Gearbox problems on a 1988 90Q

["STEVEN P. ADAMS" <adams1@webspan.net>]

Ian, 
I had a similar problem on my '88 90Q.  My conditions deteriorated over
about a month and a half.  Fifth and reverse gears totally went and
first and second gears were difficult to use.  I took it to my mechanic
and he tightened the linkage-along with replacing some nuts and bolts. 
I'm not yet ready to be tooling on my own and my mechanic is good.  He
charged me $40.00US and I was on my way. I have over 172,000 miles on it
so a problem I thought was a lot larger was very little.  
I hope you are lucky and it's not more serious than the linkage.
Good Luck,
Steve Adams
Long Beach Island, N.J.
'88 90Q     
> From: Ian Rawlings <Ian.Rawlings@UK.Quza.com>
> Date: Fri, 21 Mar 1997 14:58:07 -0000
> Subject: Gearbox problems on a 1988 90 Q
> 
> Hello all, I'm having problems gearchanging on my 1988 90 Quattro. When
> I find it hard to change into a gear, for example first when moving off,
> if I bring the clutch up a bit the car slips into gear. Another way to
> get it into gear is to try and push it in, and when it won't go,
> continue pushing but with less force, so I end up trying to change gear
> normally then using fingertip pressure to actually get it in. I
> generally have to use both in one gearchange, just pushing it in doesn't
> work. Neither does just soft pressure, it seems to need a normal
> pressure movement followed by a light pressure movement to get it in.
> The harder I shove, the more reluctant it is! It's first and second that
> give me the problems, third, fourth and fifth seem fine.
> 
> Also, when I go to change into reverse, I have to push the clutch, pop
> into reverse, wait for 5 seconds or so, then take my foot off the
> clutch. If I don't wait for 5 secs, I get the most monstrous gear
> crunching sound.
> 
> Can anyone help me on this?
>