I picked up my car this morning. The mechanic says the condenser was
badly deteriorated and repair is complete.

He took it for a test drive (because of my comment about the
differential). He says the gearbox will need to be rebuilt because it
is getting noisy. He does not do this but 'knows a man who does'. The
ballpark quote is about �800 all in with a hint this could be
negotiable. The vehicle has done 99,500 miles (17 years). I pointed
out I would need to apply a value for money test. He pointed out - philosophically but not unreasonably - it is the value to me that
counts not the two-thirds rule, and the car is otherwise in good
condition so it's my choice.

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing
(is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I picked up my car this morning. The mechanic says the condenser was
badly deteriorated and repair is complete.

He took it for a test drive (because of my comment about the
differential). He says the gearbox will need to be rebuilt because it
is getting noisy. He does not do this but 'knows a man who does'. The ballpark quote is about £800 all in with a hint this could be
negotiable. The vehicle has done 99,500 miles (17 years). I pointed
out I would need to apply a value for money test. He pointed out - philosophically but not unreasonably - it is the value to me that
counts not the two-thirds rule, and the car is otherwise in good
condition so it's my choice.

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing
(is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

100k miles, 17 years old, the car owes you nothing.

Just keep driving it, I doubt whether there will be a bang and the
gearbox is suddenly and catastrophically destroyed ? Never owned a
manual car, but wasn't one trick to reduce gearbox noise to stick
sawdust in it ?

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I picked up my car this morning. The mechanic says the condenser was
badly deteriorated and repair is complete.

He took it for a test drive (because of my comment about the
differential). He says the gearbox will need to be rebuilt because it
is getting noisy. He does not do this but 'knows a man who does'. The ballpark quote is about £800 all in with a hint this could be
negotiable. The vehicle has done 99,500 miles (17 years). I pointed
out I would need to apply a value for money test. He pointed out - philosophically but not unreasonably - it is the value to me that
counts not the two-thirds rule, and the car is otherwise in good
condition so it's my choice.

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing
(is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

Have you thought of just getting a second hand gearbox? Something like <https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135330732978>

--
Jeff

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Jeff Layman <[email protected]d> wrote:

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I picked up my car this morning. The mechanic says the condenser was
badly deteriorated and repair is complete.

He took it for a test drive (because of my comment about the
differential). He says the gearbox will need to be rebuilt because it
is getting noisy. He does not do this but 'knows a man who does'. The ballpark quote is about £800 all in with a hint this could be
negotiable. The vehicle has done 99,500 miles (17 years). I pointed
out I would need to apply a value for money test. He pointed out - philosophically but not unreasonably - it is the value to me that
counts not the two-thirds rule, and the car is otherwise in good
condition so it's my choice.

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing
(is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

Have you thought of just getting a second hand gearbox? Something like <https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135330732978>

I think it's a K12, eg:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/365635090260

I bought an AC compressor from them (Trents), it was in good condition from
a low mileage vehicle, and it was properly sealed unlike many other sellers. There's a popular video about their facility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnh1PRBQOPc

The thing about buying a used gearbox is it could go the same way in future, whereas a refurbishment in theory will replace wear parts to make it like
new. However (without knowing anything about common Micra faults), 76k
miles doesn't seem very old for a gearbox - I'd be expecting at least double that. So I'd guess there's decent life left in that one (I would of course
put new oil in it).

So really comes down to how much labour is involved in doing a swap, versus labour to pull the old one, refurb (+parts) and refit. You could ask the garage for their opinion.

If keeping costs under control is an issue, it depends how you feel about
the lottery of:

a) pay less now, take a slightly elevated risk that it'll break in future, or

b) pay more now, feel more confident it won't break, but quite likely that something else will break sooner or later to make the car not economical to repair in future.

Having done a decent bit of bangerology, I have to say that the 'not
economical to repair' point seems to take a lot longer than expected.
Usually there's a few hundred quid of MOT repairs every year but nothing catastrophic to take out the vehicle. Eventually they die of rust which is
a drawn out process.

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Theo <[email protected]> wrote:

I think it's a K12, eg:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/365635090260

I bought an AC compressor from them (Trents), it was in good condition from
a low mileage vehicle, and it was properly sealed unlike many other sellers. There's a popular video about their facility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnh1PRBQOPc

The thing about buying a used gearbox is it could go the same way in future, whereas a refurbishment in theory will replace wear parts to make it like new. However (without knowing anything about common Micra faults), 76k
miles doesn't seem very old for a gearbox - I'd be expecting at least double that. So I'd guess there's decent life left in that one (I would of course put new oil in it).

