Shift linkage bushings

[chloeroxymax]

While driving my 1990 cabby to work on December 22 (yeah, I had to work the Saturday before Christmas...) I discovered that I had only reverse and 3rd gears...

The shifter had been muddy since I got the car, so I wasn't really surprised that this happened. I am fairly certain that everything's fine with the transmission, but the linkage is the problem.

I read thru the Bentley section on this, and I thought it might be where the lever attaches to the rod, but once a friend and I got under there to look at the situation, we discovered that both busings on the relay shaft bracket are gone, and the bushing on the relay lever and shaft is missing as well. To top things off, it appears that the bushings in the relay shaft bracket have been gone for a while, and the bracket itself has gotten kind of reamed out. I suspect that only one of these bushings were in existence when I bought the car in October, and the third one went in December. It was always kind of hard to hit 1st and 2nd gears.

So here are the questions: does anyone have a source for these bushings (and potentially the relay shaft bracket) other than a Volkswagen dealer? Are those bushings replaceable by some stock part, or do I have to use the Volkswagen parts? For that matter, are the VW parts very expensive? Has anyone else done this job, and are there any gotchas to watch out for (like "don't remove this part, because you'll never get it back on").

I know I'll have to adjust the lever and potentially the shift rod where it's held by the shift rod clamp when it's all done, but any other help/info you guys can share would be great. Thanks in advance for all your help.

[triplewhite]

Here you go: http://www.germanautoparts.com/Volkswag ... sion/186/1

I replaced the whole deal on my car, it was a little fiddly at times, but well worth it. Shifts like new now!

[gull]

Alternatively, you could go here for new bushings *and* a linkage upgrade:
http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSale/ ... kage.shtml
I have one of their weighted short-shift kits in my Cabriolet and I'm very pleased with it.

[chloeroxymax]

The saga continues.

A buddy and I worked on this last night, and we got the bushings installed in the linkage mechanism, particularly where they were missing in the relay shaft bracket and the relay lever and shaft.

After we got all of this back together, now the relay lever and shaft are bumping into the exhaust when I try to engage 2nd gear, and the situation doesn't seem to be any better when trying to engage any other gears.

I've tried adjusting where the shift rod connects to the selector rod, but the problem seems to be that the transmission is wanting the selector shaft lever to turn farther.

I've read in the bentley that the detent plunger can sometimes need adjustment on older models... is 1990 an older model in their terminology? Is that what I need to adjust here?

I do seem to be able to manually engage a gear by turning the selector shaft lever by hand, and I have tested the clutch... when I do get 3rd gear, and engage the clutch, it chirps the tires and dies, so the clutch seems ok... as best I can determine, the problem is with gear selection, not the transmission itself of the clutch.

Any help would be greatly appreciated... hopefully I'll have it running again before Spring...

[Briano1234]

The saga continues.

A buddy and I worked on this last night, and we got the bushings installed in the linkage mechanism, particularly where they were missing in the relay shaft bracket and the relay lever and shaft.

After we got all of this back together, now the relay lever and shaft are bumping into the exhaust when I try to engage 2nd gear, and the situation doesn't seem to be any better when trying to engage any other gears.

I've tried adjusting where the shift rod connects to the selector rod, but the problem seems to be that the transmission is wanting the selector shaft lever to turn farther.

I've read in the bentley that the detent plunger can sometimes need adjustment on older models... is 1990 an older model in their terminology? Is that what I need to adjust here?

I do seem to be able to manually engage a gear by turning the selector shaft lever by hand, and I have tested the clutch... when I do get 3rd gear, and engage the clutch, it chirps the tires and dies, so the clutch seems ok... as best I can determine, the problem is with gear selection, not the transmission itself of the clutch.

Any help would be greatly appreciated... hopefully I'll have it running again before Spring...

Also did you put the shafts on wrong, it is possible...

Did you get a 4spd linkage kit, or a 5spd, as there is a big difference in the shafts lengths.

On the 4 crawler site he has how the things are to be connected. It may be that you have the one pivot on wrong. that would cause it to hit or bind.

http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSale/ ... troduction

[Calimus]

The first time I redid all the bushings on my rocco I ran into an issue of my relay lever ( a brand new ABD short shift version) hitting the tranny/engine. Being the total newb I was, I thought it wasn't ment for my rocco and broke out the die-grinder a cut off the end that contained the 65% throw reduction, leave the 35% & 50%. It wasn't long after I realized that the motor mounts where shot allowing the engine to roll back just enough to get in the way.

