Help with transmission sound please

Please help! I have included a link to a video I made of my 04 Jetta tdi. The transmission is making a weird sound, I changed the fluid and still the same thing. I just purchased this last week, it has 103k miles.
https://youtu.be/ZGeo_rp4RoY

My guess would be the clutch/flywheel are rattling. What does everyone else think?

I guessing excessive wear with the selector fork pads for 5th
Usually these wear down when driver’s rest their hand on the shifter while driving
The po might have just done this while cruising in 5th

These things:


Pop the cover and have a look see



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Thanks I will check first thing in the morning, is this a part that is easy to replace?

Jackrabbit said:

Thanks I will check first thing in the morning, is this a part that is easy to replace?

Click to expand...

It is very easy. There should be a good diy on vwvortex “how to remove 5th gear on a 02J”. You’ll obviously won’t have to do the whole procedure shown.

Since the 5th gear cover is coming off ( your going to loose some transmission oil anyways) I would see you you can isolate the noise with your hand on the selector fork with the car in neutral ( input shaft will be moving )
Do the test again with 5th selected ( again move quick)




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Let us know what you find. I still think the clutch/flywheel might be involved because the noise changes when the clutch is pressed.

Hmm; hard to say clutch/flywheel as the noise doesnt progress when the clutch is fully pressed; going from some noise to loud noise to no noise...just my 2 cents as im currently trying to find time to tear out my DMF (will try to post a video on my thread)

Took the cover off, watch videos and help me figure this out please. Thanks
https://youtu.be/gzpoJ1ui2m4
https://youtu.be/I07y4jPNQ5k

There’s a needle bearing under/in the 5th driving gear. They can fail due to low oil levels (the plastic cages can melt with high temps)

I would take out the 5th and inspect everything. Just a note; they can be a ***** to remove and you can chip teeth easily.

A little heat from a propane torch and a proper gear puller will get er off


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Thanks I will get that removed tomorrow sometime, if that’s the problem does anyone have a part number for the needle bearing and race? I think this is it but not sure 02A311115E. Thanks for the help, I’m trying to get this tdi in tip top shape for a nice mpg car as my 1995 f350 kills me on fuel driving to town all the time.

That’s the number I pulled from one of the venders.

It certainly does sound like a bad bearing. I wish you luck and I really hope it’s a quick and easy repair and that you won’t need to split the case to examine the other bearings


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Removed the gear, let me know if the sound it’s making now is normal. Needle bearings didn’t seem to be turning very well even after I cleaned them up with wd40. Video attached.
https://youtu.be/MQ7GztWgZv8

That sounds better hey!
How’s the play on the shaft?
Is there and pitting/scouring? To me it looks oxidized a bit. Can we see a photo of the bearing?

I would take a scotch brite pad and clean both races where the needle bearing sits
Please take the 5th gear apart and inspect everything closely

Ok after taking it apart it looked really gummed up, kinda like sludge build up. The bearings didn’t seem to move as I was turning my finger on them. I soaked the bearings in some wd40 over night to see how they would clean up and they cleaned up a lot. Seem to be spinning freely. I took everything apart and other then being really gummed up with sludge it all looked good after cleaning it up. Tempted to put the old bearings back in and see if the sound stopped after the cleaning and if it did order new ones and put them in when they arrive.