Broken gearstick causes and emergency repair

[jebiga41]

As this is my third time repairing my gearstick and I have come to the aid of two others whom this has happened to and inconjunction with the wise words of our own resident guru of all things transmission related (aidan talbot) I feel I am somewhat qualified to explain the causes of this phenomenon. However if I am incorrect on any of the following points please feel free to correct me as I'm sure ye will.
From what I can discern my gearsticks have broken due to the following causes and knock on effects
A the nylon guide on the g, reverse, 1st and 2nd side having worn or delaminated leaving the metal finger on the selector bar into the selection box
B tension in the selector transmission
C that Vw when putting in the grub screw that holds on the collar on the gearstick did not drill a pilot hole but selftapped it in thus stressing the metal
D the gearstick is made out of an alloy pipe (doesn't take welding well)
E in my case the introduction of a shortshiter kit, which is brilliant but seems to multiply the stresses on C by moving the collar up an inch. However GEARSTICKS DO BREAK WITHOUT SHORTSHIFTERS so don't feel smug if you don't have one

Obviously prevention is better than cure my recommendations would be get a solid gearstick, rectify the absence of the nylon guide according to Aidan the front selector bars are available from classic now and mr Baxter has solid gearsticks.
Luckily I have a spare gearstick so am now in the process of changing it and will have to lose the shortshifter kit until I get a solid stick and am looking at ordering a new selector rod for the moment a good wrap of electrical tape will have to do as a replacement for my worn guide.

EMERGENCY REPAIR
If you are unfortunate to have your gearstick brake unless you can fix it your van will become undrivable and immobile!!!! (last happened to me half way up a mountain on axle twisters on a downhill 45 degree slope!!) a cheap £3 poker will get you out of a mess just cut off the end and file it slightly and wedge it in, you can drive easily on this for weeks if necessary. They are an essential piece of kit and should be kept in the van IMHO my current one is natsha the previous one Josephine helped a german girl get home in Syncro 25 and matalida currently lives with sandwedge whose gearstick broke in Devon ! Be prepared!!!
Hope this is of help will post some pics when I have a chance

[peasant]

From my own experience gearsticks even break when the linkage and all the gubbins are still poifect. It's the bloody grubscrew that does the damage. Looking at the break edges on my stick revealed that the gearstick didn't so much break as progressively split outward from the grubscrew hole ...until it finally broke off.

That also explains why my shifting moves were feeling more and more wooly coming up to the break as well as the gear stick movement getting longer and longer ...it basically started to give for a few weeks before it broke.

German lesson for the day: "Sollbruchstelle" = predetermined breaking point

[jebiga41]

Yep those are the symptoms all right kinda loosens up a bit and then comes off in your hand

[Crankin-wagen]

Yep those are the symptoms all right kinda loosens up a bit and then comes off in your hand

You were told not to play with it while you were driving............

[eatcustard]

Moral of the story is


Get an automatic

[footstuck]

I did the same job on mine.
I had convinced my self that I had messed it up, holding on to it when off-road.
This gives me an out!
I found a long bolt (10.9 tensile) that was a perfect fit, and gave support 70mm either side of the fracture point.
I deep 'Veed' the ends of the broken shaft and welded through them to the bolt,
and then ran a capping weld 'Proud' and finished it back to original size with a file.
Finally I used a countersunk bit to replace the collar locating indent (for the grub screw).

If any one has a vernia gauge or can offer a snug fit internal diameter measurement,
This with the use of some epoxy Fast Set, is a get u home fix.

[silverbullet]

Good repair Nick
I think the tube used by VW is a close-toleranced 9mm bore seamless tube. The problem comes when trying to force/hammer something straight into the bent tube ends "in the field" so you need a small vice bolted down (mine's in a drawer waiting to be fitted)
I don't know what all this talk of unweldable gearlevers is about - I suspect inadequate removal of the zinc plating and not enough current. You need a decent welding set. The tube is welded to the forged plunger housing after al...

