Gqq 5 speed transmission inspection

[Marinel]

Hello everyone its been a while since I've been on here. My 2006 jetta that I had for over a decade was totaled a few years ago. The same thing happened to my wifes 06 jetta not even a year later so I haven't had a TDI for a while.

I picked up another 06 5 speed TDI last night with a bad transmission and I'm currently looking for a replacement transmission for it. I know these transmissions are prone to failure if they are ran low on fluid. I found a guy local to me that has one and is willing to let it go cheap since he does not know the condition of it. The transmission and engine were already pulled from his car so there's no way to test it other than running it through the gears and spinning the input shaft by hand. Will I be able to see anything by pulling the side cover? Any advice will be appreciated. I would hate to go through all that effort to swap the transmission only to find that the replacement is bad too.

 

[Rx7145]

I would definitely pull the side cover and look at the gears it’s pretty easy to do.

 

[Rx7145]

And also if you plan on keeping this car for a while it may be worth it to take it to a transmission shop and have them re-stake the differential pin that likes to walk out since it’s already gonna be off the car. it’s not that hard to split the case.

 

[Marinel]

And also if you plan on keeping this car for a while it may be worth it to take it to a transmission shop and have them re-stake the differential pin that likes to walk out since it’s already gonna be off the car. it’s not that hard to split the case.

Can you elaborate a little more on this? I've split the case on honda and mitsubishi transmissions but never done a vw. I'm sure its not much different. I picked up a 5 speed from a BRM jetta today for 200 bucks. The only thing is that the code for it is JCR not GQQ. I couldn't see any difference on the exterior. I guess it has slightly different ratios? I pulled the side cover and it looked good. I spun the input shaft in all gears and everything was smooth

 

[Rx7145]

If you do some searching the differential pin is known to walk out and it rubs through the case causing an oil leak that usually happens around 300,000 miles

 

[Marinel]

If you do some searching the differential pin is known to walk out and it rubs through the case causing an oil leak that usually happens around 300,000 miles

The transmission on my last 06 jetta failed at around 270k miles. I wasn't always nice to it but it just let go one day out of the blue. It wasn't driving weird and wasn't making any weird noises before failure. It left a huge hole in the bell housing.

 

[Rx7145]

Sounds exactly like the pin working out.

 

[tactdi]

Happened to me too, plug in the bell housing popped out. At about 200K miles. Replaced the 5sp trans with a 6sp and matching CV shafts.

 

[Sword_of_the_Spirit]

If you do some searching the differential pin is known to walk out and it rubs through the case causing an oil leak that usually happens around 300,000 miles

This is for the O2J as well as the BRM’s 5spd?

 

[Rx7145]

I’m not sure if it’s only a BRM thing or not. Every time I have heard of it it’s been in a BRM.

 

[Steve Addy]

Have been wondering about the 5 speed gearboxes on these and why they seem to be less durable then even the 02A CTN used in the Mk3 and B4 cars? Or whether that's even the case? I'm sure for every bad one there's probably dozens that didn't have any problems.

Recently bought a 200k mile GQQ trans from a 06 BRM for a coming project and was lucky enough to be able to determine that the engine dropped a valve and had very bad lifter / camshaft maintenance so I'm hopeful that this transmission will be ok. It had also had the DMF eliminated at some point too and a SMF kit installed, so I'll likely go back for the flywheel the next trip out there.

I think it wouldn't hurt to drain and inspect the fluid, you never know whether someone used a GL5 gear oil on it and that would show up pretty easily. If it ended up being good you could strain it and reuse with new or replace with completely new gear oil too. I'm not sure how expensive that stuff is running now.

On another note I had thought about going with a 6 speed from the CR cars (2009+) but prices on those seem to be quite high, even in the used parts space.

Steve

 

[Doright]

And also if you plan on keeping this car for a while it may be worth it to take it to a transmission shop and have them re-stake the differential pin that likes to walk out since it’s already gonna be off the car. it’s not that hard to split the case.

Is there a service Bulletin for this or just something that's Tribal knoledge?
Mine has 340k on it and you got my attention now last thing I need is an expensive transmission replacement.
Cheaper to pull it now and have new bearings seals and sychros put in it before it needs expensive hard parts and or a new case.

 

[Rx7145]

I think it’s tribal.

 

[Doright]

LOL ok thanks

 

[Steve Addy]

This is for the O2J as well as the BRM’s 5spd?

The BRM 5 spd is 02J is it not?

Steve

 

[Marinel]

Is there a service Bulletin for this or just something that's Tribal knoledge?
Mine has 340k on it and you got my attention now last thing I need is an expensive transmission replacement.
Cheaper to pull it now and have new bearings seals and sychros put in it before it needs expensive hard parts and or a new case.

I think its hit or miss. My last brm 5 speed jetta had catastrophic failure from the transmission just out of the blue at 272k miles and it put a hole in the bell housing. If you're gonna go though all that effort at least do some upgrades while you're there. From my experience a 5 speed mated to a BRM is one of the easiest transmissions to pull.