Interestingly, Trents offer a warranty that includes labour to fit a replacement, something I've not seen before:

"(PLATINUM) 12-Month Warranty with Labour Cover (+25%): Available for an additional 25% of the item price. This option provides 12 months of
warranty coverage, including labour costs for repairs or replacement.
Labour cover only applies to the original purchase. The replacement part is covered by the same 12-month warranty; additional labour costs require
separate payment (Minimum warranty price: £60).

To qualify for labour coverage, you must submit invoices for the original fitment and any subsequent repairs or replacements. These invoices should detail labour hours and parts used and must be issued under Charles Trent Limited’s name. Prior approval from Charles Trent Ltd is required before
any work is carried out. Labour costs are covered based on the original invoice from the garage at a rate of up to £75 per hour."


For another £60 to get a replacement fitted if it fails within a year seems like a useful option.

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 09:01:40 +0100, Mark Carver <[email protected]>
wrote:

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I picked up my car this morning. The mechanic says the condenser was
badly deteriorated and repair is complete.

He took it for a test drive (because of my comment about the
differential). He says the gearbox will need to be rebuilt because it
is getting noisy. He does not do this but 'knows a man who does'. The
ballpark quote is about �800 all in with a hint this could be
negotiable. The vehicle has done 99,500 miles (17 years). I pointed
out I would need to apply a value for money test. He pointed out -
philosophically but not unreasonably - it is the value to me that
counts not the two-thirds rule, and the car is otherwise in good
condition so it's my choice.

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing
(is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

100k miles, 17 years old, the car owes you nothing.

Just keep driving it, I doubt whether there will be a bang and the
gearbox is suddenly and catastrophically destroyed ? Never owned a
manual car, but wasn't one trick to reduce gearbox noise to stick
sawdust in it ?

Thanks (and to the other respondents). I'm going to go with this as a
plan. I was out for a meal last night and a friend suggested I should
that it is possible to use higher viscosity gearbox oil (I assume to
achieve the same effect as the sawdust). I'll go back to my regular
garage to see if he can do this.

I only went to this other garage because I needed an aircon
specialist. Thinking back to yesterday, l think the owner talked a bit
too much. He seemed to be trying to discourage me speaking to my
regular garage or spending too much time thinking about it, and to
give him the job. Curiously, they know each other so why would he do
this? I may have hit on some inter-business rivalry. He is now fired
anyway because he left the airbag light on *and* the indicator not
working (because the bulb was left hanging on its wire). I am not
convinced about their attention to detail. Communications were
terrible throughout.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 19/07/2025 11:44, Theo wrote:

Jeff Layman <[email protected]d> wrote:

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I picked up my car this morning. The mechanic says the condenser was
badly deteriorated and repair is complete.

He took it for a test drive (because of my comment about the
differential). He says the gearbox will need to be rebuilt because it
is getting noisy. He does not do this but 'knows a man who does'. The
ballpark quote is about £800 all in with a hint this could be
negotiable. The vehicle has done 99,500 miles (17 years). I pointed
out I would need to apply a value for money test. He pointed out -
philosophically but not unreasonably - it is the value to me that
counts not the two-thirds rule, and the car is otherwise in good
condition so it's my choice.

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing
(is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

Have you thought of just getting a second hand gearbox? Something like
<https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135330732978>

I think it's a K12, eg:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/365635090260

I tried to see if the gearbox is ok for the OP's model (with limited
info) and it looks like your one is fine, but the one I linked to (only
as an example, though!) won't fit.

I bought an AC compressor from them (Trents), it was in good condition from
a low mileage vehicle, and it was properly sealed unlike many other sellers. There's a popular video about their facility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnh1PRBQOPc

The thing about buying a used gearbox is it could go the same way in future, whereas a refurbishment in theory will replace wear parts to make it like new. However (without knowing anything about common Micra faults), 76k
miles doesn't seem very old for a gearbox - I'd be expecting at least double that. So I'd guess there's decent life left in that one (I would of course put new oil in it).

And it's 23k less than the OP's box.

So really comes down to how much labour is involved in doing a swap, versus labour to pull the old one, refurb (+parts) and refit. You could ask the garage for their opinion.

Yep, and your follow-up post offers an interesting option for a guarantee.

--
Jeff

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Scott <[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks (and to the other respondents). I'm going to go with this as a
plan. I was out for a meal last night and a friend suggested I should
that it is possible to use higher viscosity gearbox oil (I assume to
achieve the same effect as the sawdust). I'll go back to my regular
garage to see if he can do this.

