Club 80-90 Forums

Vehicle: 1989 T25 Transporter van
Model: 1.7D, 5-speed box.

Problem: My gearshifter keeps [increasingly so] getting jammed, when shifting for reverse. It jams before it engages reverse, and is a hell of a job to release [increasingly so]. I use the great Baz James as my mechanic, and he has advised that I obtain a replacement box for the gearshift assembly. I need to obtain the whole assembly. I have an identical van which I scrapped last year, which is now with Mike of Westfaliashop.co.uk but I have not been able to get a response from him by email or phone yet, still trying!

The problem is definitely at the front, not the gearbox itself, I've had this checked by Baz. He also greased up the front end mechanism / linkage, so it's not the old grease problem. I also have a problem finding the position to shift into 2nd gear sometimes too. This is the slot it's jamming in when it jams going for reverse. If you know any other causes or fixes for this, I would love to hear them!

Any thoughts on where I can get hold of one real quick? The van is my daily drive and surf bus, a camper conversion [by yours truly], so I need to keep her on the road as much as possible, and have to head up to Newquay for a week next week.

Any advice or help welcome!

try syncrospares, at collumpton, CJ may have one, he breaks normal vans as well as syncros, im told!

thanks. will phone him tomorrow.

Blue,
in the bottom of the 3 sided metal 'box' under the floor beneath the gear stick, there are two alloy shift guides, you can see the two bolt heads under the box that hold em in, one of these was badly worn on mine, the angles on one side were almost worn away, it was about a tenner for the new one from VW and made a big difference to the 'sticky' gearshift feel, much more positive after. might be worth checking mate, bit fiddly to get out and check tho!

thanks mate, will take a peek at it over the weekend. not much else to do in this weather : )

had a prob like this on mine when i bought it. the problem was at the front (so i thought) but alas no. where the shaft goes into the 'box, bout 5 inch down there is a ball joint. mine was like a knee joint over extending, therefore jamming up. you can adjust this but its only a temp measure. mine is ok now, good luck! ( i wouldnt splash out on the 'box till i had gone through the motions with everything else )

thanks! your reply makes me nervous, but it's all important info. important to know. time will tell.

Sounds more like the gate/detent box under the cab, and the tangs on the bottom of the lever that interact with it... but that cup and ball joint at the rear is alwasy worth dropping out, cleaning and greasing and new boot sticking over it.

Ther is a fairly comprehensive rundown of the whole gearshift in the Wiki , with part nos, points to watch etc. - did ya know?

If you haven't suggest you read it!

Gearbox_Clutch_CVJs_Driveshafts
Manual specific

* clutch slave replacement
* Gear change reluctance
* Clutch pedal not disengaging
* Sloppy gear change improving
* Gearlever pivot repair kit - fitting
* Removing the clutch
* Re-installing clutch
* Short shifter gearchange kit
* Transaxle Code
* Diesel Uprated Clutch

kinda reassuring, your reply. the wiki? yep. read it maybe four times today! still feel it's not in there somehow. I've driven a T25 1989 1.7d since 1996, this is my second. determined to crack this one. it's a new one to me. but still sure it's a front end problem, as does my mechanic.

[img:480:640]https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/images/RepKit01_12.JPG[/img]
The change-gate and detent mechanism... and those nylon buffers.

Rest of the front-end stuff


The pin and bush for the first section of selector rod, which wears, also comes in the kit for the cab-floor ball-joint, should you do that as well.

Does the lever require a good push down to engage reverse, against the spring?

If not, you probably need the kit in the picture-article... 'cos its dropping down below the detents gates when it shouldn't. Mine did that, as the nylon tangs fron the ball joint in floor had all become mangled up by the reverse spring... even though a Syncro think much the same idea.

think the set up in those pics relate to the 4-speed, Harry, Blue's is a 5-speed, which will have the guide blocks, and not those plastic bits you mention

the front bushes can be seen quitte easily with the spare wheel carrier dropped. get someone to waggle the gearstick whilst you look at the shaft going backwards. it should move the shaft the amount it is moving above if you understand?? if the bushings are shot then the pivot bolt wont pinch onto the shaft and let it revolve enough to allow the correct selection at the rear. bushings are 60p each (from vw)
mine had this trouble AND the rear 'knee' joint trouble so start searching man! good luck

when you think how many parts there are involved in the link between your hand moving the stick, and the gearbox lever, and the fact that most of our vans are 20yrs old +, no wonder we have sloppy gearchanges, a bit too much play in each part all adding up, and neglect from prev. owners, it seems one of the things that a lot of owners just put up with, or think is just a quirk of the van, until it gets really bad, or packs up altogether, some good useful info being posted on the subject tho

cheers guys. much useful info indeed!

think the set up in those pics relate to the 4-speed, Harry, Blue's is a 5-speed, which will have the guide blocks, and not those plastic bits you mention Wink

No, that's a syncro, 5 speed

The plastic bits are normally moulded in-situ onto the lever's fork legs, but wear, sometimes the whole fork-end breaks off.

5-speed different in detail, yes, but much the same idea...

Anyone got a decent photo of the 5-speed selection-gate box? We need one for the Wiki... (send it to moderator@club80-90syncro.co.uk if you have please)

I'll upload a better closeup of the Syncro setup down there in the meantime