Possible Gearbox problem 1.4sx C3

I took my car to the garage today for investigation in to the rhythmic rumble when over the speed of 35mph. Its gets louder the faster I go. garage have checked wheel bearings and tyres etc and cant find anything wrong. Fortunately they have not charged me. Referred me to a transmission specialist to see if the noise is caused by the automatic transmission ie a bearing.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? Hope someone can help.

Well I went to a automatic gearbox specialist today and he took the car for a test drive. Came back and said gearbox is not in a great state. He confirmed that there is a noisy bearing which I can hear when driving above 35mph. Her did also say that the actuator was worn out. Then to my surprise he said that its a manual gearbox. I said mo its not is automatic. Then he explained that the gearbox is primarily manual and that the automatic is like an add on. My words not his. So repair would be recon box £395 plus £150 for labour. I am now chasing the man in the garage in Birmingham where i bought the car because he has not addressed other faults that were present at time of purchase but he did not make them aware of them. It looks like a trading standards complaint - a car not fit for purpose.

bobbybiscuit wrote:I took my car to the garage today for investigation in to the rhythmic rumble when over the speed of 35mph. Its gets louder the faster I go. garage have checked wheel bearings and tyres etc and cant find anything wrong. Fortunately they have not charged me. Referred me to a transmission specialist to see if the noise is caused by the automatic transmission ie a bearing.

Has anyone else encountered this problem? Hope someone can help.

Thanks for the update. You never know what you are going to learn when you take your car to a mechanic.

Is your car a sensodrive, manually controlled semi auto? Odd, because your car bio info says 'Gearbox: Automatic PRND'.

On the right of the selection gear lever is the normal automatic selections. Once you put the gear lever in "D" you can push the lever to the left and then you can select the gears you want without automatic changing. Push forward to go from first to second (gear lever returns to middle setting - like sprung loaded) . If you want to change from say 4th to 3rd to go up a hill you push the gear lever downwards and down again for second to first. BUT if say you are in 3rd or 4th and you come to a stop at traffic lights, gears change automatically back to 1st! Damn clever. car certainly much more responsive in this semi automatic mode. There are no paddles on the steering column.

bobbybiscuit wrote:On the right of the selection gear lever is the normal automatic selections. Once you put the gear lever in "D" you can push the lever to the left and then you can select the gears you want without automatic changing. Push forward to go from first to second (gear lever returns to middle setting - like sprung loaded) . If you want to change from say 4th to 3rd to go up a hill you push the gear lever downwards and down again for second to first. BUT if say you are in 3rd or 4th and you come to a stop at traffic lights, gears change automatically back to 1st! Damn clever. car certainly much more responsive in this semi automatic mode. There are no paddles on the steering column.

Its a sensodrive. Manual gearbox with electronic gear selector and electronic clutch operation. No PRND lettering on the gear selector.

Yes it does have a PRND selection....thats what confused me.

bobbybiscuit wrote:Yes it does have a PRND selection....thats what confused me.

It confuses me too. Would you mind adding a photograph of your actual gear selector to this topic using the 'Browse' and 'Add the files(s)' below please?

No problem. Will do that this afternoon when I am at home.

Attached is the image of the gearbox lever

I retook the pic so you can see clearly.