Gear problem..

[VWKat]

HI

My van goes into 1St and reverse but it has suddenly developed a problem with 3Rd gear especially as when it's in 3Rd it doesn't want to come out, then the gear lever feels weird and doesn't want to engage in any other gears unless I mess around with the gear stick, then it goes back to normal. It doesn't seem to be selecting 2 nd or 4th at all. As far as I know the gear box is OK, never had a problem with it, oil has been changed last year so I think it's the gear linkage but what part? I cleaned off all the old grease and regreased the linkage and bushes and onion, including new boots but there is some play in the bushes but not too much. I have checked that the aligning holes on the gear stick are correct. Does anyone have any solutions? I guess I'm going to have to remove the linkage and replace all the bushes?..not looking forward to that..

[kevtherev]

has the selector rod been bent or messed with?
I had this when I dropped the engine out and forgot to disconnect the selector rod, as the gearbox came down it very slightly kinked the rod and I lost gears

[Ralf85]

Could be as simple as the nylon parts at the bottom of the gear lever. Mine stated breaking up and then no gears. Common problem. Brickwerks sell the gear lever repair kit. Fingers crossed this is all it is.

[VWKat]

I'm just wondering how I could tell if it's the gear lever? I thought about putting the rear on axel stands and trying to engage all gears from the rear manually, I suppose that would tell me if it's the gearbox at fault. The rear bushes have a little play in them but I don't think that would stop total gear loss. Would a when onion possibly be the cause? When I replaced the boot, it didn't look damaged or worn from what I could tell.. I m thinking that it could be a gearbox problem. Ouch..

[richie-b]

I had this problem previously where the bracket holding the gear selector linkage rod on the side of the gearbox dropped a little bit because of loose bolts. This caused the nylon ball on the end of the gearbox selector to stick in the socket when it had been put into gear. An easy fix if that is the issue. Oh and it was on a DH gearbox.
Good luck

[CovKid]

Ball and socket can also part company (at least partially). Before I actually replaced mine I had the two held together with zip ties - lasted 2-3 years like that. The other schoolboy error is having the bracket on the gearbox bolted to the wrong side of the flange its on.

[VWKat]

It is the gearbox. I have luckily managed to get myself a second hand one. New clutch kit ready to go in but I have been told to get a new spigot/crankshaft/flywheel bearing. The bearing that the gearbox shaft fits into on the engine. Does anyone know where I can get hold of one of those? I have found you can buy the deisel variety but I cannot find 1.9 petrol version, or are they the same? Also, can I replace this while the engine is in the van?.. thanks..

[silverbullet]

You will need to remove the flywheel to get good access to the spigot bearing (caged needle roller bearing) in the crankshaft.
Removal is a case of carefully using a punch to collapse the (thin) outer race but its a one-way road!
I would expect all flat-four petrol spigot bearings to be the same. I dont have a part number to hand.

Sent from my Atari 7800

[ChrisTriple]

Is this what your after?

https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/t3-wbx-spi ... aring.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[silverbullet]

PS unless the bearing (or you old gearbox input shaft) is obviously damaged, I would leave well alone. Spray a load of penetrating oil into it to wash out any dust/fretting/dry grease, dry it out as best you can and re-grease.
Don't over-pack the bearing or you will struggle to get the input shaft plugged in, it will act like a hydraulic spring

Sent from my Atari 7800

[VWKat]

Thanks, I've ordered one I found on eBay from vw heritage.

My dad recons it's the right thing to do, as I have the gearbox, clutch and flywheel off, although I have seen some utube clips of people using a load of grease and punching it out, so I think we will try that but to be honest I would prefer to leave it, it doesn't look damaged, neither is the spigot shaft. But as my previous gearbox has broken down, we think it's the 3Rd and 4th gear hub, Dad thinks that a worn bearing can be the cause of many gearbox problems...

Oh and I don't think using EP 80 90 gearbox oil helped also, apparently it has some additives that could damage parts, as I now have realised I should be using SAE 80 oil. Silly mistake to make!

[silverbullet]

FWIW... on a conventional front engine, rwd "direct 4th" gearbox the condition of the spigot bearing is important in maintaining correct alignment of the input shaft and the constant pinion gear.

However in the case of transaxles such as the VW 091/094 the input shaft is floating and its purpose is to only support the clutch disc and transmit torque.

No harm in renewing the bearing though, the hydraulic/grease method works better with solid spigot bushes IME. Its a messy job and protect your eyes!

Sent from my Atari 7800

[VWKat]

I will give it a go once the new bearing arrives. What the xxxx are solid spigot bushes? Blimey! I saw some people using the grease and hammer method using what looked like a very similar bearing. I will be using the old spigot to hopefully tap the bearing out. Thanks for any helpful advice.

[silverbullet]

Some engines use a solid bronze bush instead of a needle roller bearing for the spigot.

Sent from my Atari 7800

[VWKat]

Hello,

We tried the grease method to remove the spigot bearing but it didn't work, so I didn't want to continue in case we damaged anything, the bearing seemed fairly OK anyway, the new one also had some play, so we left it in.

Just thought this might interest someone, but trying to dismantle the old gearbox we found that we needed special VW tools. So anyway, interested to see what exactly went wrong with the gear box, so far we have removed the side adjusters. The actual tool needed is:

Weddle_TransTools.jpg

But this and the inside ring tool needed is around $500 delivered! ouch.

It removes the side adjusters, like so:

vw gearbox.jpg

So we made our own tool: see below

side adjuster tool.jpg

and in doing so, we have so far removed the Pinion in my old gear box and we also tightened up the pinion shaft on the new/second hand gear box.

Thanks..bye for now.