Stiff Gear Change

[lennybhoy]

hello all the saga continues here with the ole gal now the gear change is very stiff ,very hard to get into gear most times can change ist/2and but hard to cross over the box for third and forth well reverse is just fingers crossed time anyhoo there are times when all gears are fine(haydays and holidays) checked the forum for any help but its usualy the floppy gear change any clues trying to save her from certain death by swmbo spent way too much on her its a mrk 1 v reg 110bhp diesel tdi thanx lads lenny

[gizmo.john]

you can change the gear selector on top of the gearbox had to change mine on my old mk1 could only get 1st&2nd, takes about 45 minutes to change. 

[Rntaylor]

Hi

 

Had the same snag but worse on my MkI. Basically the gear lever movement is transferred via the 2 flex cables to the lever on top of the gearbox. A single shaft rotates for the 1st/2nd and 3rd/4th changes, but slides up/down (ie in and out) to change between the pairings. This shaft is supported in 2 slider-roller bearings which ultimately fail; the shaft can turn but not slide.

 

The cables are easy to detach from the selector mechanism which in turn is held on to the top of the gearbox by 5 or so M10 bolts. Once undone you can lift the whole mechanism from the top of the gearbox. You also need to disconnect the reversing light switch cable. Make sure you are in neutral when you lift it out. Beware, you now have a big hole open on the top of the gearbox - don't risk anything falling in!

 

Once on the bench you should be able to see the problem more clearly. The new bearing and seal shouldn't cost much. The lower bearing is well lubricated so won't have failed, it's the top one that locks up. I also undid then lo titled the M10 bolt that hold the selector mechanism to the shaft. It has been known to fall out leaving you with no gears and a good chance you'll damage the gearbox.

 

Will try to find all the photos I took to make it so much clearer.

[Rntaylor]

Found the link I was after, and it is from this site! It shows all the pictures and includes a better description than mine. Good luck!

 

http://www.fordgalaxy.org.uk/ford/index.php/topic/13275-gear-selector-not-moving/

 

 

[lennybhoy]

update on the stiff gears,took out the battery tray first supported the gear box then undid all four bolts took away all the gobbings like expansion bottle ect ,not much room but enouggh room to see the top of the gear box,3/4 gears moving ok so it was just the rest ,(the blue cable )stiff as hell ,thought i would spray wd49 all about the area,hard to get onto the gear linkage but never the less sprayed it put some grease on the shaft with a stick/small screw driver then got a long pole and gently tapped at the selector it seemed to go down ,tried the gears from inside the car ,deffo felt it was moving a bit better so some more tapping /spraying and it now was able to move ok was able to move the selector with my hand now so more grease /wd40 and all was well every gear put it all back again and tried it on the road ,no probs even better than before,just thought i would share this in case someone else has this prob many thanks to all who replyed to this prob, len

[smuir00]

Hi, thanks to all who posted to this site about this problem, this has saved me a fortune..

 

Top bearing assy had collapsed and seized to the shaft ..

 

The Ford parts I used for my W Reg 2.3i manual were:

 

1086941   shaft

1064929   Seal

6152850  bearing assy

 

Total cost

[smuir00]

Sorry, before I forget, the VW parts that were listed elsewhere on this site for the same job would have cost about