So, might it be the engien mounts allowing the engine to sag enough that it's putting the downpipe in the way?

[chloeroxymax]

When I bought the kit, I got all the replacement parts, the bushings and the shafts. It's definitely the 5 speed kit.

Since it was freakin' cold last night, we only did the bushings on the relay shaft bracket and the relay lever and shaft. I have the shafts to install later, but on inspection we couldn't find any play on those parts. So unless they were wrong to begin with, they should be OK.

I've checked the diagram on the site you mentioned, and it matches the diagram I've been working from in the Bentley. Briano, which pivot do you mean? I'm a little confused.

We did pull the shift lever out when we started the whole process (misread the Bentley). We put it right back in, but I'm beginning to wonder if I've got that misaligned as well. Could that be causing this much of a problem?

I'm suspecting that the engine mounts aren't the problem, as the PO replaced a mount before I got the car. I will be inspecting them next tho.

Thanks again for all your help. I know I'm gonna get this straightened out.

[bLac K aBriOleT89]

Did you replace the shift rod bearing? This one is most times ovrlooked and doesn't come with any kit. If this bushing is shot, it won't let you adjust the shifter in any way, trust me on this.

http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSale/ ... RodBearing

see this thread fo rreference:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1669

[chloeroxymax]

If I remember correctly, the mentioned bushing is completely gone. Could that really account for all that play in the linkage?

Is there another source than the linked site for the bushing? They indicate they won't be filling orders until 31 March. I don't mind to make the bushing if there's any way to do it.

[gull]

If I remember correctly, the mentioned bushing is completely gone. Could that really account for all that play in the linkage?

Probably. Without it the shift rod will tend to rack from side to side when you move the shifter left and right, instead of transferring that motion to the shift linkage.

Is there another source than the linked site for the bushing? They indicate they won't be filling orders until 31 March. I don't mind to make the bushing if there's any way to do it.

Don't know. I've seen them for A2s but not for A1s. If you want to try fabricating something it should be pretty simple -- it just has to fit the bracket and shift rod snugly enough to allow the rod to slide in and out and rotate, but not move much side-to-side.

[bLac K aBriOleT89]

If I remember correctly, the mentioned bushing is completely gone. Could that really account for all that play in the linkage?

Absolutely!

Is there another source than the linked site for the bushing?

Dealer, aprox $60.00

[chloeroxymax]

Just a quick update: I found a source for a kit with that shift rod bearing from this website:
http://www.importcarparts.com
It includes the bearing, as well as all the bushings in the other kit I got. Their part number is J1090-51114.

I ordered it last night, so I have yet to find out about the quality of the parts, but at least I'll be able to get the parts before March, and I won't have to buy the bracket.

I hope to install it on Wednesday or Thursday. I'll keep you posted.

[bLac K aBriOleT89]

Yep. The red one it is. You will have to drill out the two rivets on the old bracket and re-rivet it. Or you can just do what I did and put two screws and nuts. (make sure you use locking nuts)

That's a good price for the whole kit, first time I see that bushing included in a kit. And where did you get that website? Bookmarked for future reference.....
Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[vw_nick]

is this what you ordered:

http://catalog.importcarparts.com/topen ... Repair+Kit ?

That looks like it's the same thing as what I get from worldpac via work... I installed that kit on the scirocco kuklaki has. It was of good quality... as far as replacing the red / orange bushing, I recommend simply drilling out the rivets, removing the old bushing and taking the new bushing and cutting a slit down one end of it and you just snap it on over the shaft, and then bolt the bracket back together again with some machine screws. That way you don't have to disassemble the shift rod and no adjustments to that end should be necessary, just actual shift-lever pivot base adjustment.

[chloeroxymax]

Yeah, that listing is the kit I ordered.

As far as finding the site, I just kept googling til I found it.

Good idea on splitting the bushing. Looking at the clamp to shaft connection, I haven't been able to get it to separate yet.

We'll actually be doing the installation tomorrow night. I'll let you guys know. I really need to get it going before the weekend so I can get to my poker game Saturday night...