Gearbox/ clutch problem

I recently bought an Astra Bertone with the Z18XE engine that is possibly suffering from gearbox/ clutch failure. When starting the car from cold, there is a whirring sound that instantly goes away when you put your foot down on the clutch. It also seems to go away after a few minutes of running.

When I was reversing the car, the nearside front wheel felt like it was seizing up or going to fall off. The nearside lower balljoint on the wishbone had a lot of play in it, which was also causing play on the wheel. It did occur to me that, given the amount of play, the driveshaft may not be sitting in the gearbox correctly.

Could this be the case or do you think the balljoint is the culprit?

Paul Mccully

If the noise goes away when the clutch is pressed, it is most likely to be the input shaft bearing. If it was the release bearing, the noise would normally increase as the clutch was

depressed. The input shaft that will be spinning at engine speed will slow down and stop when the clutch is depressed.

As the noise goes as the vehicle warms up, this may indicate that warm oil is reaching the bearing and silencing the noise.

It is unlikely that play in the balljoint is preventing the driveshaft from sitting correctly in the gearbox, but you may have an outer CV joint which is worn and locking up, which would give very similar symptoms to the ones you describe.

With the driveshaft removed from the hub, you should be able to feel any problems with the outer joint by rotating it in a circular motion. This should be smooth and, if any notches can be felt, this would confirm a failure of the joint.

It may be worth checking the oil level of the gearbox to ensure that the problem is not down to lack of oil. Of course, given the balljoint/driveshaft issue, it would be difficult to test-drive the vehicle to ensure that you have no further gearbox problems.