Daughter's 1.7 SDI Lupo, '99 (T), done all of about 80k miles.
The box had to be repaired about 10k miles ago, (18 months back), and it's
gone again. Now making a heavy whine on the overrun at low speed. this
suddenly came on yesterday.
The last time the fault was the roller bearing on the mainshaft
disintigrating, made obvious when I dropped the oil out and several
graunched-up rollers came out too.
Wonder what it is this time?
Either way I'm not impressed. It's been the most unreliable vehicle ever in
our family. Not as if it has a powerful engine stressing it is it?
Do VW do exchange boxes, and if so how many arms and legs do we have to
sacrifice?

Brian wrote:
Daughter's 1.7 SDI Lupo, '99 (T), done all of about 80k miles.
The box had to be repaired about 10k miles ago, (18 months back), and it's
gone again. Now making a heavy whine on the overrun at low speed. this
suddenly came on yesterday.
The last time the fault was the roller bearing on the mainshaft
disintigrating, made obvious when I dropped the oil out and several
graunched-up rollers came out too.
Wonder what it is this time?
Either way I'm not impressed. It's been the most unreliable vehicle ever in
our family. Not as if it has a powerful engine stressing it is it?
Do VW do exchange boxes, and if so how many arms and legs do we have to
sacrifice?


The only VW box I'm aware of with a reputation for problems is the
1.4/1.6 petrol item with the dodgy rivets in the diff. Perhaps yours has
suffered abuse in the past?

I'd get a box from a breakers- though finding a Lupo or Arosa 1.7SDI
could be a challenge- does anyone know what other boxes might fit?. The
stealers will want ££££££££.

Daughter's 1.7 SDI Lupo, '99 (T), done all of about 80k miles.
The box had to be repaired about 10k miles ago, (18 months back), and it's
gone again. Now making a heavy whine on the overrun at low speed. this
suddenly came on yesterday.
The last time the fault was the roller bearing on the mainshaft
disintigrating, made obvious when I dropped the oil out and several
graunched-up rollers came out too.
Wonder what it is this time?
Either way I'm not impressed. It's been the most unreliable vehicle ever
in
our family. Not as if it has a powerful engine stressing it is it?
Do VW do exchange boxes, and if so how many arms and legs do we have to
sacrifice?

Ours was absolutely fine when we sold it with 39k on the clock. I haven't
heard of Lupo gearboxes failing regularly so I suggest yours is may just a
bad one. Possibly the repair wasn't done correctly or there's another fault
causing the symptoms you're seeing.

What about your daughter's driving style. Could she be causing this?

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Daughter's 1.7 SDI Lupo, '99 (T), done all of about 80k miles.
The box had to be repaired about 10k miles ago, (18 months back), and
it's
gone again. Now making a heavy whine on the overrun at low speed. this
suddenly came on yesterday.
The last time the fault was the roller bearing on the mainshaft
disintigrating, made obvious when I dropped the oil out and several
graunched-up rollers came out too.
Wonder what it is this time?
Either way I'm not impressed. It's been the most unreliable vehicle ever
in
our family. Not as if it has a powerful engine stressing it is it?
Do VW do exchange boxes, and if so how many arms and legs do we have to
sacrifice?

Ours was absolutely fine when we sold it with 39k on the clock. I haven't
heard of Lupo gearboxes failing regularly so I suggest yours is may just a
bad one. Possibly the repair wasn't done correctly or there's another
fault
causing the symptoms you're seeing.

What about your daughter's driving style. Could she be causing this?


Well we took it to a reputable gearbox specialist, and he told us that he
had had several later VW boxes, all with the same bearing failure. This
normally happens after the warranty period has expired.
However, I have no way of telling whether the repair was done correctly.
To be honest, I would not expect you to have had any trouble at 39k, this
one has actually now done 93k (correction to earlier published figure).
The only thing I know which might have affected the box was when she hit a
kerb, writing off the NS wheel and wishbone. However, I am not convinced it
would, certainly there was no damage to the driveshaft.

"Brian" wrote in message
...

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Daughter's 1.7 SDI Lupo, '99 (T), done all of about 80k miles.
The box had to be repaired about 10k miles ago, (18 months back), and
it's
gone again. Now making a heavy whine on the overrun at low speed. this
suddenly came on yesterday.
The last time the fault was the roller bearing on the mainshaft
disintigrating, made obvious when I dropped the oil out and several
graunched-up rollers came out too.
Wonder what it is this time?
Either way I'm not impressed. It's been the most unreliable vehicle
ever
in
our family. Not as if it has a powerful engine stressing it is it?
Do VW do exchange boxes, and if so how many arms and legs do we have to
sacrifice?

Ours was absolutely fine when we sold it with 39k on the clock. I haven't
heard of Lupo gearboxes failing regularly so I suggest yours is may just
a
bad one. Possibly the repair wasn't done correctly or there's another
fault
causing the symptoms you're seeing.

