I have only had my T25 1982 watercooled diesel vw for a month and im a total novice in everything to do with it.
The gears are hell and im scared to drive it in case i damage them. Have to press down to get into first which sometimes ends up in reverse....at roundabouts....seconds not great very sticky, 4th to 3rd no chance. on the positive 3rd to 4th bloody marvellous. im looking for a good vw garage in the north east near newcastle (or some kind person to teach me!) is this too big a job for a novice to take on? ps i love my new (oldish) van. Please help.
I too am a novice, yet it sounds like you need your gearbox totally sorted. Best thing to do is contact Aiden on here. See when he can fit you in. http://www.aidantalbot.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; People on hear swear by him and he's a really nice guy. Next big job for me is to get my gearbox sent over to him.
Try lubricating the linkage ... the change rod passes through 2 plastic bushes and these wear, greasing may help in the short term. Then replace the gearbox oil https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/Ma ... x_specific (undo the fill plug BEFORE you undo the drain plug) and see what is held on the drain plug magnetic probe ... if there's an assortment of metallic parts you know you have an expensive job ahead, just a few fine grindings is normal.
Ian
The Hulley's Bus 1989 2.1DJ Trampspotter LPG courtesy of Steve @ Gasure
thanks for all your replies. i noticed that aidan does full gear box recon. seeing as its one of the first big problems going to get a diagnosis at the local garage. its a 4 speed gear box runnign like it has one.
As Ian said with these vans the first culprit often is the linkages rather than the gearbox itself. No point paying for a rebuild unless you get the linkage right first.
having to go under the gate to get first and sometimes getting reverse instead is a linkage adjustment issue, could be because there's wear in the system but most likely candidate is the forks on the front linkage - there are nylon tips to these which break up, there's now a repair kit for these available from Brickwerks as are all the other bushes and bits, get a copy of the Bentley manual (pdf on cd here or on t'internet) as there's a proper how to set it up methodology in there with pictures
3rd4th shift issue could be linkage could also be synchrohub is broken, common fault, eventually it'll get stuck in gear an oil change is always recommended will help with the baulky 1st to 2nd shift when cold and the magnet will give an indication of the overall state of the box
if youve got a 5 speed they take a while to get used to
