VW GOLF 1.4 1999 S. Gearbox makes whining sound at idle. once clutch is pressed sound goes. car drives fine with no noise in 1st-4th gears. unable to select 5th gear.. just grinds and wont engage. VW Golf 1.4 1999 S

hydraulic clutch needs attention
replace slave cylinder fill with fluid and bleed the air out
replacing the clutch master cylinder would also be a good idea as at 1980 model will be worn out if not replaced before hand
if cable clutch , replace the cable

What?! Really! The noise goes when the clutch pedal is depressed! So the noise goes when the release bearing (throw-out bearing) is engage? So how would that be a release bearing/clutch problem? If it didn't make a noise until the clutch pedal was depressed, it would be the release bearing! In other words its the input shaft bearing and/or counter shaft bearing in the gearbox. Stop giving people bad advice

sounds like your clutch is going out, is it hard to put in gear with clutch all the way depressed? could also be the sinkronyzer going out, could be the gears in the transmission also going bad. need to check the fluid in the transmission.

COULD BE BEARINGS OR A BAD GEAR

This would be most likely the first noise of a wearing input shaft bearing. It will only get louder, and eventual failure of the bearing will probably mean catastrophic gearbox failure. It stops when you put your foot on the clutch because the gearbox stops spinning then, and it is quiet in 4th and 5th because there is no side loading (as there is in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd) on the failing bearing. It wouldn't matter what sort of car it was, the gearbox should be overhauled as soon as possible.

check your fluid level in the resivor if it is full you might need a new clutch , they do wear out . there is no adjustment just replacement .

sounds like syncro bearings in trans

i have a 1997 Golf GTI 2.0 liter engine the motor was replace and has 40,000 on it but the body has close to 150,000 on it everytime i shift 1st to 2nd somethings hitting the ground somewhere and secondly the intake maniflold has like a rattle in it or something of that sort and i dont know where its coming from its sounds like a missfire but im not 100% sure yet can someone help me and oo and 4th and 5th gear the clutch makes a biut of grinding noise like not loud and only when your fully in gear and the clutch is all the way out any ideas

it sounds like your clutch release bearing has or is colapsing.when you press the clutch the release bearing is under the most load hence the noise.gearbox out i,m afraid.Can you still get gears ok ?.Also the pedal box,s are prone to break on polo,s ,the symptom for that is like a squashy pedal and hard to get gears.if you can look up at the top of the clutch pedal where the cable mounts see if the bracket the cable fits in to is broken away at the top.

First check the oil level in the gearbox. The noise you hear sounds as though the pressure plate of the clutch is faulty. If every time you press the clutch pedel the noise goes away it points to the clutch. If this model has a manual clutch cable adjuster, try and adjust it to see if there is any inprovement.