Help! Do I need a new gearbox?

[Malc]

Hi everyone,

I bought my bus in August (a '71 Devon Sunlander Microbus) and we've been having a few troubles with the gearbox. At first I thought it might be the clutch cable, which was right at the end of its adjustment. So I changed that, and for a while it seemed better - or maybe that was just wishful thinking. Anyway it's getting worse, to begin with it was second gear that was difficult to get but now I really struggle to get first gear too sometimes - I've had a couple of really nasty moments in rush hour traffic, stuck in the middle of a junction, unable to get a useful gear. Seems to be worst when the gearbox is warm, after driving ten miles or so.

I read a couple of threads on the forum and it looked like it might be worth working on the linkage, so I changed the rear coupling, which looked pretty worn, and the shift plate, which also looked worn. But when I tried it, if anything it was worse, I just can't get first at all now, and second is probnably no better.

So am I a muppet and have I just made things worse because I'm rubbish at adjusting my shift plate? Or do you wise people out there have some other bright ideas for things to try? ...or is it just time for a new gearbox? All sugestions really welcome, I'm starting to get a bit downhearted with it all

 

[uber cool]

if it drives fine when in gear with no bad noises I would suggests its the clutch adjustment or gear linkage. Not much help I know but dont dash out and buy another gearbox just yet.

 

[robins]

where are you mate someone in the know might be close by a willing to help

 

[K@rlos]

if it drives fine when in gear with no bad noises I would suggests its the clutch adjustment or gear linkage. Not much help I know but dont dash out and buy another gearbox just yet.

I think uber cool is right in what he says, if it was the internals of the box, it was most likey create whining, scraping or grinding noise whist moving. Crawl under your van and inspect all the linkage bushes and check that all the bolts are done up tight. I'm not saying it's deffo not the box, but this is a simple and cheap place to start

 

[Malc]

Thanks a lot guys. I gave the shift plate adjustment another go this evening, and it seems to have really sorted it! I needed some encouragement to keep going, so thanks. I'd rung vw heritage for advice today, and they asked whether I was using a genuine vw shift plate or an aftermarket one. I wasn't sure exactly what the new one I'd bought was, so I carefully cleaned and put back my original shift plate which thankfully I'd kept. I made an attempt to adjust it, putting it in second then moving the base forward a little and pushing the shift plate to the left a bit, vaguely like the Haynes manual says. Then I tried it and it just worked, first was there again, and basically everything was much better - you can now go straight from first to second in one movement, which I don't think I've ever been able to do before!

I'll try it properly tomorrow driving it to work. Cheers guys. I'm in Sale, near Manchester, by the way. I'll try to put some details on my profile soon :mrgreen:

 

[uber cool]

Sounds promising. I'm only about 30 miles ago if you need more advice

 

[Malc]

It's been going fine the rest of this week, a lot better than it used to be. There's still room for improvement though, so I'm planning to replace the gear linkage front guide bush tomorrow. Not quite sure how you get at it yet, but I'm sure it'll become clear.. at some point..

If anyone's reading this and has done the front guide bush, any pointers would be very welcome!

 

[VWAIRCOOLED]

The front guide bush is straight forward to do in theory,you take out the gear lever assembley,then get underneath and you'll see there is a metal rod under where the lever goes about 2 foot long and joins onto the rest of the shift rod with a tight fitting sleeve joint.This bit is usually seized on with rust.What you have to do is take out the square headed grub screw and spray loads of penetrating oil (plus gas is good) and give it a gentle tap with a hammer on the sleeve.Then let it soak for a few hours and try and twist it apart.If not spray again and leave overnight and try again.I had to cut my sleeve off with an angle grinder by cutting a slit in it,then I welded it back up after.Once it's loose you slide the front rod forward and the rear backwards and you'll get it off,then it's simple to remove the old bush from the front end and fit the new one.Good luck!