205 Diesel Gearbox

[hothatch 2]

Hi guys got the chance of a good working order be3 205 diesel box for cheap from a mate. Any good for my 6 engine? Perhaps a little stronger than a petrol?

 

Thanks in advance

Ben

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

This has been covered a few times mate, I think people find them to be really long geared. Here's a thread. If you don't have much luck with site search engine use the google one in my sig.

Edited April 30, 2010 by Paul_13

[hothatch 2]

This has been covered a few times mate, I think people find them to be really long geared. Here's a thread. If you don't have much luck with site search engine use the google one in my sig.

 

Strong as fook tho!

 

Sorry mate didn't relaise it had been covered, will do cheers. Yeah its the strength that's attracting me tbh

[welshpug 1,621]

they are no stronger than any other be3 gearbox, they'll have very wrong gear ratios for a decent drive from a gti6 engine.

[Anthony 1,000]

Any BE series gearbox will be plenty strong enough for a GTi-6 engine, with the possible exception (ironically) of a GTi-6 box that seem to have a habit of stripping cogs. I don't believe that a 205 diesel box has any form of strengthening or uprated internals anyhow, but I'm sure someone like Miles would be able to confirm that.

 

The ratio's on a diesel box however will be an awful match for a GTi-6 engine in my opinion, and I'd seriously re-consider going down this route. 1.9 GTi box is OK if still a bit long for my tastes, and a 1.6 or Mi16/S16/VTS box is a better choice, especially if it's purely for a trackday/fun car.

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

Get a MI16 alloy block, MI16 steel block/S16 Gearbox. Waaayyyy better gearing. You'll have to swap bits over but it's simple.

 

Could put the 5th gear in from a diesel box, there's a step by step guide on here somewhere.

 

^ As Ant said

Edited April 30, 2010 by Paul_13

[hothatch 2]

Thanks guys already made my decision lol you can guess what it is!

 

1600 box for me, just an enquiry lol thanks for the replies

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

Make sure you get a decent one, mine was crunching, groaning and all sorts. It was on the verge on blowing up

[damien 22 1 Cars]

what about the 306 16v xsi gearbox, anyone tryed that? mite be a cheaper option to the vts box?

[hothatch 2]

what about the 306 16v xsi gearbox, anyone tryed that? mite be a cheaper option to the vts box?

 

Aint that a pull type clutch system though ? My 1800 16v soft tops got quite good gearing. That's a push type, same on xsi s ?

[rubyna 4 1 Cars]

Hi mate, i had a 1.9 box in my car 205 Gti6 engine for a while untill i toasted it i then went and got a Xsara Vts box on recommendation of a few forum members and it totally transformed the cars performance, it was literally night and day! O.k. to be fair my 1.9 box was shagged anyway but it felt so lazy with it now its much more eager to pull to the limiter in every gear.. If you want you can come out in it to see for yourself how it performs with the

Vts box as your only a stones throw away from me,but it would have to be after next weekend as im having the steering colum lower union joint fitted as the one thats in there now is near enough seized!! Anyway if your interested drop me a pm..

Luke...

[CosKev 16]

Aint that a pull type clutch system though ? My 1800 16v soft tops got quite good gearing. That's a push type, same on xsi s ?

 

So is VTS box,and Gti6

 

Easy to swap the clutch system over

[RossD 43]

The only BE3 boxes that are 'beefed up' are the Turbo Diesel ones, they seem to have some extra ribbing on the casing - The diff is certainly tougher than all of the other ones too.(See ServiceBox!) Again it's the same on the BE4 boxes, the HDi's have a beefier diff in them. (Well the BE4 HDi diff is certainly better built than the BE4 TU5 petrol diff I have in the shed!)

Edited May 3, 2010 by RossD

[hothatch 2]

Hi mate, i had a 1.9 box in my car 205 Gti6 engine for a while untill i toasted it i then went and got a Xsara Vts box on recommendation of a few forum members and it totally transformed the cars performance, it was literally night and day! O.k. to be fair my 1.9 box was shagged anyway but it felt so lazy with it now its much more eager to pull to the limiter in every gear.. If you want you can come out in it to see for yourself how it performs with the

Vts box as your only a stones throw away from me,but it would have to be after next weekend as im having the steering colum lower union joint fitted as the one thats in there now is near enough seized!! Anyway if your interested drop me a pm..

Luke...

 

thanks for the offer mate! will do mate if you dont mind its a case of making the right decisions at the moment i just want to get things right the first time if you know what i mean, no doubt i will be ripping things back apart again in the future but dont fancy buying another box for the sake of it ! what system you using ? pull or push ?

