Gear Changing Issue

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domderbyshire

domderbyshire

Active Member
Posts
198
Location
Bracknell
Evening, All.

My 90 200 Tdi has recently developed a strange problem. Gear changing has become difficult, especially third gear. When in third, if I can find it, the gear lever has a lot of play. When trying to select first, reverse is often engaged. I’m either fighting to get the thing in gear, or can’t find first and third at all. Changing from fourth to fifth seems fine; first to second is not smooth.

The clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder are not particularly old and I’ve checked the adjustment inside the pedal box on the MS shaft. The MS is not leaking. The clutch pedal action seems normal.

This has all happened quite suddenly and I’m stumped as to what might be the cause of the problem. I need the car every day and have got a feeling that it’s going to break soon!

Any thoughts?

All the best,

Dom
 
Check your gear lever selector housing for wear. Easy thing to check first.

This may help, depending on which gearbox you have but it gives an indiction of where to look, there are other video's on youtube of other gear selectors.

 
Last edited:
domderbyshire said:
Evening, All.

My 90 200 Tdi has recently developed a strange problem. Gear changing has become difficult, especially third gear. When in third, if I can find it, the gear lever has a lot of play. When trying to select first, reverse is often engaged. I’m either fighting to get the thing in gear, or can’t find first and third at all. Changing from fourth to fifth seems fine; first to second is not smooth.

The clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder are not particularly old and I’ve checked the adjustment inside the pedal box on the MS shaft. The MS is not leaking. The clutch pedal action seems normal.

This has all happened quite suddenly and I’m stumped as to what might be the cause of the problem. I need the car every day and have got a feeling that it’s going to break soon!

Any thoughts?

All the best,

Dom
Click to expand...
check yoke under turret is tight ,then look at rev plunger and turret bias springs
 
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What James Martin said, the reverse/1st fear thing is also probably the detent is stuck or the spring failed - I stripped mine down and regressed and order is restored.

The detent is the bit that sticks off the side of the gearbox turret
 
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Great and thank you for your suggestions. Well, I’ve fallen at the first hurdle. When I got all security conscious after my mate’s Defender was stolen I fitted a lock between the two gear levers that employs a special nut to stop people getting round the lock by simply removing the main gear lever. The trouble is, I can’t get the gear lever off, either... Theefore I haven’t properly investigated yet, although I suspect that when I do get in there your thoughts will be correct. Any ideas on removing the high security nut?
 
Ok, got the nut off. They’re not that secure, after all. Everything looked ok, but the 5mm Allen grub screw on the shaft coming from the low/high ratio stick was suspiciously loose. Also, the metal bit with the big spring on is worn and the part where the ball sits into into at the top, I presume, has a plastic receiver that could also be very worn. I’m afraid I don’t know the correct part names. Anyway, I think with a new aluminium casting part and plastic bush thingy, all could be well. Off to drive it now to see if, in the short term, the grub screw was the issue, but the other parts will need replacing soon.
 
Last question: is the nut that holds the gear lever on the spline M10?

Many thanks for all your help. I’ve got all the new bits I need on the way, but in the meantime the car is perfectly driveable and it’s a relief the issue wasn’t too serious or expensive!
 
domderbyshire said:
Last question: is the nut that holds the gear lever on the spline M10?

Many thanks for all your help. I’ve got all the new bits I need on the way, but in the meantime the car is perfectly driveable and it’s a relief the issue wasn’t too serious or expensive!
Click to expand...
yes its a m10 nyloc
 
Everything replaced and refreshed, including thread lock on the grub screw. After adjusting the bias spring a few times the gear change is much more precise and reliable. Hopefully all is good for the next 25 years! Thank you for all your help. Much appreciated.
 
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