Transmission or clutch rattle in 96 B4?

mikester2

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2005
Location
Midcoast Maine
TDI
1982 VW Westy 1.6TD, 1996 B4 TDI (383K), 2015 NMS TDI SEL DSG (11K)
Good evening all:

I just picked up a 96 B4 and it seems to have a fairly substantial rattle coming from the transmission. Kind of sounds like a bad throwout bearing on other vehicles I have had, but I think it is internal and I wanted to pick some brains and see whether anyone had any clues.

Vehicle runs, shifts, and drives very well. Has 261k on it; needs a bunch of suspension work and a ton of cleaning, but looks pretty sound otherwise. We picked it up in upstate NY and drove it the 300 miles back without a hitch. Noise was not really noticeable in NY but seemed to be quite a rattle once we got it into ME. I am worried it is something simple right now that could turn into something major without attention.

I think the rattle is in the tranny. It is present until you press the clutch between 7/8 and all the way in. Then it is silent. Rattle does not change based on the gear position of the tranny. No idea if it makes the rattle when driving. Cannot hear it from inside the cab either because it is not there or because of the wonderful Passat construction.

I took some video this afternoon so that you all could listen to it. The videos are uploaded to my website; links are below. Do not bother if you are on dialup because the files are huge.

http://midcoastmac.com/vw/MVI_0231.AVI is about 45 seconds (and 25 MB) from the driver's side wheel well and under the hood.

http://midcoastmac.com/vw/MVI_0232.AVI
is about half as long (12 MB) and is mostly from under the hood.

I am pretty new to the whole TDI saga, although I now seem to find myself with 4 Passats in the yard :)D). I have monkeyed with transmissions on the B3 and other vehicles, but never on a TDI. I will say this transmission is smoother shifting with far higher mileage than any of my other VWs.

Are these prone to any particular problems, or is there anything that typically needs to be addressed around this age? Also, any thoughts on what the rattle could be, and how much time or money it might take to fix?

Thanks in advance,

Mike
 

Lug_Nut

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 20, 1998
Location
Sterling, Massachusetts. USA
TDI
idi: 1988 Bolens DGT1700H, the other oil burner: 1967 Saab Sonett II two stroke
Check the easy stuff first. Look if the bellhousing / flywheel sheetmetal covers are bent enough that the teeth are hitting or something ridiculously simple like that.
Then consider looking into the throwout bearing and clutch fingers for similar contact with stationary items, especially if pressing the pedal to that 7/8 position produced a slowing of the click before it ceases, rather than maintaining the same "idle speed" clicking rate and simply going silent.
 

mikester2

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2005
Location
Midcoast Maine
TDI
1982 VW Westy 1.6TD, 1996 B4 TDI (383K), 2015 NMS TDI SEL DSG (11K)
Just a followup with a few more details.

Last night I took the car up the road and it went fine.

Just drove it around the yard a bit and paid close attention to the noise. I am pretty sure it is in the tranny. The noise is either there or not when pushing in the clutch. I cannot really get it to the point where the speed of the noise slows down.

With the engine running and the clutch in all the way (no noise) I coasted backward down the driveway with the car in reverse. I heard the rattle then in proportion to the speed of the car.

When driving forward in both first and second gear I could hear the rattle.

It sounds like the rattle is coming from just behind the side cover of the tranny.



Are these known for any particular problems in the transmission? Are parts still readily available? Is there any specific way to check the clutch, etc. without removing the tranny from the car? It does not look like there is enough room through the timing plug or lower shroud to tell much.

Thanks again.
 

mikester2

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2005
Location
Midcoast Maine
TDI
1982 VW Westy 1.6TD, 1996 B4 TDI (383K), 2015 NMS TDI SEL DSG (11K)
Also, is there anything that is easy to see or get at by removing the side cover? I have only checked my B3 Bentley manual, but it does not show an exploded view of an 02A tranny: only a cut-away view and even that is from the wrong angle.

I think I will have to put draining the fluid and pulling that cover on my list of things to do later on this week.
 

Lug_Nut

TDIClub Enthusiast, Pre-Forum Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 20, 1998
Location
Sterling, Massachusetts. USA
TDI
idi: 1988 Bolens DGT1700H, the other oil burner: 1967 Saab Sonett II two stroke
Look (search) for images of a 5th gear swap as that is what is right behind the cover.
 

saturnhacker

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Pennsylvania
TDI
Passat 1996 Blue
i've heard that on several cars, especially bad it seems if the car has sat for a bit. i think its just a clutch release bearing noise, appears to go away with some driving, i wouldnt worry too much about it as long as the car is shifting ok.
 

MicroVW

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 8, 2004
Location
Glendora, CA
TDI
Jetta, 1998, White
I had a rattle in the tranny area two. What was making the rattle was the throw out bearing arm. The keeper spring on the bottom was missing.Mine made noise when the clutch peddle was out and no noise when pressed.When I took the tranny out the next time I replaced it and it was gone.
 

Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Location
Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
TDI
Only the B4V left
I'm sure Mike will update this at some point, but we found the problem. The cover was very slightly dented and this was rubbing on the fork under the cover. We straightened it out and no more noise.
 
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