Gear Stick Issues - Not selecting reverse or 2nd or 4th.....

BusBoyT2

BusBoyT2

Member
Yesterday our 2001 A2 1.4tdi 125,481 miles on the clock decided randomly to stop allowing us to put the car into reverse or 2nd or 4th! it's as if the "gate" has slipped so that any gear towards the rear of the car or reverse is a no go.

I cant fathom if it's a box or selector issue. Car drives fine if you are happy to use the remaining two gears......difficult for parking thought... :)

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks,

Patrick

P.S anyone know of a good A2 specialist in Essex? pref near Southend.
 

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Take off the bonnet and determine whether you are able to rotate the counterweight on top of the gearbox axially and have free movement vertically. If everything is o.k in the box you should be able to select all 6 gears by movement of the counterweight. If needs be, detach the selection cables, although if these are fine you should be able to do the above with them attached. If everything is moving freely at the box end then it points at the issue being higher up the control mechanism.

Not being able to move the gearlever to select reverse and second and fourth is a bit of a conundrum as it suggests something either going on with the cables or the gearlever end where you have to be able to depress the lever to be able to move it into the plane of reverse gear.

2nd and 4th are accessed by pulling the gearlever back which in turn rotates the gear selector shaft around its own axis, so is there something preventing the cable from moving in that direction - be it a fray or a delamination of the bowden cable outer?

When my project car's gearbox died, it left me with reverse, 1st and 2nd, but then movement further into the box going across the planes was impossible whether using the gearlever or the selector - I suspect something had broken inside the top of the box, but luckily as I had a spare GPK gearbox and a good local mechanic I was able to get it switched out within a few days.

See the dieselgeek videos on Youtube if you don't have an image of how the gearlever cables and bell cranks operate to convert gearlever movement into gear selector actions.

Fingers crossed it doesn't turn out to be too taxing.
 
Robin_Cox said:
Take off the bonnet and determine whether you are able to rotate the counterweight on top of the gearbox axially and have free movement vertically. If everything is o.k in the box you should be able to select all 6 gears by movement of the counterweight. If needs be, detach the selection cables, although if these are fine you should be able to do the above with them attached. If everything is moving freely at the box end then it points at the issue being higher up the control mechanism.

Not being able to move the gearlever to select reverse and second and fourth is a bit of a conundrum as it suggests something either going on with the cables or the gearlever end where you have to be able to depress the lever to be able to move it into the plane of reverse gear.

2nd and 4th are accessed by pulling the gearlever back which in turn rotates the gear selector shaft around its own axis, so is there something preventing the cable from moving in that direction - be it a fray or a delamination of the bowden cable outer?

When my project car's gearbox died, it left me with reverse, 1st and 2nd, but then movement further into the box going across the planes was impossible whether using the gearlever or the selector - I suspect something had broken inside the top of the box, but luckily as I had a spare GPK gearbox and a good local mechanic I was able to get it switched out within a few days.

See the dieselgeek videos on Youtube if you don't have an image of how the gearlever cables and bell cranks operate to convert gearlever movement into gear selector actions.

Fingers crossed it doesn't turn out to be too taxing.
Click to expand...
many thanks! much appreciated. I will be heading out to the garage after work.
 
BusBoyT2 said:
many thanks! much appreciated. I will be heading out to the garage after work.
Click to expand...
Something else that helps is if you have someone in the car able to move the gearlever to positions you ask them to while you watch what is happening on top of the gearbox - my then 9 year old daughter thought it was great fun "Driving the car"!
 
Thanks for all the help. Turns out the culprit is a broken "fork" in one of the cable ends. Going to replace both ball joint cable end thingy's just in case the other one fails soon. See loads of pattern parts on the net. Anyone any experience with ordering these bits?
 
I've used Topran ones if that's any help - have been fine so far and readily available - nice positive click of the lockring when compressed against the spring to release.

Also got a replacement plastic slider as the original in my case was pretty worn looking - a 1J (Mk4 Golf) part number from memory. Whether this reduced play at all is probably open to psychosomatic interpretation but it seemed sensible to do.

p/n - 1J0711550
 
Still having dramas with my gear selection! I purchased the Topran connectors and replaced both. It's now worse even though the units I removed were broken/brittle.

I locked out the gearbox and gear knob end and then installed the new connectors.

It will initially shift into reverse but then it will stay there and the only way of getting it back to neutral is to manually move the selector from inside the engine bay.

I'm convinced there isn't an issue with the gearbox itself and now the new connectors are on I cant see ant reason for it to be doing what it is from that end. I'm now thinking the issue could be gearstick end.

Thoughts?

How do you remove that end? looks like you need to remove the centre console?

Help!

Thanks
 
For what the mechanism is like underneath the gear lever there are the dieselgeek videos on youtube that summarise the various failure modes and help to identify the parts needed to replace to eliminate sloppiness.

I'm a little worried that the issue could be something to do with the cable itself and the bowden outer so that it's catching instead of sliding smoothly.

From what I've understood you start by lifting the gaiter below the stick up, thereafter I think you have to remove some central console / tunnel trim either side to access the gear lever structure itself.
 
If the cables are disconnected from the gearbox end does the gearstick move freely into the approx positions of all gears?

Are the brackets on the gearbox secure and not worn and the counter weight secure?
 
audifan said:
If the cables are disconnected from the gearbox end does the gearstick move freely into the approx positions of all gears?

Are the brackets on the gearbox secure and not worn and the counter weight secure?
Click to expand...
yes, it moves freely but i am not feeling a "gate"...
 
Given it got worse after new ends were fitted, maybe it was adjusted for the worn ends.
Have you reset the cable spring clips using the lock out and adjust up method after fitting new ends?
 
Well if as you say it is moving freely into all positions including reverse - there is now no gate and the gearstick should be capable of reaching full throw in all directions. That to me suggests the issue is not the cables or stick end. Carefully check all the linkages are free to move or pivot and are securely mounted. Check the counter balance weight on the selector shaft is correctly located and tight. The issue could be the new ends on the cables or indeed not set up correctly.

Can you with the cables removed move the selector tower into all gear positions?
 
I just looked at another video and it clearly shows the selector shaft moving/bouncing up and down. Mine does not spring up when pushed down without the cables on....should it?
 
I can not say 100% if the tower should rise on its own but I suspect that it SHOULD NOT. The cables function is to raise / lower and rotate left / right the selector tower. Can you easily select all gears by hand turning the tower. Tower bearing could be shot or even too much water or not enough oil in the gearbox.
 
I think you mean bounce on a spring??, this is correct if you pop it in neutral and press the tower down I belive it should pop back up. Sounds like you may need to focus on the tower.
 
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