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Gear change slop


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So, now I've finally (touch wood) got my VR6 running properly I thought Id turn my attention to the next bug bear:

The gear change has always been sloppy. Front to back is okay (though a little longer than I'd like ) but side to side has always been really vague. It's not that it miss-shifts, you can find all the gears fine, but even when in a gear (say first) there is still well over 4 cm of slop either side. Just spoils the feel of shifting.

I had a look at the linkage under the bonnet yesterday while my girlfriend (long suffering) sat in the car and move the shifter side to side while in 1st gear. I nothiced that the whole linkage had a huge amnount of play but that (fortunately) the actual gearbox lever remained nice and static.

From this I concluded that the actual shifter in the car is fine and that the gearbox is fine too. It's just the side to side linkage between the cable and the gearbox that seems loose. Has anyone had to replace this mechaism before. What parts would I need?

Cheers,

ip

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Yeah, I gather the mk4 shifter is a better unit. However, if it's cheap, I think I'll try getting the existing one working to spec for now. My mate has the 16v GTI which I believe has the same assembly and it works pretty well (much better than mine at least).

I htink it is the top of the box selstor that has worn on mine. Probably a trip to the stealer is required but I was wondering if it is a common issue and if anyone new what part/s are affected.

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Oh, yeah. sorry about that. Clearly started this thread in the wrong place. My Mistake.

Thanks for the link, I've looked into this already and the issue is definitely not one of cable shift alignment. It's bang on. The problem is simply the amount of play in the mechaism that converts the output of the side to side cable into the up/down movement required on the gearbox selctor rod itself (sticks out of top of gearbox). Ithere is about 1-2cm of free play in the mechanism before the selector rod actually moves.

Since nobody else seems to have reported this, perhaps I've just got unlikely and these things don't usually fail.

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Via the magic of vagcat.com I have worked out that the two worn peices in question are the relay lever (1H0711202A) and the driver (1J0711256). I have a spare driver already (initially thought I might knock up a side-to-side reduction mod a la http://www.corrado-club.ca/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5988) so just need to get the relay lever from the stealership.

I'll see how it goes and with a bit of luck I might not feel I need to bother with the side-to-side mod. Saying that, I'll probably give it a shot anyway (cause I love to modify things and the shifter itself probably need as new bushings too).

Thanks to those who have contributed.

ip

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Fitted new parts last night. Shifter feels much better. Still a bit of slop but the vaguness has gone. For about £20 of parts I'd recommend giving this a shot. Only took 10 mins to fit.

Saying that, I'm defo going to have a shot at some type of short shift arrangement. Lots of useful info here: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2857147

After all, what's the point of all this power if it's a pain to unleash it.....

Cheers,

ip

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  • 1 month later...

ive got the exact same problem ..just a little while ago my slave and master cylidner gave in ..after relacing them the gearbox went all sloppy ..ive traced it back to the selector but i dont know what t is from there ..dont suppose you could run through what you did with a few pics please mate

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Afraid I can't do pics this weekend (been raining solid) but I can try to do a description. For some pics of a similar job, see the link that I posted on June the 20th.

Essentially you have the shift driver which is part no 1J0711256. This connects directly to the cable output from the cable shifter. Get somone to sit in the car and change gears while you look under the bonnet. You'll see it easy.

And, you have the relay which converts the forward backword motion into an up/down motion. It's part number is 1H0711202A.

Both of these had worn out on mine which left a sloppy feeling in the shift. Replaing was REALLY easy and took maybe 10 mins including set up (just one bolt). I don't think you could go wrong. Notes on how to adjust are included in the link I alrteady referred to.

To get the driver off, just unclip the cable and undo the bolt (13mm I think) that attaches it to the gear box. The relay driver should then slide off. Reinstalling really is the opposite of dismantling. Get the new realy driver on first then the driver itself. Tighten the 13mm bolt so the assembly is roughly in the same position as before and then do tweaking to get the position just right.

Difficult to describe and photos wouldn't help much to be honest. Just dive in and have a go. Really was an easy job.

To furteher improve things, I bought a new gaiter and shift knob from ebay and cut 2cm off the top of the shifter. The new knob has to be one which attaches without a thread (since you'll have cut most of that off). Not a reall short shifter but feels much better than standard.

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  • 2 weeks later...

If you can get the B&M shifter...its outstanding with a positive stop built in to the shifter assembly, stainless and anodized aluminum contruction with delrin replacement pivot pin bushings which firm everything up a lot. I also further reduced slop by lightly pinching with pliers the small groove that the small ball with the boot on the bottom of the shifter sits in. http://www.customcarscentral.com/bnm45106-vw-golf-gti-iii--93-99-.html

It is my favorite transmission mod second only to my Flipside Customs clutch fork. My original folded 30 degrees and caused me to lose the teeth on 3rd gear. http://www.flipsidecustoms.com/Gallery/Products/Machined/Machined.htm

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  • 2 months later...

ip im just a little confused here

you quote the relay driver as part no(1H0711202A)

and the driver (1J0711256).

but when i used vag cat the relay driver shows as part 1J0711256

and the driver as 1H0711188B

and the part no 1H0711202A shows up as a nut square

can you please check this out when you get some time and just help meto clear things out

thanx for your help

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I see what the problem is here mate. You're reading the part number from below the description (for example, 1H0711188B is written below driver). If you look carefully though you'll see that there are shaded boxes and that the description (relay driver for example) actually refers to the part number above it. Hope that makes sense.

Rest assured, I used these numbers to order the parts from VW and I got the right bits.

ip

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