Hopefully just linkages. Take it to an independent specialist for diagnosis.
If it needs a new box then look for a reconditioned one from scrapyard.

 

Gonna keep an eye on this thread.

I am experiencing 4th gear issues too. I can't go from 5th to 4th without a scraping/crunching sound. 3rd to 4th is fine. Car is a '98 GTV 3.0
Presumably it is the synchro mesh, but what does this mean?
i.e. Does it mean a new gearbox (reconditioned) and will the clutch be affected?
Or, as per Guy, can this be mended easily?

Thks,
V

 

Hi guys
Hopefully I won't be the bearer of bad news. I have a 97 GTV 2.0L TS, a couple months back I was dropping a mate off when I completely lost all drive. I managed to get 3rd gear then guide it into a side road. From there I had to call the RAC to come and assist me with a truck with a winch. The RAC guy couldn't work out the exact cause, but he knew it was gearbox related as leading up to this incident I had experienced 'high pitched wuring noises' coming from the car.
After a ringing around a few garages one of them put me on to a company called Stockport Gearbox. I then had to arrange for another truck with a hydraulic winch to get the car to them. They diagnosed that it was actually stuck in two gears at once, neutral was impossible, everytime it was selected with the engine on it would stall. I rang around a and got quotes of £1440.00 or more to fit a new gearbox. Eventually Stockport gearbox came up with a reasonable solution: They repaired the gearbox and fitted a new clutch for £860.00. In the end they probably saved me 600 quid!

Never the less it was a severe blow, I suggest you don't drive your car anymore, and get it to a gearbox specialist asap. I live in the North West in Manchester so I don't know it Stockport gearbox would of be any help to you. But if you want the number just give us a shout. Either way I would get it to a specialist pronto or it could get painful!

 

I've been having problems with gearbox noise from my GTV for a couple of months and it had been getting progressivly worse until just before the new year it had become very loud and i was expecting failure. So I'm now in the process of getting a new gearbox fitted to my 1998 2.0TS by an Independant Alfa specialist (Eurocarcare in Derby, top guys) so can give you some comparison prices.

Recon box from Alfa Romeo £1500+VAT
New box from Alfa Romeo £3000+VAT

Recon box from independant gearbox refurb co. £650
Low mileage Used gearbox from breakers £200-£250

fitting cost at my independant garage is £200

I decided to go for a used box, reason being that other than some linkage issues actual gearbox failures appear to be pretty low on the GTV so i thought on balance it was a reasonable risk and worst case if i had another box fail on me even the cost of replacing again with another used box would be nothing like appoaching the cost of a box from Alfa and roughly the same as a warrantied refurb box.

The used warranty i had with my Alfa is covering some of the cost of mine however the warranty company did actually want to repair the box, I decided against this however as even with their contribution of £850 towards the repair the final bill would still have been approaching £1200

 

Thanks for the relpies so far,

I've been onto a gearbox specilaist near where I live in Surrey. Haven't taken it in yet but they have said that I'm looking at £200 to remove the box(and eventually refit), £200 to for stripping it and labour and between £50 and £250 for whatever parts are needed. Also they recommend putting in a new clutch at the same time, £150.

They said they'll look at it before they start to see if its anything else but they dont think its linkages as I should have lost 2nd as well.

So could end up costing £800 odd and it'll be off the road for about a week!

Also had some quotes on used boxes from breakers aroung the £250 mark but adding in labour and not really knowing what you're getting, I dont think I'll go down that route. At least if I get my one repaired I know what I'm getting.

 

Just be aware that Alfa Romeo have released several modified parts in the GTV box parts list, this means even if you only need a couple of replacement parts for the box you may have to buy additional parts as they have been modified and won't fit with the other orginal parts.

This meant that the price of repairing mine doubled which was why i ended up getting a new box in the end.

 

The synchros, baulk rings, clutch hubs, dog teeth, wear out, or can do? Hope it's just linkage.: