We have managed to kill the gearbox on our little 2004 Sirion Rally 2. No way to engage gears! Thought it was selector arms, but seems more serious.
Anyone know where to source a replacement gearbox- recon or used, what other vehicles the box was used in, and whether it can be replaced without a full engine removal (on the drive!)?
I’ve tried FB, eBay, BreakersLink, local gearbox specialist.
Thanks for any advice available.
Jon - 50+ enthusiast, constantly fixing my kids cars - here in the UK!!!
I would try to get to know someone who either owns or who works for a breaker yard. That way, you could obtain unusable gearboxes damaged from collisions or not from different Japanese brands or from brands who produced Japanese-designed gearboxes under license.
There should then be a good chance of matching up damaged bits with any possible candidates
So the good news is that the Gearbox on a Sirion Rally 2/4 is standard, so any 5-speed gearbox from a M101 sirion will fit and work. There are quite a few on eBay, and there are often breakers on the Dai facebook groups.
The bad news is that no, its an engine-out job. I say this from bitter experience - having changed the clutch in my M101 Rally2 there simply isn’t enough space between the inner wings to separate the engine and gearbox so its fairly major surgery. Having said that, hire an engine crane and its actually not a horrible job. Take the front bumper and crash bar off and it all just lifts out. You can do the clutch at the same time, plus replace the aux belt and tensioner which are impossible in situ too.
Where approx are you in the UK? I’m in south Hampshire and have done this before so know some/most of the pitfalls.
A couple of options:
either of those should work. If you are on the Daihatsu facebook groups its worth searching out a chap called Phillip Harris who has a massive stash of spares and likely can help - he’s down in Devon so depending on location it might be a courier job? if so, try Paisley Freight, who are happy to move grotty oily things like gearboxes.
Depending on the depth of your pockets, rebuild kits are available. Compact Motorsport in NZ can supply reinforced gears + rings and stuff to rebuild your existing box to better-then-new.
Anecdotal evidence is that you’ve lost 3rd gear. 1st and 2nd tend to be pretty tough, and 4th and 5th are high enough ratio that you’re unlikely to have put enough torque through them to break all the teeth off. 3rd is the weak link.
EDIT TO ADD:
if its to be believed, then a Perodua Myvi 1.3 (K3) used the same gearbox up to 2014 so thats another bunch of options on eBay
Thank you for the excellent information and links Granger.
I’m good with German and US cars, but less knowledgeable on Japanese cars - so your experience is very helpful indeed.
I’m based in West Sussex, and the vehicle is my son’s. He initially lost a couple of gears which I thought was linkage issue (remote diagnosis), but then lost all. Local mechanic has confirmed gearbox. I’ve not been able to diagnose myself as I live overseas, but back next week - I guess to fix another car
Thanks for the offer of assistance - I may take you up on that.
