[pancreas]

I got a 2000 Passat. Its got 59k miles and a manual transmission. the 2-3 shift is starting to grind if I shift higher than 3000 rpm, all other gears shift fine. Any idea whats causing this? I push the clutch all the way to the ground and it still grinds from 2nd to 3rd.

Any help appreciated. Thanks.

 

[NJRrado]

sounds like the third gear synchro, my corrado has that problem, but only with shifts like 5500 or above. i switched fluids to redline mt-90 and mtl in the winter, and the problem went away. but yours sounds slightly more severe.

 

[jeffsu350]

sorry to hyjack

if the synchro is going bad when the switching and you hear the grinding, cant you do what people did before synchros, lift the clutch up so that the clutch starts to engadge or spin and then depress the clutch and put the car in gear like normal.

i would assume that a bad synchro would act like no synchro at all, so the old method of shifting gears should work just fine. :???:

 

[sfrich19]

ummm..... double-clutching in a 2000 model year car, ghetto!!! the only double-clutching vehicle I've ever seen is a World War II Dodge army command car that my fam. has. I hope you get this issue resolved under warranty.

 

[jeffsu350]

i wasn't sugesting double clutching as a repair option, just as one to minimize damage b4 the repare happens, and to see if my logic was correct

 

[pancreas]

I checked my clutch fluid resovior but its BELOW the MIN mark. No clue what fluid to put in there though. Can i use brake fluid? or is it some special vw oil?

 

[jeffsu350]

make sure that there isn't a special procedure to check the level, some fluids have to be cold, some have to be hot to get the correct reading, im sure you know that already, but just making sure

 

[pancreas]

What fluid should I add though? DOT3,4,5?

 

[MADGLX]

Pancreas, I would go to the dealer and pony up for their hydraulic fluid, it's not that expensive. Especially if you are going to take it in for warranty work later.

MAD

 

[The Swami]

What fluid should I add though? DOT3,4,5?

75W-90 is used in the manual transmission VW's. I think the API specification is GL-4 or GL-5 fluid, depending on the year. Amsoil Synthetic Gear Lube or Series 2000 works well in the VW's.

 

[pancreas]

I mean for the clutch fluid not the tranny fluid.

 

[sirwired]

There is no "clutch fluid" resevoir. The clutch feeds off of the braking system. If your brake resevoir is low, fill it to the line w/ DOT 4+ (NOT 5, 4+ refers to a specific grade).

SirWired

 

[Ture 7]

I'd imagine that it would be expensive to have the manual tranny rebuilt at the dealership. That is what stopped me from doing that repair. Does anyone know what the cost of this repair would be?

I have the same 2 into 3rd gear grinding noise. I would shift my car into 4th and back into 3rd so that I wouldnt get any noise.

I have heard that changing the manual tranny fluid for some new or better ones may help.

Anyone else with suggestions?

Thanks,
al

 

[mackman]

from my experience and from what I've heard from others, the factory gear oil is about as good as your gonna get, especially in colder climates. I have royal purple in mine, and its slightly stiffer and more resistant to going into gear when cold than it was with the factory stuff. I've heard much the same about the redline oil too. And you wanna stick with a gl-4 oil, not gl-5 as the gl-5 will corrode the brass synchros.