I only went to this other garage because I needed an aircon
specialist. Thinking back to yesterday, l think the owner talked a bit
too much. He seemed to be trying to discourage me speaking to my
regular garage or spending too much time thinking about it, and to
give him the job. Curiously, they know each other so why would he do
this? I may have hit on some inter-business rivalry. He is now fired
anyway because he left the airbag light on *and* the indicator not
working (because the bulb was left hanging on its wire). I am not
convinced about their attention to detail. Communications were
terrible throughout.

TBH if the garage wasn't going to be able to do the work and would hand it
over to somebody who did, then you might as well go direct. OTOH 'refurb' companies can be a little different - some expect the parts to arrive and depart on pallets and they don't get involved with fitting or removal. So
it's not entirely disingenuous for them to do the removal and then send away the gearbox.

But given that used gearboxes are available for ~£100, the "use it until it blows up and then fit a used one" strategy has certain attractions.

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 09:01:40 +0100, Mark Carver wrote:

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I picked up my car this morning. The mechanic says the condenser was
badly deteriorated and repair is complete.

He took it for a test drive (because of my comment about the
differential). He says the gearbox will need to be rebuilt because it
is getting noisy. He does not do this but 'knows a man who does'. The
ballpark quote is about £800 all in with a hint this could be
negotiable. The vehicle has done 99,500 miles (17 years). I pointed out
I would need to apply a value for money test. He pointed out -
philosophically but not unreasonably - it is the value to me that
counts not the two-thirds rule, and the car is otherwise in good
condition so it's my choice.

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is plenty
of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing (is this
correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

100k miles, 17 years old, the car owes you nothing.

Just keep driving it, I doubt whether there will be a bang and the
gearbox is suddenly and catastrophically destroyed ? Never owned a
manual car, but wasn't one trick to reduce gearbox noise to stick
sawdust in it ?

A banana skin with a noisy differential.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 19 Jul 2025 12:34:31 +0100 (BST), Theo
<[email protected]> wrote:

Scott <[email protected]> wrote:

Thanks (and to the other respondents). I'm going to go with this as a
plan. I was out for a meal last night and a friend suggested I should
that it is possible to use higher viscosity gearbox oil (I assume to
achieve the same effect as the sawdust). I'll go back to my regular
garage to see if he can do this.

I only went to this other garage because I needed an aircon
specialist. Thinking back to yesterday, l think the owner talked a bit
too much. He seemed to be trying to discourage me speaking to my
regular garage or spending too much time thinking about it, and to
give him the job. Curiously, they know each other so why would he do
this? I may have hit on some inter-business rivalry. He is now fired
anyway because he left the airbag light on *and* the indicator not
working (because the bulb was left hanging on its wire). I am not
convinced about their attention to detail. Communications were
terrible throughout.

TBH if the garage wasn't going to be able to do the work and would hand it >over to somebody who did, then you might as well go direct. OTOH 'refurb' >companies can be a little different - some expect the parts to arrive and >depart on pallets and they don't get involved with fitting or removal. So >it's not entirely disingenuous for them to do the removal and then send away >the gearbox.

To be clear, this is exactly the situation. The gearbox guy rebuilds
the gearbox only. The garage man would remove the gear, send it to the
gearbox guy then fit it again afterwards. The ballpark cost was split
�400 for labour, �400 for gearbox. Just to add to the intrigue, the
garage man says my regular garage man uses the same specialist.

As Mark says, I cannot see a business case in spending �800
pre-emptively on a vehicle probably worth less than that which will
probably keep going for a bit anyway.

But given that used gearboxes are available for ~�100, the "use it until it >blows up and then fit a used one" strategy has certain attractions.

I asked about this. He said with used gearboxes you don't know what
you are getting and reconditioning by someone you trust is much
better. He also does work on racing cars so he may have different
expectations to me.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 09:01:40 +0100
Mark Carver <[email protected]> wrote:

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I picked up my car this morning. The mechanic says the condenser was
badly deteriorated and repair is complete.

He took it for a test drive (because of my comment about the
differential). He says the gearbox will need to be rebuilt because
it is getting noisy. He does not do this but 'knows a man who
does'. The ballpark quote is about £800 all in with a hint this
could be negotiable. The vehicle has done 99,500 miles (17 years).
I pointed out I would need to apply a value for money test. He
pointed out - philosophically but not unreasonably - it is the
value to me that counts not the two-thirds rule, and the car is
otherwise in good condition so it's my choice.

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth
replacing (is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

100k miles, 17 years old, the car owes you nothing.

Just keep driving it, I doubt whether there will be a bang and the
gearbox is suddenly and catastrophically destroyed ?

