Gears worn or clutch?

[zeth4500]

this morning i experienced on my 30 minute drive to work that in fifth gear after a while the gear disengaged and i had to put it out of fifth gear and back again for it to continue working, this happened 3 times

google says 90% of the time its a worn clutch but mechanic thinks its the whole gearbox- which is twice the repair cost and time as well.

when driving around in lower gears i do notice some uncomfortable noises, some kind of rattling. theres plenty transmission oil on.

clutch or gearbox?

[fredjacksonsan]

Gearbox.

If it was the clutch, you would be experiencing difficulty shifting, or not being able to get it into first gear when stopped… The noises are also telling.

What vehicle, and how many miles/km?

[zeth4500]

its a peugeot 406, about 280k km
i do have difficulty getting it to get into gear oftenly
the gearshift isnt that much of a problem- once its rolling, but it doesnt go perfectly smooth

[fredjacksonsan]

Does it go into gear smoothly if you double clutch?

You said "oftenly", is that at stop lights, too?

I'm thinking you have worn syncros. How many km on the clutch?

[zeth4500]

sorry for late reply
yes its getting worse, no idea when clutch was changed last time. syncros.. seems about 200 dollars for full set of those, thats not too bad- i will try to sell my car rather than going for those fixes, it might still be the whole gearbox.. the gears themselves maybe even? but yes syncros seems to make sense for what symptoms im hearing

whole machine has done 392000 kilometers, so the difficult repairs are starting to want my money

[fredjacksonsan]

Well, no worries about response time; probably not in a hurry here.

You said 280k kms, and also 392k kms, either way that's a long distance, especially if it is an older vehicle.

You could try putting in a new clutch and have the transmission rebuilt (synchros and bearings; the gears are likely just fine), but have a decision to make.

If (as you suggested) there are numerous small repairs, it might be time for something new(or at least newer). Sell the car to a mechanic or hobbyist. But if you're attached to it, remember that repairs are often less than new car payments...

[zeth4500]

oh i already found a MG ZT which gives me 70 extra horsepowers and it looks great- i do have quite some attachment to it but i found someone that will be putting some time into the car. its in very great condition and has some spectacularity to it ferrari owners despise.

but yes, i think the most expensive would be mechanic putting in hours to change syncros/clutch, but once that whole thing is apart changing multiple items shouldnt be a big deal, syncros set is like 250 euros and clutch is 100 euros, mechanics time to take all that apart is maybe 1000 euros yea.

[fredjacksonsan]

So €1000 to get your Cujo back on the road reliably… Or the new car. Choice is yours!