[Vwdiesel] grinding 5th gear

[Roger Brown]

Pam & Doug Boes wrote:
> My 1.6 NA 85 Golf suddenly decided to not go into fifth gear. It grinds 
> like the teeth are touching but no engagement. I've changed out the 
> relay shaft because I found it with only half of the ball left. No 
> improvement. I also changed out all of the bushings except the big 
> orange one that goes back by the shift lever. Again, no improvement. I 
> can't see how to get the orange bushing out and new one installed 
> without disconnecting all of the shift linkage? It seems like if that 
> bushing was the problem, I'd have grinding in more than fifth gear.
> I haven't changed out the rods with the ball socket ends and I don't 
> care for the slop in the piece with a ball at the bottom and a 
> connecting arm at the top. Even with the new bushings in place I can 
> wobble this piece with my fingers.
> What should I try next to recover fifth gear? All the rest of the gears 
> seem to be working fine.

See this section of my web page for diagnosing shift linkage problems:
	http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSale/ShiftLinkageInstall.shtml#DiagnosingProblems

Basically, find out where the slop is coming from, then determine what needs to be done to fix it.  Easy to find the source of 
the play, find where one part moves and the part it is connected to does not and the play is coming from that connection.

And replacing the orange bushing does require that the forward linkage is disconnected from the shift rod:
	http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSale/ShiftLinkageInstall.shtml#ShiftRodBearingInstall


-- 
    Roger