Identifying a Renault 5 speed gearbox

[Mecky]

Hi guys,

now I found a Renault NG3-00 gearbox from a Fuego. From the pictures of the housing, it looks right for plug&play-replacement of my old gearbox.
And with the Fuego the rotation of the gears should be the same with the Europa, right?

EDIT: The photos were cut. On a full view pic, I saw that the shifting mechanism is different (pics attached).

EDIT 2: From the manuals of 395 and NG3 in comparison, it seems to be possible to fit the rear cover including shifter of the 395 to the NG3 gearbox. The shifting forks and shafts seem to be the same in both gearboxes. Can anybody confirm that?

[jbcollier]

Generally NG boxes are bigger than 395/365 boxes and parts are not interchangeable.

[BDA]

There are two ways to shift NG3s. One from the shaft that you see coming out of the rear cover to the "rear." I've seen some cable shifters use that. There are some detailed plans in the files that EuropaTC collected (and very nicely organized!) when the yahoo group closed down. You can find some here (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1uOmTsXhIF3qlutvCvmY8sAaliwc8Rwbj).

The other is with the slightly diagonal cross shaft. This is the method Richard used on the NG3 boxes he sold. I've posted a couple of pictures of that area of my car that hopefully will give you an idea. This link (http://www.greytower.com/jon/lotus/europa/gearbox/gearbox.html) shows the modifications one guy did to hook up an NG3 to a Zetec including how he how he did his cable shifter. I have a shift mechanism more like that used on the 336. I notice that he made a new cross member to mount the tranny. I used the rear "hoop" for a 336 mounting it in a more traditional way with mounting brackets from Richard. I don't think you'd need to do all his mods. You should be able to figure out what you'd need and don't need.

[Mecky]

Here is the part, which caused trouble in my gearbox. Synchronizer of gears 1 & 2. In worst case, I want to take this part from the NG3 to repair my 395. Hard to believe that every single part is different, even though the gear ratios are the same.

Many rough edges caused jamming and prevented to shift gear 1 and 2.

[jbcollier]

Most transmissions/transaxles aren't fond of selecting second until they are warm.  It's just a trait of early synchromesh designs.  When the oil is cold, the 1-2 change has a definite two steps.  First you stop the synchro, then the gear.  It's so slow that gear has the time to change speed after the synchro pressure is reduced.  Thus it grinds.  You need to run the car easy for the first few miles/kilos and keep the revs sedate until the gear oil warms up.  Some cars are so bad you actually bypass second until it warms up.  Synthetic gear oils help a lot but are not a perfect cure.

I can't tell for sure from your photos but the synchro collar doesn't look that bad to me.  Some rounding of the "teeth" is not unusual and doesn't impair function.  Test your synchros.  Push and twist the synchro against its angled seat on the gear.  It should tighten and lock, and not go all the way on.  As the synchro wears, it travels further up the angled seat until it "bottoms" without gripping.

Lastly, I hate to keep repeating this, but NG transaxles are physically larger and have physically larger parts.  They do not interchanged with the 336/352/365/395 series.  Best to find another 395 transaxle for parts.  Even then there are different versions and some parts may not interchange.

[Mecky]

Hi jb,

I must admit that I ignored your warning and bought the NG3 gearbox from my post on Thursday. You are right that the gearboxes are very different. The two half-housings are quite similar, but the fifth gear cover and mechanism are completely different. The NG3's rear end is much bigger. The internals are also quite different as the bevel gear shaft has different toothing to my 395, thus most of the parts are not useable in the 395.

But I was lucky with the synchronizer part for gears 1 & 2, which got jammed and damaged in my gearbox. It's one of the very few parts that fit from the from the NG3 into my 395. Hence, I'm able to convert two gearboxes into one. I choose to use my original 395, because that always worked, I checked the parts and the housing matches my suspension supports. Also the NG3 housing is somehow twisted (at least not straight).

Here are some pics:

[jbcollier]

Wow, that's lucky indeed.  Time for a visit to the proctologist to check for horse-shoes in the nether regions