for a gearbox that's done 110k (looks like previously seller was telling the truth about motorway miles!) Casing was shimmed and everything put back together, for a total cost of £340.

 

[cupra_r_ick]

nice, i expect mine to be the same case tbh. mine sounds like crap lol

 

[westy989]

Third gear noise and crunch

Hello lads,

I own a LCR 225 only had it for 3 months ish.. But ive got a horrible noise when i let off the throttle in 3rd gear and its started happening in 4th gear now. I also get a loud crunch changing down into 3rd, all gears drive fine its just the noise is getting stupid now!

Can anyone give me some advice on what to do? at the moment I've got it in my head that the gearbox will need to be reconed at a huge cost im sure...

Any advice on other ideas or a cheaper way of sorting it out would be greatly apperciated!!

 

[SubZero]

Sounds exactly like the symptoms my Cupra R was having. Probably just a worn gearbox casing. As mentioned above it cost me £340 to have it taken out, stripped, have the casing shimmed and then the whole lot refitted.

 

[blueleon]

Sounds exactly like the symptoms my Cupra R was having. Probably just a worn gearbox casing. As mentioned above it cost me £340 to have it taken out, stripped, have the casing shimmed and then the whole lot refitted.

I'm in the same situation with regards the noise/grinding, my main concern is the clutch and DMF most garages say that they should be replaced I thought this too as I have done 115k but one garage has told me if the gears aren't slipping and I have no judder the DMF and clutch are ok, he only wants to charge to replace the box as the other stuff does not need replacing. The guy sounds genuine and will change the flywheel ect but asked me why do I want to spend the money if I dont need too.
What was your clutch flywheel like?

thank you

Shane

 

[westy989]

The thing is im worried that if get someone to take it out and repair whatevers wrong with it it may end up costing a lot anyway so im sorta thinking about just getting its reconditioned but i have contacted A1 gearboxes they quoted me £1050 without fitting!! i was like jeeeezus my LCR has only done 75k in my eyes it shouldn't need doing anyway!!

I'm really stuck on what to do mate. Where did you take yours to be repaired?

 

[SubZero]

I'm in the same situation with regards the noise/grinding, my main concern is the clutch and DMF most garages say that they should be replaced I thought this too as I have done 115k but one garage has told me if the gears aren't slipping and I have no judder the DMF and clutch are ok, he only wants to charge to replace the box as the other stuff does not need replacing. The guy sounds genuine and will change the flywheel ect but asked me why do I want to spend the money if I dont need too.
What was your clutch flywheel like?

thank you

Shane

We discovered the gearbox was in excellent condition once it had been stripped and inspected, and it was only the casing that had to be sorted. Once that was done, the grinding/crunching sounds have completely disappeared. No need for a fancy oil or new bearings etc...

A few months before that; my brake fluid was leaking from the central slave cylinder so my clutch had to be replaced anyway, and when the garage took the old clutch out, it was fine. Looking at the car's history I think that was her 1st clutch replacement, so it does seem she has had an easy life with just motorway miles and the clutch was only replaced due to replacing the slave cylinder. This was at 110k miles.

The flywheel makes a horrible sound and judders badly when driving, and it would happen through all the gears so that would be more obvious. I think you can eliminate that as a cause of the problem. Drop the car into 4th/5th gear at low revs and accelerate hard. If the clutch is slipping then get it changed, if not then you don't need to.

Hope this helps.

 

[SubZero]

The thing is im worried that if get someone to take it out and repair whatevers wrong with it it may end up costing a lot anyway so im sorta thinking about just getting its reconditioned but i have contacted A1 gearboxes they quoted me £1050 without fitting!! i was like jeeeezus my LCR has only done 75k in my eyes it shouldn't need doing anyway!!

I'm really stuck on what to do mate. Where did you take yours to be repaired?

Engine and Gearbox Centre in West Bromwich (West Midlands). These guys have been specialising in gearboxes for 20 years, so they know what they're doing. It probably does not need to be reconned, just the casing. You could get it shimmed £340, or get a new casing which comes to about £575 with fitting.

 

[blueleon]

We discovered the gearbox was in excellent condition once it had been stripped and inspected, and it was only the casing that had to be sorted. Once that was done, the grinding/crunching sounds have completely disappeared. No need for a fancy oil or new bearings etc...

A few months before that; my brake fluid was leaking from the central slave cylinder so my clutch had to be replaced anyway, and when the garage took the old clutch out, it was fine. Looking at the car's history I think that was her 1st clutch replacement, so it does seem she has had an easy life with just motorway miles and the clutch was only replaced due to replacing the slave cylinder. This was at 110k miles.

The flywheel makes a horrible sound and judders badly when driving, and it would happen through all the gears so that would be more obvious. I think you can eliminate that as a cause of the problem. Drop the car into 4th/5th gear at low revs and accelerate hard. If the clutch is slipping then get it changed, if not then you don't need to.

Hope this helps.

Hi, that's helped me alot seems its just the box that has the issue. My car has had a pampered life I used to do 90 percent motorway miles 600 mile round trips at weekends. There doesn't seem to be any clutch slip or nasty grinding other than the box noise, so fingers crossed its just the box. One more, how long did you drive your car for with the box grinding? i was going to wait till the new year to get it sorted as its not causing any real problems yet. Thanks Shane

 

[Alexis27]

Out of interest, do the 1.8T petrol and 150 diesel share the same 6 speed box?

 

[seatcupramad23]

no , gear ratios are different

 

[SubZero]

Hi, that's helped me alot seems its just the box that has the issue. My car has had a pampered life I used to do 90 percent motorway miles 600 mile round trips at weekends. There doesn't seem to be any clutch slip or nasty grinding other than the box noise, so fingers crossed its just the box. One more, how long did you drive your car for with the box grinding? i was going to wait till the new year to get it sorted as its not causing any real problems yet. Thanks Shane

I drove it for around 2k miles with the noise, but it seemed to be getting worse so I had it checked out. I spoke to a few other mechanics, and they say that as long as its not the bearings then it's pretty minor, although annoying! A friend had the problem on his Golf GTi, and after 30k miles it was still going strong!