Chaps its looks like the polo I bought myself is a duff 'un.
Sounds like the gearbox is on it's way out (internal rattles) and both drive shafts are clunking a bit (CV joints to do).
Does any one know if I can use ANY 5 speed polo/seat gearbox (or any for a diesel....), or do they have a huge variety of differences. I need the same information for the driveshafts too. Its a 1.9 TDi W reg, and its the 'classic' (saloon shape).
Thanks for any assistance
Hugh

I don't know the answer to any of the questions.
but for spare parts try breakeryard.com, an agency for breakers in the UK. very good responce

My old Citroen XM had knocking CV joints , me , being tight took off each joint, cleaned and repacked them with fresh grease then refitted them on the opposite side they came off of with new gaiters, never heard any more knocking even after another 100,000 miles

This will be the mk 3 or 6n Polo then like this then?
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/search/used/cars/volkswagen/polo/postcode/ca66pu/radius/1500/body-type/saloon/sort/default/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2C new

I was looking at buying a Polo diesel early this year & the gearboxes on the 6n models seems to be a weak point, I was considering buying one needing fixed so I'd get it cheap & I'd know it was right once I'd sorted it. Bearings going seems to be the main problem & the bits aint mega money if it's what you need & can do the work:
VW Polo (6N) 5 speed manual 085 gearbox bearing oil seal rebuild kit 1994 / 2001

If you're fitting a fresh gearbox it needs to be the right type, VW has a fair few variants & I think it needs to be from a similar car like a 6n Polo hatch/Seat Ibiza or Caddy/Inca van. Petrol one may fit but the gearing will likely be too short & I'm not sure the bolt pattern will be the same as the 1.9 diesel is similar in build the the larger VW petrols which I dont think came fitted to this car. The starter motor position is a lot to do with it I think.

On the driveshafts the diameter of the inner CV joint matters, they have match between engine & box. VW ones tend to be as good as any though, just done the ones on my VW T4 van a month back as Rusty Nuts suggests (but didn't swap sides) & they're quiet now.

I ended up buying a mk4 or 9n TDI as one came up local with slight body damage & it has a better gearbox.

If you google about you'll find out a fair bit about them as the Polo has a strong following but I remember picking through a fair few forum threads to get reliable info.

Oh and it can get a bit confusing what is a mk2/3/4 etc as some folk reckon the facelifted mk2 from H reg on is a mk3 & some say it's a mk2f etc & they can get quite wound up about it! I dont care what they call it so long as you understand which is being discussed!

The polo saloon W reg was a 6N platform I believe...

The gearboxes did not get any better when they upgraded to the 6N2 platform....

My 6N2 GTI eats gearboxes... (or maybe its the way I drive)..

They tend to fail on the 5th gear support bushing or the diff which splits in half when the rivets fall out.

Last rebuilt cost me £400....

I know for a fact that for each of the 6N2 engine variants (1.4, 1.6 and TDI) there were slightly different gear ratios... Not uncommon for muppets to pick up a cheap 1.4 gearbox and stick it in a rare GTI only to find out that the car wont go above 50mph :p

Thanks chaps.
hillbillyracer - that link is the type of car I have.
I was hoping to find a cheap but OK box in the breakers so it can be in my garage if I have a sudden failure. It seems I will need to find one from the 'correct' model just to be sure, which is a pity as they are not that common. I guess I can rebuild the CV joints - kits on ebay aren't expensive, so I'll sort them first.
Thanks all
Hugh