low milage - no gearbox oil symptom?

hello again ! what are the symptons of no oil in the gearbox? would reduced (halved) milage be one?

i have a manual ford fiesta fwd tranny/diff which i think has been running without gearbox oil for a few thousand km.

i am wondering if the two are any way related. do gearbox parts expand to any degree without oil to cool them?

thx

The amount of extra expansion will be negligible. The big problem is the bearings/gear teeth breaking up due to lack of lubrication.

Hi

Usual symptoms are bearing noise, followed by gear selection problems and then depending on how hot you have got the box by driving, it can seize in gear, allowing no others to be selected until it cools.

Look for signs of oil leakage, if the box has lost oil and you've driven it for a thousand km, then you'll be lucky to get away with any bearing damage.

Regards

Nigel

Many years ago, I forgot to refill a Viva gearbox after an engine swap (or some major job). 150 miles into a long journey, it developed the most horrendous noise over a narrow speed band. Faster or slower and it was OK. After refilling with oil, it was OK for the life of the car (not particularly long). Engineering friend reckoned the oil dampened internal vibrations, so without it, the cogs started resonating - which is exactly how it sounded and felt.