Noisey gearbox in the HX

[CrankR]

Hey guys, had mums HX towed to the mech the other day cause the clutch had given up the ghost (mum loooves riding that clutch :)

So they raplaced the clutch kit and box seals etc. and put it back together. Mum picked it up and brought it around to my place where i jumped in for a test drive.

Clutch worked great but holy hell if there wasn't a very noisey whirring coming from the box.
Now i haven't driven her car for a couple of years and mums not the kind of person to pick up on mechanicle stuff....she thought it was just normal. (She also thought that a clutch that was let all the way out with the car still not moving was normal as well)

So my question is how hard is it to replace the bearing in the gearbox once the box is out?
Am i better to pick up another box from the wreckers and see if it's better?

I don't have access to a hoist which sux. Pulling it out could be done with wheel ramps by the looks....maybe on car stands....so i could get the box out. Just not sure which direction i should go with repairing or replacing.

Any imput from you guys?

Oh yeah.... Holden 202 red motor with 3 on the tree box

Ta.

[Blown 454 AWD]

Hey guys, had mums HX towed to the mech the other day cause the clutch had given up the ghost (mum loooves riding that clutch :)

So they replaced the clutch kit and box seals etc. and put it back together. Mum picked it up and brought it around to my place where i jumped in for a test drive.

Clutch worked great but holy hell if there wasn't a very noisy whirring coming from the box.
Now i haven't driven her car for a couple of years and mums not the kind of person to pick up on mechanical stuff....she thought it was just normal. (She also thought that a clutch that was let all the way out with the car still not moving was normal as well)

So my question is how hard is it to replace the bearing in the gearbox once the box is out?
Am i better to pick up another box from the wreckers and see if it's better?

I don't have access to a hoist which sux. Pulling it out could be done with wheel ramps by the looks....maybe on car stands....so i could get the box out. Just not sure which direction i should go with repairing or replacing.

Any input from you guys?

Oh yeah.... Holden 202 red motor with 3 on the tree box

Ta.


The GM garage where I did my time was a biggy (back in the dark ages) 26 mechanics on board with 2 new apprentices each year.

I think the record for 1 man (with all the tools set out) was from the time the car stopped over the Pitt to dropping the box on the ground was 6 minutes in a HT Holden which is very similar to yours. (mechanically)

Does this give you an indication how easy these are to get the gearbox out?

Stands and ramps would be fine.

Cheers

Steve

[CrankR]

Yeah, i didn't think that part of the job would be an issue :)

[skidmarx]

yep very easy to get out, i once pulled one out over the phone :teach:

[Gee]

So my question is how hard is it to replace the bearing in the gearbox once the box is out?
Am i better to pick up another box from the wreckers and see if it's better?


Hard to diagnose by noise and/or understand what sort of noise you have, i.e. other than bearing noise, could be something chipped or otherwise borked on the cluster, or something else. Aside from noise, what else is going on - vibration, is one gear different / better / worse than the another, etc.

What's a 3-speed cost from the wreckers? let alone how many wreckers have these things laying around anymore? You may as well just give it a kick than have any idea how sound it is.

How much more than this option is having the thing stripped and built properly? An unknown box maybe worth a punt - while it might be all very straightforward - but I hate taking the time and going through the frustration of laying under a car doing work like this only to find it was a wasted effort.

Couldn't see that a full rebuild - aside from reusing the gears that are in it - would cost more than $350-$400 done by a pro, so all you've got to do is bolt out and in.

Then have the money handy in case there's more wrong with it once its inspected. You can easily google / ebay the cost of each individual part / package deals for the rest so you know what the extra budget would be. Maybe another $300-350 if its totally shagged.

You would also get better opinions on this I'm sure at places like fastlane or oldholden

[BigDLs1]

Replacing it with a second hand one will be cheapest alternative, provided of course that it is the box that is stuffed, not just the throw out bearing. I used to work at a Holden wreckers where we would do changeover 3 speeds while you had a coffee. Would take only about 1/2 an hour tops. Admittedly we did have a hoist, but they are such a simple set up doing it on the ground is easy. Theres only 17 bolts and nuts to undo and unless your built like Bill Gates you can easily manhandle it in and out.

[CrankR]

Found this box on Ebay that should do the trick.
What do u think?
dub dub dub cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320447203458&fromMakeTrack=true

Left out the w's cause the site won't allow me to post links yet

[Gee]

That's a Trimatic mate - auto.

[CrankR]

That's a Trimatic mate - auto.

Oh.....ok i'll keep looking :)
Thanks.

P.S- See, i thought u guys would be useful for something :D

[v8dude78]

maybe change it to a 4 speed pretty simple as their pretty much the same box just a matter of cutting a hole in the floor for the 4 speed shifter do a search on ebay of synchro-man he had a recoed 4 speed for 375 or if not try contacting him see if he does 3 speeds as well

[HK1837]

As others have said, pulling a 3spd out is a piece of cake. Cheap and easy to rebuild too unless it needs a gear, but 3spds don't wear as bad as 4spds in the cluster especially. I'd take it to a transmission shop, get them to pull it out on a hoist and rebuild it, it might just need a small parts kit and bearings which is about $100 plus labour. It will take them less than an hour to remove and install which should be about $75 on top of the rebuild. BUT, get a mechanic to check the throw out bearing first!

If you do get a secondhand one make sure it's from a HX, HZ, WB, late LX or UC or the vacuum advance on the engine won't work properly (unless you earth out the wire that is meant to connect to the box!).

[CrankR]

Alot of good info here guys :)

Actually took the car for a drive myself today and the noise is only in 1st and 2nd gear so 3rd is fine. Sorter sounds like the noise when you are reversing and speed up a bit.

Not sure if we'll go down the road of replacing it at this stage. The car is on Ebay at the moment as mum is buying a new small car as she getting a bit old to muscle a big car like the HX around.
Will make a great cheap car for anyone wanting to do it up slowly.

Hope it sells :)