VW Transporter gear selector problem

[ERU]

Ok my new VW went wrong today All the gears broke and upon further inspection it seems the gear selector has fallen to bits on the M4. It looks pretty easy to fix but i have no idea what the missing part looks like as i have never seen it before.

If i can get to the stage of picturing it all in my head and actually knowing what part i'm looking for i can cheaply source a new one. I am too poor to take this to a dealer now so it's scrapyard searching. I'm more than capable of doing the labour myself if i can get a blown-up diagram of original the area. I called out the RAC but he had no idea except agree that a bit was certainly missing. I will pop into a dealership with the photos tomorrow to see i they can help identify it and i'll stop the next person i see driving a VW Transporter for a look under the hood.

Does anyone know what part i'm missing? Does anyone know anything about VWs? I have the same engine as a VW Golf i think. Does anyone have those CDROMs with car engines in?



Zoomed out picture showing problem area:




More detail of area:




Zoomed in to area with missing part:




Sideview of missing part with camera held side on:




Taken from floor area so a little out of perspective:

[ERU]

More information as this has become a base to store all my internet searching

Make: VW Transporter 1998
Model/type: 800 special TD SWB
Wheelplan: 2-axle-rigid body
Taxation class: Private/Light Goods (PLG)
Fuel type: Heavy oil
Cylinder capacity: 1896 CC


~A friend has send me some part diagrams that i think show the correct parts that i need. All looks ok.

My main problem now is how to rethread or remove the broken bolt It looks very deep.

[ERU]

Ok sorted now i think.

I went from Cardiff to Bristol to get the part as ALL the local dealers/scrapyards didn't have it. VW ftw!. Cardiff said it was 10-days wait from Germany. So i paid £20 to the stealership for what appears to be a small bit of metal with a plastic ball-joint in it! I had no other choice.

I then proceeded to TRY to fit the 'ball' shown on the left of the picture into 'shoulder' on the new £20 part. JESUS what a job it was! I have done alot of things on cars in the past and this topped them all in frustration. No matter what i tried to do they just would not fit togther. I tried clamps, levers (which may have bent the attached part), hammers, etc to no avail. The amount of force required to get it to go in was insane.

In the end me and madocks (who came over on day 2 to help) took the entire gear stick off, took it to a local garage, asked to use their heavy duty vice and with the correct angle/force it took a matter of seconds to pop in.
The wierd thing was i previously asked a VW mechanic how he did one a few weeks ago and he said "it was a bitch of a job but i just levered it off the engine block with a metal bar". My effort with a shovel didnt come close and eventually broke a T-section on the water res. How the hell he did this and avoided major damage is a mystrey. Someone must be driving about with a damaged/broken gear selector or he was VERY lucky.

Morale of the ordeal: 1> It is better to fix stuff yourself if you have the time as a mechanic will probably fook it more. 2> Whenever doing stuff on cars it is easier to take the thing to pieces in the long run.

[joe publik]

I've just had exactly the same problem, but I can help you out. I looked at your photographs and the problem is clearly visible. On the end of the selector linkage there is a bar with a balljoint on either end. As you see in the picture, the right hand one is not sitting on a socket. What happened is that the socket has disintegrated and so the whole gear shift assembly has no longer an anchorage point to hold it all in place. I just bought a new socket from VW at a cost of £1.13. Its a bastard to fit into the holding bracket. If you remove the bracket and place it in a vice, heat it up with a gas torch and when its really hot, force the new socket into the bracket with a whack from a rubber hammer. Refit the bracket and forcefully push the ball joint assembly into the socket. Job done. HOWEVER, if you (like me) have removed the entire gearstick assembly from the linkage arm, you're gonna spend the rest of your life trying to refit it properly. Hope this helps.

[pauldarkside]

Hope this helps.

Better late than never eh?

[Andreus]

Better late than never eh?

I just experienced the same thing but forunately within a few miles of home so managed to limp back.

Done a bit of research and had a look today. All it needs is the 3 piece bush(1 x open socket and 2 x ball bushes) replacement kit from VAG for about £6. You can get from ebay for £6 to £9. The thing is its near impossible to put them on in situ so best spend the time climbing underneath and removing the linkages and then fitting the bushes by using a vice, then simple refit in reverse order of removing. There are a few blogs around for it. While I am at it I am going to do the short shift mod on the pivot bracket by drilling a hole 35mm in from original and refit there. looking forward to the results.

[Andreus]

Oh well...so much for that. I have the ball joint connections on the pivot bar so just went for replacing the plastic ball soucket bush.After removing the whole selector bar we actually managed to manipulate the bush into the metal bracket with a non sharp or pointy tool it went in fairly easy with gentle manipulation..done job..no need for vice...then and a swift hit with pressure on the T bar and the ball is in the socket and ready to fit. No vice, no press, no problem!

[surferireland]

Hi there, sorry to butt in I am looking for some advice and you guys seem knowledgeable. I have a 2.5 T5 174bhp transporter, I recently had a new clutch flywheel and gearbox fitted (secondhand gearbox) after about an hours driving the gear selection squeaks and gets very stiff, almost to the point where you can no longer change gear., once it cools again its back to normal. Anyone any ideas? thanks and sorry as I am new on this forum.

[GoNz0]

you got sold a duff gearbox, as simple as that.

[surferireland]

Thanks for the post, yes quite possible, I think it came out of a 130 2.5 and my one is the 174bhp 2.5 I was wondering if that made a difference. I still have the original box that was removed from my van, it wouldnt go into 4th and was noisy in 5th and 6th, I was thinking about getting it reconditioned / rebuilt?

[MadSam Selby]

Oh well...so much for that. I have the ball joint connections on the pivot bar so just went for replacing the plastic ball soucket bush.After removing the whole selector bar we actually managed to manipulate the bush into the metal bracket with a non sharp or pointy tool it went in fairly easy with gentle manipulation..done job..no need for vice...then and a swift hit with pressure on the T bar and the ball is in the socket and ready to fit. No vice, no press, no problem!

I've just had the same problem and I can't get the ball joint into the socket :-(