snowytop

Just thinking about that bolt coming loose, if it came partially out do you think it could hit something to prevent reverse being selected? Or if it was loose would you not be able to engage the other gears? Any thoughts?

Thanks Chris, There doesn't really seem to be much slack in the gearlever and they all engage easily when driving. To check the movement I put my hand on the mechanism from under the bonnet while someone operated the gearlever, everything went well untill reverse, the mechanism moves into position but appears to be stopped JUST short of engaging the gear, so I pushed on it but it's solid - it feels as if it's either up against something, or not slotting into something. I suppose it can only hit something internally which is why i was wondering about removing the turret, - do you think there is anything on that turret that could cause this? On a brighter note the lads in work think its hilarious, the car park is on a very shallow slope, so I drive up the slope and then roll backwards at a snails pace into any space i can reach - within the lines or not. It's seriously embarrasing but you have to laugh don't you.

yes i see what you mean now,it won't engage manually from under the bonnet so that must rule the cables out - good thinking. I'll remove the switch and give it a try without it, keeping my fingers and everything else crossed of course, when I'm off work next week, because I don't get home till late, but if it is something else entirely would it be worth investigating the selector shaft and mechanism? Do you think thats a likely prospect or are we talking deeper in the box? Is it possible to remove the selector assembly from the gearbox in situ.? There doesn't seem to be enough room, but I do understand that sometimes it can be deceiving. Do you have any idea what could be removed to improve access. I thought I'd remove the battery tray to give better access, but that idea didn't turn out quite as I planned, lol. there seems to be a mounting bolted to it. Thanks.

Hi Brian and Chris I've tried out some of the suggestions you made but haven't had much luck yet. The Reversing lights only come on when the gear is actually selected, they don't light at all when the selection attempts fail. Could the switch still be faulty? I haven't been able to check the oil level yet. As far as I can tell the clutch doesn't appear to be dragging, but even with the engine stopped it is still difficult to select -possibly 8 or 10 attempts needed running through the forward gears first. I've taken out the centre console and the cables are secure at that end, but I can't see hardly anything at the engine side - it's all by feel. Is there any way of gaining better access? I've also had a go at adjusting the cables (without the proper tool) hoping that might cure it, but guess what, I can't tell any difference Any further thoughts or suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks.

Hi Brian Thanks for the reply I would never have considered looking at the reversing light switch, I know the lights did work when it engaged gear (seen it at night) but i'll check for definite tomorrow if it still is. Any thoughts why it seems to engage easier when you turn the engine off, move through the forward gears and then try for reverse? I'm completely at a loss what to do next. thanks for your help.

1997 1.9 diesel 5 speed Hi can any one help please? The old Gals decided she doesn't want to go into reverse. All the forwaed gears are fine, they select fine and drive fine, and if you're lucky enough to get reverse it selects and drives fine as well. Most of the time when trying to selct reverse the stick stops short of engaging. (no problem with the lifting button) you have to keep running through the forward gears and eventually it might select reverse. Under the bonnet - when it doesn't want to go in , you can't select it by pushing by hand , its solid. Sometimes if you stop the engine it goes in quicker. Its been getting progressively worse for a few weeks but is now really bad. If anyone can offer some thoughts or advice please it would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi gents I have a 1997 90bhp diesel and it has the auxiliary heater but not the extra coolant pump, if thats any help.

Just a quick thought lads, but if the climate control packs up can you still use the fan to demist the screen in winter, or is it back to the days of using a rag? We've only got the basic heater controls in ours, never used cc so not really sure how it works.

You've really put some work into sorting this problem, I hope the pulley sorts it, as you deserve to get the win. Good Luck. Oh by the way, the picture wouldn't open for me, do I need to be a member of their forum do you know? Thanks.

Hi, this sounds very similar to what happened on ours about a year ago, We had a new tyre fitted to the rear passenger side and the inside edge scrubbed off quite quickly just as you described. The previous tyre was fine, and the tyre since has been fine. We checked the bearings brakes bushes etc and found nothing we thought worn enough to explain it. The tyre appeared to be on the rim correctly and didn't look in any way unusual, I can't remember the make but it was £90 ish. I went back to the tyre depo, they gave it lots of ooohs and aaaahhs and fiddled about a bit, said that the tyre was fine and blamed the car sayng that it must have hit the curb and bent something, but When its your own car you know if you've curbed it and we hadn't. The upshot was I had to buy a new tyre (but I did try a different tyre depo and a different tyre make) and as yet the fault has not returned and nothing has been changed on the car. I'm sorry this doesn't help you much but I wonder if any other members have had the same as we have? Best of luck, and I hope the replacements are ok.

Hi Chromedome thanks for your help. I thought being able to fit ordinary ones was to good to be true. Thanks for setting us straight.

Hi Everyone, Could anybody tell me please, do the tyres fitted to the alloy rims on the mk 2 diesels need to be the extra load type / reinforced? A tyre fitter told me when doing my mk 1 steel wheels that the wider alloys tyres had a higher load rating and didn't need to be of the same spec as the ones I was fitting. Does anybody know whether this is correct please ?????????? Also are the steel wheels interchangeable with the alloys, and how wide are the alloys they must be more than the 195's fitted to mine ???? Thanks for your help.

Thanks for the replies lads, So now I know we

Hi Lads, I

Hi Gteuk Could you tell us please what you mean by a totally different engine? cheers

Hi edatelder, ours just has an ordinary heater but I seem to remember seeing climate on the top of the range motors though. Thanks roy202, since I was told they had box problems its made me really wary of them, but when you

Just changed all the vacuum hoses (but not the MAP hose or the short hose inside the ECU) and thought I'd take the old Gal for a test run. Are you ready for this??? ...... I think she's fixed!!! I couldn't get her to go into the dreaded 'limp mode', she kept full power and full revs :blink: Some of the hoses that I took off were really badly deteriorated. Although they appeared to hold a vacuum there may have been a small leak or they could have been collapsing (they really were bad, particularly the two going to the turbo). I won't bother with the MAP hose at the moment and I'll see how she goes over the next week or so. She's done 180,000 miles (160,000 with me over the last 12 years) and here's hoping we'll do plenty more yet! I've got a 600 mile trip to do next week and I'll post again to let you know how she goes. Many thanks for all the great advice. Cheers, Robin. Cprob that

Hi, Thanks for the advice suzuki91, I have to agree about the mk2 looking better, I especially like the interior and dash. But really it

Hi Lads, Thinking of possibly trading up to a later Mk1 or maybe even a Mk2 but I

Hi Seatkid, A good strong repair for stripped threads is to insert a helicoil. That way you keep the exact thread type that you originally had e.g 8mm. Not sure what it would cost to have one put in, but couldn

Thanks lads, Yes we

Hi everyone, Could anybody tell me please what the relay under the passenger seat on a 97 tdi (marked 79) is for please? I'm trying to work out a central locking complete failure, Does it have anything to do with the central locking? Thanks.

Hi Davie, Great work, glad you were able to find the problem and sort it out. Thanks also for taking the trouble to post your results back here, it could turn out to be invaluable to somebody else one day. Well Done.

Thanks Seatkid I

Hi everyone, 1.9 tdi 1997 Cars running fine but I