Can do. I once had an overdrive fail suddenly (broken gears) and much
later I had an auto box which, on starting one day, would only do
backwards.

Never owned a
manual car, but wasn't one trick to reduce gearbox noise to stick
sawdust in it ?

Or turn the radio up...

--
Joe

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I picked up my car this morning. The mechanic says the condenser was
badly deteriorated and repair is complete.

He took it for a test drive (because of my comment about the
differential). He says the gearbox will need to be rebuilt because it
is getting noisy. He does not do this but 'knows a man who does'. The ballpark quote is about £800 all in with a hint this could be
negotiable. The vehicle has done 99,500 miles (17 years). I pointed
out I would need to apply a value for money test. He pointed out - philosophically but not unreasonably - it is the value to me that
counts not the two-thirds rule, and the car is otherwise in good
condition so it's my choice.

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing
(is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

This is my opinion from experience of a few failed gearboxes.

How bad is the noise? How long has it been making this noise? Is it
getting worse over time? How many miles do you do in a year?

Some bearings can be noisy for a long time before catastrophic failure.
Others fail very quickly.

My option would be to change the oil for new of the same variety.
Bearings at end of life make iron filings of an especially hard abrasive material. Even old gearbox oil in a healthy gearbox is not generally
"dirty".

I would then wait until catastrophic failure that could still be a while
off and the gearbox could even outlast another key component.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

Fredxx <[email protected]d> wrote:

My option would be to change the oil for new of the same variety.
Bearings at end of life make iron filings of an especially hard abrasive material. Even old gearbox oil in a healthy gearbox is not generally
"dirty".

Agreed, changing the oil is something you should do in any case. If you're
not going to change the gearbox then at least change the oil. It may make things smoother and make the current gearbox last longer.

Theo

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 19 Jul 2025 20:16:32 +0100 (BST), Theo
<[email protected]> wrote:

Fredxx <[email protected]d> wrote:

My option would be to change the oil for new of the same variety.
Bearings at end of life make iron filings of an especially hard abrasive
material. Even old gearbox oil in a healthy gearbox is not generally
"dirty".

Agreed, changing the oil is something you should do in any case. If you're >not going to change the gearbox then at least change the oil. It may make >things smoother and make the current gearbox last longer.

Thanks. I'm going to contact my regular garage man on Monday and ask
him in the first instance to drain the gearbox and replace the oil. I
won't return to the other guy (even if the aircon fails again).

Thanks everyone for the advice.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 19/07/2025 14:23, Scott wrote:

I asked about this. He said with used gearboxes you don't know what
you are getting and reconditioning by someone you trust is much
better. He also does work on racing cars so he may have different expectations to me.

The oil seal on the end of my wife's gearbox failed, and it leaked oil
onto the clutch which started slipping.

It seems the "reconditioning" they did was not to recondition her
gearbox, but to replace it with another reconditioned one. Which
occasionally doesn't shift as well.

I should have asked more questions. Ah well, she wants another car anyway!

Andy

--
Do not listen to rumour, but, if you do, do not believe it.
Ghandi.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On 19/07/2025 12:04, Scott wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 09:01:40 +0100, Mark Carver <[email protected]>
wrote:

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing
(is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

Filthy oil will contain particles that will gradually attack the
gearwheels and bearings. Regardless of anything else, get this replaced
by new oil ASAP. You might even find that it alone quietens the gearbox
a bit, because dirty oil provides reduced lubrication properties.

The only way that "wait and see" can do irreparable damage to a gearbox
is if something damages the casing. All the internals are replaceable - provided the parts are still available. From your description, the
gearbox doesn't sound like disaster is imminent, so an oil change then
wait and see is my recommendation.

Apart from this, there are some good condition used parts around,
provided you could find them. I read somewhere that a Micra can be
written off by a rear end shunt, which would leave the transmission
fully reusable. If you could find one of those (is there a breaker's
yard anywhere near you?) then a simple substitution could be cheaper
than a rebuild/recondition fix.

As an aside, I was once given a lift in a Ford Sierra, and its
transmission was pretty noisy. I asked him how long it had been noisy
like that and he said he couldn't remember exactly but im must have been
at least 3 years ago it started to get really noticeable. I got the
impression he wasn't bothered by the noise, it was just like his car
usually sounded like. It certainly drove OK during my 70 mile journey.

He is now fired
anyway because he left the airbag light on *and* the indicator not
working (because the bulb was left hanging on its wire). I am not
convinced about their attention to detail. Communications were
terrible throughout.