What about your daughter's driving style. Could she be causing this?


Well we took it to a reputable gearbox specialist, and he told us that he
had had several later VW boxes, all with the same bearing failure. This
normally happens after the warranty period has expired.
However, I have no way of telling whether the repair was done correctly.
To be honest, I would not expect you to have had any trouble at 39k, this
one has actually now done 93k (correction to earlier published figure).
The only thing I know which might have affected the box was when she hit a
kerb, writing off the NS wheel and wishbone. However, I am not convinced
it
would, certainly there was no damage to the driveshaft.


Not the same vehicle I know but identical symptoms i.e. whining on the
overrun, on a Metro I owned some years ago.

Cause was final output shaft bearing ball cage, which was made of plastic
and had disintegrated, allowing the balls to "crowd" together, overload the
track and cause pitting.

I can't remember positively what was the material of the cage of the
replacement bearing but I think it must have been metallic in nature - think
I would have been concerned were it also plastic.

Might be worth an enquiry?

Not the same vehicle I know but identical symptoms i.e. whining on the
overrun, on a Metro I owned some years ago.

Cause was final output shaft bearing ball cage, which was made of plastic
and had disintegrated, allowing the balls to "crowd" together, overload
the
track and cause pitting.

I can't remember positively what was the material of the cage of the
replacement bearing but I think it must have been metallic in nature -
think
I would have been concerned were it also plastic.

Might be worth an enquiry?


Well, I have just dropped the oil out, and guess what, a chewed up roller
came out too, and a fair amount of swarf in the oil too. Looks very like the
roller which came out the first time, though I appreciate that there might
be more than one roller bearing of similar size in the box, it does begin to
look as if the "repair" has failed.

"Brian" wrote in message
...
Daughter's 1.7 SDI Lupo, '99 (T), done all of about 80k miles.
The box had to be repaired about 10k miles ago, (18 months back), and it's
gone again. Now making a heavy whine on the overrun at low speed. this
suddenly came on yesterday.
The last time the fault was the roller bearing on the mainshaft
disintigrating, made obvious when I dropped the oil out and several
graunched-up rollers came out too.
Wonder what it is this time?
Either way I'm not impressed. It's been the most unreliable vehicle ever
in
our family. Not as if it has a powerful engine stressing it is it?
Do VW do exchange boxes, and if so how many arms and legs do we have to
sacrifice?

Very common fault it seems on 1.4/1.6 Polos too. Same mode of failure.
I was hoping the diesels had a different box as I was thinking of one for my
son's first car.
JB

"Chris Bartram" wrote in message
...
Brian wrote:
Daughter's 1.7 SDI Lupo, '99 (T), done all of about 80k miles.
The box had to be repaired about 10k miles ago, (18 months back), and
it's
gone again. Now making a heavy whine on the overrun at low speed. this
suddenly came on yesterday.
The last time the fault was the roller bearing on the mainshaft
disintigrating, made obvious when I dropped the oil out and several
graunched-up rollers came out too.
Wonder what it is this time?
Either way I'm not impressed. It's been the most unreliable vehicle ever
in
our family. Not as if it has a powerful engine stressing it is it?
Do VW do exchange boxes, and if so how many arms and legs do we have to
sacrifice?


The only VW box I'm aware of with a reputation for problems is the
1.4/1.6 petrol item with the dodgy rivets in the diff. Perhaps yours has
suffered abuse in the past?

I'd get a box from a breakers- though finding a Lupo or Arosa 1.7SDI
could be a challenge- does anyone know what other boxes might fit?. The
stealers will want ££££££££.
1000 of them to be precise. Had an email from one as a result of this post
offering to get a box for the above number of pounds.
I have located a box from a breaker, and hope to get it soon, when they
reply to my email that is.

Brian wrote:

1000 of them to be precise. Had an email from one as a result of this post
offering to get a box for the above number of pounds.
Eeeeeek.

Do you know if the box (or a similar one with not-too-different ratios)
is used in anything else?

"Chris Bartram" wrote in message
...
Brian wrote:

1000 of them to be precise. Had an email from one as a result of this
post
offering to get a box for the above number of pounds.
Eeeeeek.

Do you know if the box (or a similar one with not-too-different ratios)
is used in anything else?
Well, apart from the Seat Arosa, I saw a box from a Polo 1.9 diesel which
looked identical externally on Ebay the other day.
BTW my local VW dealer is quoting £1100 plus VAT.
I have now located one in a breaker in Yorkshire. Fingers crossed.
What confuses me is the transmission codes as printed on the little lable.
Mine is DXQ, and the one in Yorkshire is FFV, both from a Lupo 1.7 SDI.
Fortunately, my local helpful VW parts man told me that they were both the
same. So why use different codes for the same thing. Not surprising that
buying parts can sometimes be so difficult.