[s-cars] Galled First Gears???

[Charlie Smith]

Earlier, Frank Amoroso wrote:
>
> FWIW, I drove with a galled 1st for six years and never had any problems
> (car had the issue when I purchased it so who knows how long it was
> busted). Anyway, these six years include some VERY HARD driving after I
> purchased a six speed (and it was sitting on the floor in the garage).
>
> Your Galling May Vary,

I suspect that this is exactly the case.  I've heard other people say
theirs didn't get much worse over thousands of miles.  All I can speak
to is the 1st that failed in my S6.  It well can have to do with how you
have abused it.

Mine was silent as far as I know when I got the car with about 55,000
miles on it.  I quickly became enamored with chirping the tires by
nailing it in 1st, which I now believe is the worst thing you can do.
The transmission progressed from silent to only hearing it the first
few feet I drove in 1st gear - shift to 2nd and then back into 1st
and it was quiet again.  Once the gears were oiled from moving a few
feet, it was quiet again.  Within a total of 2000 miles it had gotten
so noisy that you could always hear it in 1st even with the windows
rolled up.  By 3000 miles, I think bystanders on the sidewalk could
have heard it.  A picture of it in that condition is on my 01E web
pages.  Mine only chewed up one or two teeth on the mainshaft, so it
made a distinct clicking niose.  I suspect if you had galling on
more teeth it would sound more like a grinding noise rather than a
clicking noise.

    - Charlie


  Charlie Smith   charlie at elektro.cmhnet.org  614-471-1418
  http://www.elektro.com/~charlie      Columbus Ohio   USA
  http://www.elektro.com/~audi     photos & technical info

  95 S6 Quattro  -  24 PSI, RS2 6 speed, and other features
  97 Dodge Ram   -  40 PSI, 4x4 w/Cummins turbo diesel