His lack of attention to detail makes him totally unusable in my book.
Has he had the same lack of attention in the aircon overhaul, I wonder? Certainly even if he really does know a man who can, could you really
trust him to take the old gearbox out and put the reconditioned one back without creating peripheral damage or having some bits left over? And
what if his "man who can" has a similar lack of attention to detail?

As you have a regular garage, I would be inclined to ask someone you
trust from there to take a ride with you then give an opinion on how
long the gearbox sounds it would last. Don't even mention replacing it
and you should get a meaningful reply.

Perhaps give your usual garage the job of replacing the oil, and after
that was done then ask for the opinion on your gearbox. Don't forget
that the existing oil will drain more quickly and thoroughly if it is
warm, so go for a bit of a ride round to take the chill off the oil
before delivering the car to the garage for the oil change. I would
change the oil for fresh oil of the correct grade. Changing it for a
thicker oil could affect the synchromesh function on gear changes.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Mon, 21 Jul 2025 22:46:18 +0100, Indy Jess John <[email protected]> wrote:

On 19/07/2025 12:04, Scott wrote:

On Sat, 19 Jul 2025 09:01:40 +0100, Mark Carver <[email protected]>
wrote:

On 18/07/2025 16:39, Scott wrote:

I am wondering if I 'wait and see' could I wreck the gearbox and
prevent a rebuild or is it okay to drive under caution? There is
plenty of oil in the gearbox, which is filthy but not worth replacing
(is this correct)?

Any thoughts and opinions welcome.

Filthy oil will contain particles that will gradually attack the
gearwheels and bearings. Regardless of anything else, get this replaced
by new oil ASAP. You might even find that it alone quietens the gearbox
a bit, because dirty oil provides reduced lubrication properties.

The only way that "wait and see" can do irreparable damage to a gearbox
is if something damages the casing. All the internals are replaceable - >provided the parts are still available. From your description, the
gearbox doesn't sound like disaster is imminent, so an oil change then
wait and see is my recommendation.

Apart from this, there are some good condition used parts around,
provided you could find them. I read somewhere that a Micra can be
written off by a rear end shunt, which would leave the transmission
fully reusable. If you could find one of those (is there a breaker's
yard anywhere near you?) then a simple substitution could be cheaper
than a rebuild/recondition fix.

As an aside, I was once given a lift in a Ford Sierra, and its
transmission was pretty noisy. I asked him how long it had been noisy
like that and he said he couldn't remember exactly but im must have been
at least 3 years ago it started to get really noticeable. I got the >impression he wasn't bothered by the noise, it was just like his car
usually sounded like. It certainly drove OK during my 70 mile journey.

He is now fired
anyway because he left the airbag light on *and* the indicator not
working (because the bulb was left hanging on its wire). I am not
convinced about their attention to detail. Communications were
terrible throughout.

His lack of attention to detail makes him totally unusable in my book.
Has he had the same lack of attention in the aircon overhaul, I wonder? >Certainly even if he really does know a man who can, could you really
trust him to take the old gearbox out and put the reconditioned one back >without creating peripheral damage or having some bits left over? And
what if his "man who can" has a similar lack of attention to detail?

As you have a regular garage, I would be inclined to ask someone you
trust from there to take a ride with you then give an opinion on how
long the gearbox sounds it would last. Don't even mention replacing it
and you should get a meaningful reply.

Perhaps give your usual garage the job of replacing the oil, and after
that was done then ask for the opinion on your gearbox. Don't forget
that the existing oil will drain more quickly and thoroughly if it is
warm, so go for a bit of a ride round to take the chill off the oil
before delivering the car to the garage for the oil change. I would
change the oil for fresh oil of the correct grade. Changing it for a
thicker oil could affect the synchromesh function on gear changes.

Thank you very much for all this helpful advice. Update is that I went
to my regular garage yesterday afternoon. First thing Robert asked was
how much I was charged. When I told him it was �666 (work of the
devil) he said that was a bit high. He opened the bonnet and found a
large piece of polystyrene packing material inside. He just handed
this to me without comment with a clear look of disapproval. I did
mention the gearbox and he responded that there is nothing wrong with
the gearbox (he knows the vehicle and serviced and MOT'd it in March)
but said I should take it in for an oil change next week. The garage
is about 20 miles away, which should take care of the warm-up
protocol.

As an aside, when I collected my car from the aircon garage the
owner/mechanic told me his 11-year old daughter wants to be a mechanic
and was coming in for the afternoon for some practice. I mentioned
this to another mechanic as I was leaving. He said she was in the day
before and was criticising some of the work her father had done.

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