Crunchy Gearbox!!!

[spongebob]

I thought i would share my recent experience with my Feroza for those that may have some issue with their gearboxes....

I recently bought a 94 wide track feroza (my second - previously had an EL3)... the car is in excellent original condition however their was some issues with the gearbox - what seemed to be problems with the synchros especially 2nd (would crunch with anything over 20km geardown to 2nd ..... Does this sound familiar??

Anyway to cut a long story short bought the car thinking i got it for a good price and if it was only the gearbox, then hey ill get one from the wreckers or importers....

Before i decided to do this i thought i would check the simple things ... like oil.... The oil was definatley cactas... but i was surprised how little the feroza holds - being the gerabox and transfer case have different departments for the oil..... anyway put some good gear oil in the box and.........

Presto - not a problem, gears down over 50km/h into second without hesitation.....

Moral of the story - dont give up on the boxes before you check the basics - afterall the Roza's are a pretty tough little rig!

SB

[murcod]

They are prone to wear from what I've been told by a used car dealer(very common for them to be noisy.) And, no, it wasn't the dealer I bought mine off- it was one who was interested in buying mine!

I just wish mine was only because of not enough oil- it's in getting a rebuild now. Four synchros were stuffed and a few bearings are getting replaced too.

[Fearhoza]

my roza is having trouble shifting into reverse :(

takes three or four goes to slide it in. Might go get it serviced or something.

[HotFourOk]

This often is an overlooked solution.. My Corolla crunched into 2nd gear all the time at high rpms (shifting both up and down).
I went to a speicalist and they said i needed a new synchro... which means all pulled apart and basically a rebuild. (It had done 80,000kms)

I went to work and dropped the oil, refilled with Penzoil gear oil... and viola! Works a treat and has never crunched since.

I like cheap fixes

[SimplyPV]

fearhosa.. sont wait too long to get it checked out/repaired. mine was doing the exact same thing.

then one day. kaboom, reverse shreaded itself. cant even slide into reverse anymore. and since then first and 5th has been making really funny noises.

[spongebob]

I think the important thing to remember that the feroza's have a very small amount of gear oil about a litre came out of mine!!!! my datto takes about 3 litres! - and with use (especially hard driving - the oil loses its effectiveness.... the guy i bought the car off had this problem for 2 years and never did anything about it.... any longer and the issue would of been a lot worse - as it is i am sure the synchro's have been damaged a tad, but will service the gearbox with good quality oil every 10k same as the motor!.... cheaper then new gears!

[Fearhoza]

so how exactly would we go about draining and refilling the gearbox oil?

havent had time yet to get into the engine bay and identify where everything is, i wouldnt know where to start.

If someone could give a little step by step, ill give it a crack sometime next week

[RockyF75]

so how exactly would we go about draining and refilling the gearbox oil?

havent had time yet to get into the engine bay and identify where everything is, i wouldnt know where to start.

If someone could give a little step by step, ill give it a crack sometime next week

ok, the GEARBOX oil plugs are on the G-E-A-R-B-O-X, not in the E-N-G-I-N-E bay

thats your first step

So get under your car... if its a fez you'll prolly need to jack it up cuase you have no lift
On the side of the gearbox (the big black thingy that comes back from the engine, about halfway thru your car... it should be covered in mud but then again it's a fez ) sumwhere there will be a big bolt in the middle of nowhere, thats the fill plug (make sure this is un-doable BEFORE you go for the drain plug )... then the drain plug will be on the bottom of your gearbox. So undo the drain plug, oil will come out. Do it up once its all gone, and pump oil into the fill plug until it wont hold no more. Simple

Not sure on fez's but on rocky's you have separate doohickeys for the gearbox and transfer case so have to do this process twice, so look for similar bolts on the t-case

[spongebob]

Here is a hint...... get a socket - cant remember the size could be 24mm.... check you have this first.....
like our rocky mate says check you can undo the fill plug first - you may need to tap the socket with a hammer to "shock" the nut loose - thankfully there is bugger all room to make any major issues when tapping....

drain the oil - to add get some hose about 1m in length and then get the missus to pour good quality oil down the pipe as your holding it in the fill hole.... you cant over fill - although dont jack the car soo high on the opposite side that you over fill without realising ...... make sure you do up the plugs tight... and yes its like the rocky there is two compartments for the oil - which in my view is a design flaw as their is bugger all oil in the gearbox..... especially as most are getting on in kms do this regularly...

I added tome teflon to the oil - a gearbox addditive to assist and worked well.... may be worth a go - may fix the problem.....

[lowndsie]

Nulon Gearbox / Diff additive worked wonder's in my Fez gearbox (when I still had it ).

[HotFourOk]

Nulon Gearbox / Diff additive worked wonder's in my Fez gearbox (when I still had it ).

I've also used this and recommend it

[Fearhoza]

so what grade oil are we looking at, and what is the additive called. Nulon "something" gearbox additive?

Might go for a look today.

[lowndsie]

The oil I used in my gearbox was Valvoline Synthetic Blend DuraGear. SAE 75w-85. API GL-4. A four litre container was about 38bux from memory. The Nulon Manual Gearbox and Diff Treatment comes in a white tube and should be pretty easy to spot. Try supercheap autos if your having trouble finding them elsewhere. When I started using these, my crunching and hard shifting stopped straight away. I got another 60,000kms without any drama's before selling the Fez.

[Fearhoza]

rang supercheap and they have both the oil and the additive in stock.

Oil comes in 2L or 4L. additive is in 175 or 375 mil i think. something like that.

How much will be needed? I know that the gearbox has a small capacity, so are we looking at a 2L bttle and the small additive?

Also!

Do we really need the pump for the oil? Or can we do the hose job as said a few posts up?

[RockyF75]

Do we really need the pump for the oil? Or can we do the hose job as said a few posts up?

Some oil containers have a nice hosey pouring watsit built in , so you could look for one with this on it. Penrite and Castrol are 2 I have used that have it IIRC, but I think most would . But a hand pumps only like $20 and much easier

[spongebob]

agree hand pump is much easier - but try and find one - best quote i got was for 60 bucks!!!

hence the hose.....

PS used the nulon stuff as well - good sh*t

[RockyF75]

agree hand pump is much easier - but try and find one - best quote i got was for 60 bucks!!!

hence the hose.....

PS used the nulon stuff as well - good sh*t

a mate picked one up from some truck place for $25 , all plastic but it works great.

[Fearhoza]

did it today with garden hose and a funnel

oh. and another lesson learnt. pay attention when you top up engine oil. was doing something at the same time and put 5 litres in...



stopped next day after engine oil light was spewing at me to drain the oil. dipstick was about 5 times past the Full indicator. no kidding. never seen it that high. opened the bonnet this afternoon before draining and the preassure had pushed the dipstick out and the bay was full of oil :p

Now have good engine oil and new gearbox oil + nulon treatment.

[lowndsie]

Hows the gearbox going now???

[spongebob]

Just a little suggestion... never overfill - if you think you have drain it straight away.... that much oil and you are lucky the engine pressure and heat didn't burst every seal in the engine!

and ditto, hows the gearbox now....

[Fearhoza]

changes do feel a bit smoother than before, havent got a chance to really check reverse to see if its got problems sliding in still first thing in the morning. If it does, it means that its synchro type stuff. but the gears do feel different with some good oil and that nulon stuff. its dead easy to change it too.