Gearbox problem

[ianf]

I've got a 1980 2.0 Aircooled camper with just over 20 000 miles on it. I lent it to a friend for a short trip and while he had it he started to battle to get it into gear and then a few miles later couldn't get it into gear at all. The gearshift was perfect before this happened as you would expect from a bus with such low mileage. I've now removed the box below the gear lever (shift linkage housing Haynes calls it) and disconnected the linkage at the gearbox.

Firstly can someone confirm wether one of the guides is missing in the linkage housing? I also have a Syncro and I've compared it to a Syncro spare I have and on the Syncro one there is an alloy guide on the LHS but not one on the Aircooled. It looks as if there should be a guide there?

With the linkage disconnected I tried to select the gears at the gearbox but the only gear I get is reverse and neutral. I've read quite a lot of old gearbox posts but none that I've found have similar symptoms. Help please!

Thanks
Ian

[ianf]

While I'm waiting for replies I thought some of you might like to see what the rest of it looks like.

[camper]

.On fitting the 2ltr cu rods to the diesel van gear change stick in the metal housing as can be seen in your picts.Requiredthe aluminium side bracket to be removed to get the rods to engage the four gears&reverse.So the metal housing for the 1980 Aircooled 4 spd without the aly side bracket is the same as mine .Which means its not missing for Aircooled gear change as diffrent to the syncro gear linkage which requires the bracket.Hope this may help..

[ianf]

Thanks that helps a lot. Well it clears up one question anyway! It makes sense as I also noticed that only one of the forks has the nylon sleeve on it and the dimensions are slightly different to the Syncro one. So now I just need to work out what is going on in the gearbox.

[camper]

It might help if you replace the gearbox gear change ball bracket for new.Jk supply linkage&parts for this.which i did then i got all the gears.

[ianf]

The vehicle has such low mileage and the gearshift was perfect before this happened so I don't think it is anything to do with the linkage. Also even with the linkage removed I can't select any gears by hand, except for reverse. I don't know much about gearboxes but I presume it must have something to do with the selectors or gearshift mechanism in the gearbox? From what I've read here if the relay lever is broken you would still be able to select 3rd and 4th?

[camper]

If the linkage is removed and you carnt select all the gears as you have discribed it does seem like a problem in the gearbox.Aidan who reconditions T25 gearboxes a 80/90 member is the person to advice you on this.

[ianf]

Yep I'm hoping Aidan will give his opinion. But it does seem likely that the box will have to come out. Not sure whether the gearshift housing can be removed from the gearbox without removing the whole box and even whether the problem is likely to be there. Anyway, thanks again for your help in ruling out any problem with the linkage box.

[icosahedron]

You are missing the nylon/rubber stop plate in the housing. It is held in place by the three holes in the side. That is why only one side of the fork has a nylon sleeve, the other side rides against the stop plate.

[ianf]

Thanks. The manual does show a pic with this part but it is impossible to make it out. I presume though that it is just a thin piece of nylon to stop the metal fork rubbing against the metal box? I've not seen any for sale anywhere but I'm sure I could just make one up. Anyone got a pic so I can estimate the thickness?