 

thanks mate will drop you pm and nextweekend is just fine. cheers again.

Edited May 3, 2010 by hothatch

[hothatch 2]

So is VTS box,and Gti6

 

Easy to swap the clutch system over

 

yeah i know gti6 and vts are pull, can you change for a push?

 

The only BE3 boxes that are 'beefed up' are the Turbo Diesel ones, they seem to have some extra ribbing on the casing - The diff is certainly tougher than all of the other ones too.(See ServiceBox!) Again it's the same on the BE4 boxes, the HDi's have a beefier diff in them. (Well the BE4 HDi diff is certainly better built than the BE4 TU5 petrol diff I have in the shed!)

 

thanks for the info mate much appreicated !

[Mark.Azzop.205 0]

@ RossD ; Sorry for replying to an old topic, but for some reason I cannot start a new topic. I am currently searching for the best BE3 gearbox casing

because I plan to put in a Quaife close ratio gear set. The engine is going to produce 250 bhp and 290 nm of torque (Mi16). So I require the strongest case available. I searched a lot and read almost all topics concerns boxes. On the 405Mi16.com Forum, someone said "I have used a late BE3 box on my T16 engine and it has the same strengthening ribs as the BE4 box". He got the Gearbox from a Xantia 1.9 TD. Here is a photo of it :

LEFT = NORMAL BE3 RIGHT = XANTIA TD BE3

 

 

THIS IS THE NORMAL BE3 BELLHOUSING :

 

 

AND THIS ONE IS FROM THE XANTIA TD :

 

 

I also noted that the opening at the right of the bellhousing where normally a plastic cover would go is different.

 

Do you think that this is the strongest BE3 I can get?

 

Another member on the 405Mi16.com Forum said "On a later be3 (from about 1999 ) has a middle section code be4 casing (i.e. where the engine mounting screws in) has been strengthened as well especially around the 5 gear bearing area with extra oil feed rail."

 

What gearbox would this be? BE3 or BE4? Is the BE4 stronger?

 

 

Now, today I went to a scrapyard and found a Phase 2 405 SRDT 1.9L 8-valve Inter-cooled Turbo Diesel. It was up high on another car so I could only take a photo of the bottom of the gearbox. Here is the photo:

 

 

I think it looks a bit strange as I have never seen a photo of a BE3 gearbox with such webs/ribs on it, mind you I've never seen a TD gearbox from the bottom!

 

For reference, here's the bottom of a 'normal' 405 SRi gearbox I have: (rotated photo to match the SRDT one )

 

 

Referring to the quote you said "The only BE3 boxes that are 'beefed up' are the Turbo Diesel ones, they seem to have some extra ribbing on the casing", were you referring to the ribbing seen in the Xantia TD bell housing or the ribbing seen on the outside of the 405 SRDT gearbox? You could effectively be referring for the both as it could be that the Xantia TD and the 405 TD use the same reinforced gearbox housing!

 

Thanks you so much in advance!!

 

P.S other members' opinions welcome!!

[Tom Fenton 1,524]

Can't comment on the various casnig differences, but I can tell you that I have been putting circa 210ft/lb through a totally standard (except for Tran-X LSD) 205 GTI 1.6 BE3 gearbox for three years now, no issues, apart from getting the torque onto the floor.

[Mark.Azzop.205 0]

Great!! Thanks for the info

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

The BE4 is the strongest case, has rib;s around the input shaft bearing where the BE3's never did

Edited November 13, 2012 by Miles

[Mark.Azzop.205 0]

oh ok, but can you put quaife BE3 gear kit or BE3 standard gears in it? Where can it be found (on which cars)? Can it be mated to an MI16? Do you know if an upgraded gear kit for a BE4 exists?

thanks

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

better off looking here for gears, http://www.avanti-motorsport.com/

[Mark.Azzop.205 0]

Think they're better than Quaife? I heared their gear kit is not that strong! Thanks for the link but the avanti motorsport 5 speed synchro gear kit looks like a staight cut gear kit! Do you know if they have a helical gear kit that is uprated from the standard gears?

 

Thanks u d man

[Mark.Azzop.205 0]

*I heared Quaife's gear kit is not that strong!

[Mark.Azzop.205 0]

So, is it worth finding a BE4 gearbox casing (Didn't find any uprated close ratio kit for them), or am OK running the Turbo Diesel BE3?

Has anyone put BE3 gears in a BE4?

 

Thanks

[Yves 0]

BE3 and BE4 internals are interchangeable in cases, all BE gearboxes have same bearings and restore parts, except be3/6 i think. But you can't put be3 gears onto be4 shafts, thickness of final drive is different.