[footstuck]

Didn't read the posts before welding mine, just Vee'd and used the stainless reel that was in the mig).
Ignorance is bliss.
Went in with the strengthener as far as the bend in the bottom part, and the bolt I used was
a 1Z bell housing bolt trimed down (Vento I think) and a perfikt fit
Will look to see if there is another lurking about for diamensions.

[silverbullet]

Adequate amperage and a good earth is bliss!

[jebiga41]

I don't know what all this talk of unweldable gearlevers is about - I suspect inadequate removal of the zinc plating and not enough current. You need a decent welding set. The tube is welded to the forged plunger housing after al...

Mine was mig'd lots of gas and amps and is a decent setup, dad got it through work. Maybe my weldings not up to much but welds seemed ok, plug welded the bottom half of a piece of 10.9 steel in but only wedged in the top piece on the bend, in hindsight should have plug welded that piece but had ran a capping weld 'Proud' and finished it back to original size with a file as per footstuck. However it snapped again on the break the material itself is not steel but a kind of alloy which although I thought took the weld didn't if you look at the pics below you can see where it just tore off

[..lee..]

what is the internal dia on the lever then, thinks its wize to carry a repair rod in case of emergency.

[peasant]

what is the internal dia on the lever then, thinks its wize to carry a repair rod in case of emergency.

Any old, long M10 bolt with the head cut off will do.
Problem is though that the upper part of the lever will still turn and twist and when shifting forward your hand will hit the dashboard before the gear is engaged.

You're better off sticking some semi-long M10 bit into the bottom part of the lever and shifting somewhat nearer to the floor ...only then you will discover how much force is actually need to move the linkage.

Emergency repair is good to get you moving ....real driving only works with a properly repaired lever

[silverbullet]

I'd be the last person to knock another man's engineering efforts - I've done my fair share of "that looks like a good job" repairs snap off at the first test! Here's a few thoughts:
The gearlevers will be some kind of an alloyed steel tube (all steel is alloyed), but given the nature of the repair failures maybe the choice of steel for the repair piece is important? Using a high-tensile bolt will change the composition of the weld, so further failure at the heat affected zone could be a symptom. It will primarily introduce a lot of carbon into the weld which will tend to make it brittle if the tube is low-carbon.
I don't think the levers were originally heat-treated, otherwise they wouldn't bend. They'd be slightly springy but not ductile, which is how they fail in the first place.
Insufficient current will also result in poor weld penetration and the sections being joined aren't anything like welding equal gauge body panels. The tube is 2mm thick and long, the pin is around 10mm dia. There's a lot of heat soak going on which is to the detriment of the weld quality, if enough current isn't applied and the whole thing can't get good and hot during welding. There's hot then there's HOT
I'd go for a low-carbon, low-tensile mild steel pin and then pre-heat with a gas lamp before welding and if you feel the need, get it red-hot afterward to temper the join for good measure, but it shouldn't really be necessary.
Just a thought.

[footstuck]

Just a thought, but you Must use loads of CO2 when welding a tube.
The oxygen contained within the hollow section will or may burn the weld internaly.
So, fill it with CO2 before blinding it with the filling bolt.
Also, I would only make one initial pass around the joint and pick up both pieces with
the weld. Once sealed you should have no more oxy ingress from behind the weld.
Plus, because of the heat and contour of tube,
the CO2 falls away from the top of the weld,
which is where you need it most. So you may have burnt the joint during welding.
Using MAX CO2 for such a small weld costa nufing, so keep the trigger
half pulled so you keep protecting the weld untill you are sure it is cooled below combustable temp.
All I know for sure is that mine is still attatched, after some severe
pounding. I mean well, and love my truck, but I am a bit heavey handed.
Think this comes from HGV background.
PS. My welding ticket ran out 26 years ago.

[peasant]

I know nothing of welding, but I know from my own repair (carried out by a chap down at the garage) that using a (cheapo, mild steel) M10 screw (originally meant for screwing fence posts together) fits so snugly into the tube that the weld is only really needed to stop the upper half of the tube from twisting. You don't really need a massive, structural weld in that case. Just a few tacks were enough in my case (or at least they have been for the last few months)