Passat TDi130 Gearbox whine + ABS problem!

[Welshwonder]

My parents recently bought a 2004 Passat Sport TDI 130. On the way home I noticed an unusual amount of gearbox noise, but I'd never driven a VW before so didn't take too much notice. I'm now convinced there's a fault as the noise is very slowly becoming more audible. At the moment is's a whine which appears to change a little if you move the gearstick slightly when driving.

This is a 6 speed box with less than 60K on it. Almost FSH on the car with no history of problems.

I've looked high and low on various VW forums, but can't find if there's a common fault on these boxes. Can anyone tell me what oil is required for the gearbox, and how much it needs?

Also, the ABS is activating when slowly coming to a stop. It happens just as the wheels come to a stop. Definite the ABS because I've pulled the fuse and the problem goes away. Front pads are a bit low, but no light on dash as yet...

Any advice would be very much appreciated, Mum+Dad are bitterly disappointed with an otherwise immaculate car!

[Tino]

Is the car running poor quality tyres?
While you are driving, if you put the car in neutral, does the noise go away, or remain the same?

[stewies_minion]

I bought that very same car years ago. Still have it in fact.

Gearbox whined no end. Just shy of £1k IIRC to have it refurbed.

Sorry

[Welshwonder]

The car does have cheapo tyres on the front, yes. I was wondering if these were setting off the ABS, but haven't got round to swapping them over yet!

As for a £1K refurb.... no ta! There are low mileage boxes being sold for £500 at many breakers yards, so I'll probably go for that option. I was kinda hoping there would be a nice magical fix for it! (Yeah, right...)

[Pablo16v]

My A4 had similar ABS issues but they only surfaced after I had an new ABS sensor fitted. I put the car back to be looked at and the problem was down to the sensor being out of alignment or something like that. Anyway it was a simple fix.

[Welshwonder]

It's had a new wheel bearing recently (to try and source the noises) so I suppose something could have happened to the ABS sensor... You don't know if it's a dealer job to line them up, or can I do it myself?