Bad news! (for me)

Early in my usual 1 hour commute this morning I got a box full of neutrals and ended up stuck on a national speed limit dual carriageway until I got recovered.  (To be fair it's the only time that its left me stranded since I bought it 7 years ago so I can't complain). 

I was hoping it was just that the selector cable(s) had popped of the gearbox but it turns out to be the gearbox itself, the shaft appears to have snapped inside the box.  I'm going to source a used box (with 90 days warranty) but wondered if anyone had any idea what the official (Autodata etc) labour time for a box switch is so I can prepare myself for the bill?

Bad news bud! My selector went in similar fashion on my old focus... 

 

3 minutes ago, TDCiST said:

Bad news bud! My selector went in similar fashion on my old focus... 

 

Cheers mate, did you get your replaced or just did you just bin it off?  (Incidentally, which engine was your old car?)

I'm definitely going to go the used box route rather than scrapping it.  It still runs spot on and does 58 MPG on my daily commute if I do 67 MPH(ish) so it doesn't make sense to me not to fix it, that said if it starts costing me £500 a year then it'll be getting binned off.  I'm just hoping the labour time isn't going to be too painful.

4.9 hours apparently! 😮 

Plus 0.3 hours if you have the clutch changed at the same time.  Worth it unless it's recently had a clutch.

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

4.9 hours apparently! 😮 

Plus 0.3 hours if you have the clutch changed at the same time.  Worth it unless it's recently had a clutch.

@1979Damian shall we start a just giving page or have a whip-round? I can send u a fiver I’m sure!

2 minutes ago, TDCiST said:

@1979Damian shall we start a just giving page or have a whip-round? I can send u a fiver I’m sure!

lol, that does seem to be done thing these days doesn't it?  Thankfully my usual garage only charge £35 p/hour labour so it's not as bad as it could have been (I'm trying to be "class half full, rather than half empty!) 

Just now, 1979Damian said:

lol, that does seem to be done thing these days doesn't it?  Thankfully my usual garage only charge £35 p/hour labour so it's not as bad as it could have been (I'm trying to be "class half full, rather than half empty!) 

Keep hold of that garage for life mate!!

1 minute ago, TDCiST said:

Keep hold of that garage for life mate!!

They're good lads too, only fitted decent brand parts and don't take the p1ss with labour like some places i.e. "Ooh, sorry sir it took a couple of hours longer than expected".

5 minutes ago, 1979Damian said:

lol, that does seem to be done thing these days doesn't it?  Thankfully my usual garage only charge £35 p/hour labour so it's not as bad as it could have been (I'm trying to be "class half full, rather than half empty!) 

I was paying £50 an hour for the local indy nearly 10 years ago! 😮  Damn Southern prices!  

£35 an hour? No wonder they call Yorkshire God's own country!

2 hours ago, Oldster said:

£35 an hour? No wonder they call Yorkshire God's own country!

Gets a bit chilly though up here (according to you Southerners)  everything's cheaper though so I reckon it's worth it.

Hopefully I'll be able to claw a few quid back by selling the Zetec interior I just took out of the wife's car (this thread), I've given 'em a good shampooing and they look surprisingly decent now they're clean, fleabay here I come! 

My used but warrantied for 90 days replacement box arrived at my garage about 3ish this afternoon so all being well my car should be good to go at some point tomorrow! (fingers crossed)

Good lad, hope it works out ok for you.😁

12 minutes ago, mozz said:

Good lad, hope it works out ok for you.😁

Cheers mate, I'm determined I'm not scrapping her yet.  It's the 1st time she's left me stranded in the 7 years since I bought the car and it still runs spot on (or at least it did)  lol

46 minutes ago, 1979Damian said:

Cheers mate, I'm determined I'm not scrapping her yet.  It's the 1st time she's left me stranded in the 7 years since I bought the car and it still runs spot on (or at least it did)  lol

 

Like part of the family,  i pet mine like i would my dog, silly really,  but since I've joined this forum i keep fearing the worst, with regards to breakdowns etc.

 

10 hours ago, mozz said:

Like part of the family,  i pet mine like i would my dog, silly really,  but since I've joined this forum i keep fearing the worst, with regards to breakdowns etc.

I've never been one for bonding with inanimate objects but I have to admit that I'll be sad when the day comes for mine, even if I was getting something much better i.e. MK4.5 Mondeo Titanium X Sport.  For me it also make sense logically to keep it on the basis that to replace it with something I'd want I'd be looking at about £175 p/month over 3 years (HP) so that's over £2000 a year.  If I'm only spending £500 a year including service items/tyres, in my book I'm quids in to the tune of £1600 p/year.

I also know the cars has always been looked after, the engine still runs spot on, I could buy a nicer car tomorrow with FSH but wouldn't know if some plank had redlined it from cold every day of its life i.e. the engine would be well on it's way to an early death but I'd be pleased with myself thinking I'd got a good one due to the FSH.  (Better the devil you know in my book).

I'm just waiting for call from the garage to say it's sorted. 

How's she doing? 

1 hour ago, mozz said:

How's she doing? 

I got her back about half 5ish and took her for a little test drive.  

All seems well, in fact the gearbox feels a little different, I suspect because the cables previously needed tightening slightly so there was a little "slop" but now it feels tight and precise.

It's only ended up costing me £108 for a used box with 90 days warranty and £162 to the garage for fitting and box oil and although it's never nice to have to drop £250+ on replacing a part on a car, it could easily have ended up costing me a good £100 more (at another garage) or about £900 for a full gearbox rebuild so I'll take it as a win of sorts!

I think it'll take a few commutes before I trust the car again, previously I could always tell myself it had never let me down so I'll probably be listening for phantom sounds for a while.