Thanks Aidan, the mounting for the rear bush plate is damaged, so this could be a reason for the poor gear selection.Aidan wrote: ↑08 Jun 2026, 08:14 you need the correct rear linkage rod and the correct cup and the correct rear bush plate for a diesel set up, and the correct gearbox mount as well because the engine and gearbox sit a slightly different angles on the WBX and diesel (or other VW in-line4 engines) - without seeing your set up and having another one side by side to compare I can't really help further
I know many conversions were done without this attention to detail - 'you just bend it a bit and it will be fine' attitude, even garages who did the work professionally did that, as long as it worked when driven out they didn't really care - when the gearbox started popping out of top gear after a while (often having being sold on when the problem came to light) and box came in for a rebuild customers weren't happy to be told they needed a new gearset and the linkage sorted, and that it was entirely preventable
most important bit I was taught by Brickie (back in 2007) is the rear bush plate that is mounted on the gearbox should be pushed up when tightening the two bolts that hold it so the cup and ball are fully coupled, so that the ball cannot come out of the cup or the boot get pulled off the cup so it becomes lodged on top of it and acting as a spring/baulking the shift
I meant to get a pic yesterday, but was a tad annoyed, packed up and went home!
So, if that is the cause, I need to get the ball and cup to sit nice and close together?
Will have to fashion something to make sure that happens.
