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VAG gearbox expertise needed

I seem to have acquired myself a 1997 Seat Ibiza 1.4. Only problem is it's gearbox is knackered. I was going to drive it round for a bit and just let it whine away until I found a cheap box to put in it. However the box decided to lunch itself within about 0.5 miles of me driving it. There is no longer any 4th gear and there's a lot of grinding in the other gears. Doh.

It looks like a piece of piss to change and other than that it seems a nice car, but I'm getting confused by the designations. A bit of googling reveals this is an 085 box, but what other cars can I raid one of these from? A lot of the VAG gearboxes seem to be refered to by a 3 letter code, can anyone give me a low down of what these mean and whether they're still

085 type boxes? And is there any to avoid, for example is the box from a 1.0 weak and crap or will it be ok on my uber powerful 1.4 SPi??

2nd hand breaker boxes with 30 day warranties seem to be around the £150-£200 mark with delivery, which I can live with but the cheaper the better if anyone knows of a good source?

Ta

Reply to
Carl Gibbs
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Check vw scirrocos sp ? might be a fit not sure though, I read a guy shoved one in his 1.6 which is notorious for fails something to do with weak rivets. But the scirroco one is a direct replacement might fit the 1.4 ibiza.

Reply to
munki

Yep avoid the 085s ;)

Seriously the 1.4 (petrol and TDi and 1.6 16v) 'boxes are known to be the weakest parts on the cars. Look for something slightly earlier maybe a 1.6 8v polo 'box or even a Mk3 Polo GT (but that will require some slight modifications I believe, possibly a different clutch and one change to the gearbox mounting bracket).

Reply to
Depresion

Had a quick look on ETKA and the VW Polo 1996-2000 has an 085 gearbox with certain engine types. If you want an exact match in gear ratios to what you have you'll need the full gearbox part no. as there's about 10 different 085 gearboxes for the 1997 Polo alone. Lupo 1999-2002 also has an 085, again several different versions and dependant on engine type. Three letter code is normally the engine type. Gearboxes are usually mostly numbers, 085, 02J, 02K, 020, etc.

Reply to
Homer

No, the Scirrocco has the 082?- well anyway, a vastly different box with the back-to-front clutch. The 084/085 engine fits the smaller VAG enigines (0.9-1.4), not the EA827(?) based (bigger) engines. Carl- the 085 went through a weak spot- Lupo sports with the 1.4 16v have a reputation for shredding boxes, though ours seems OK. The 085 is a general description for that type of box with 5 speeds, there will be another 3 letter code designating the ratios- I think ours is ETB, mated to an AFK 1.4 100BHP engine.

Reply to
Chris Bartram

Have a look in the for sale section of Ibizaoc.com there's someone breaking a mk2 GTi 8v: "engine & gear box 86k can hear it runnin offers round £60 to £100" that's the tall block golf lump and probably (but don't hold me on this) an 020 'box.

Reply to
Depresion

I don't want to be getting into engine swaps, it's just going to be a cheap car to pootle around in for a bit, as it was free and I couldnt resist. Insurance, MoT and tax will run out Jan/Feb next year so may just keep it until then and flog it on with a new MoT.

Got some quotes coming through from one of these online breaker websites that sends your details out to loads of scrappies. Best one so far is £130 delivered with a 90 day warranty which I can live with. Another £50 on a new clutch and I'll have a decent little runabout.

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

Well just ordered a box for £126 delivered with a 90 day warranty. It's from a low mileage 2000 Ibiza 1.4 but the guy assured me it's the same one. Let's hope it fits!!

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

Should be close enough even if it's the 6L not the 6K. I've been told they are also relatively easy to swap on the Ibiza.

Reply to
Depresion

Yeah they look like a piece of cake to get to. Will hopefully be on the road by next weekend. So looking forward to having my own car again :)

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

It's on the road. Woo hoo I have a car again

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

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