Can't select any gear

[Alan67]

Morning everybody,

After just over a year of ownership, I finally believed my 1993 2.6 (ABC) Saloon was running sweetly following 6 days of smooth running from the V6. Doesn't sound much I know, but it beats the previous 2-3 days, so this is huge for me!

But (there's always a but!), I decided 2 days ago to remove the muck from around the engine and underside of the 5-Speed gearbox. This had apparently accumulated over the past 2-3 years from a slight oil leak, which was noted as an advisory on previous MOT's. I figured it would help me identify exactly where the leak was coming from, although it was suspected to be from around the o/s cam cover area.

So I bought some heavy duty degreaser from Screwfix and set about cleaning everything with a squirty bottle and a stiff brush. I thought I was being careful in my use of the garden hose to wash everything down afterwards. Dried a few things off, and the car started first time and idled smoothly. I let her idle for a bit to evaporate the remaining water, and then reversed the car down off my ramps. Just as the front wheels were leaving the ramps, I was surprised to feel what felt like wheel spin, albeit only for a fraction of a second. I also thought the ramp may have slipped away from the wheel, causing the sensation.
However, when I drove the car forward after putting the ramps away, I got the same issue. My first thought was that I had somehow contaminated the clutch plate while cleaning. It kind of felt like a small clutch judder. I tried moving off and stopping a few times, and eventually got the car to move off smoothly in first and reverse gears, almost as if the clutch plate was clearing up of any contamination. However, I also noted that the gear lever was baulking slghtly on a couple of occasions when trying to select first gear, although it did go in. Got the car up into 3rd and 4th on a short run around the block, and apart from the slight baulking, it all seemed relatively normal again.

Came out to the car the following morning though (yesterday) with the intention of doing an oil/filter change, and the car wouldn't go into gear. Any gear. Clutch pedal felt normal. Fluid seemed normal, (as long as the brake reservoir also feeds the clutch?). Gearlever would move fine along the neutral action, but flatly refused to be moved forward or back into any gear from that point. Tried rolling the car back a little, but this made no difference. I also tried selecting gears with the engine switched off, and I still can't get the gear lever to move into any gear.

Phoned my local garage with the intention of having the car towed to them to see what was going on. He can't take it until Monday unfortunately, but said he would pop up to my house this morning to take a quick look. He did think there was a chance of something jamming the linkage, maybe a stone or something that I had inadvertently washed down with the hose. This sounded plausible to me. I tried to have a look after jacking up the o/s/f, and sticking it on an axle stand, but to be honest, I haven't a clue what I'm looking at. No idea what or where this jamming might be occurring.

Sorry for the long winded explanation, but wanted to explain things as best I could.

Does anybody have any ideas about what might be happening with the gear selection? Can't imagine something major has failed, as it was perfect going up onto the ramps, and then had issues coming off.

Cheers,
Alan

[Ben]

You have tried with the engine not running?

[Alan67]

Originally Posted by Ben

You have tried with the engine not running?

Hi, yes, tried with engine running and switched off. I'll update my original post to make this clear. Thanks.

Unfortunately, due to some miserable weather today, the garage won't be coming to look at the car this morning. I've to give them a call on Monday to see if they have a space to take the car in for a check.

Also, looking back through the forum in a search for answers, I came across a thread from member 'SteveT63' entitled '5, 4, 3, 2, 1, None' from December 2010, which seems similar to the issues I'm experiencing. Something about a bolt, a linkage, and going floppy down below!!! However, I wasn't driving at the time. No comment on the floppyness...

[Ben]

I can't find that topic.




This is similar to what it looks like where the linkage connects to the gearbox:


If you crawl under the car, you can feel around to see if something is jamming the linkage. If there is nothing jamming it, and if it were me, I would undo the linkage bolt to check if the gearstick still moves correctly on it's own. There is an indent in the gearbox selector shaft for the bolt to sit in, so it will go back together in the same position.

[Alan67]

Originally Posted by Ben

I can't find that topic.




This is similar to what it looks like where the linkage connects to the gearbox:


If you crawl under the car, you can feel around to see if something is jamming the linkage. If there is nothing jamming it, and if it were me, I would undo the linkage bolt to check if the gearstick still moves correctly on it's own. There is an indent in the gearbox selector shaft for the bolt to sit in, so it will go back together in the same position.

Many thanks for this. It's much appreciated. If the weather is a bit better tomorrow, and I can get the car up on jack stands, I'll have a look at this. The post I mentioned, '5, 4, 3, 2, 1, None', was on page 12 here on the 'Transmission' area of the forum.

Even if I don't get to the car myself, this is at the very least, a pointer for the garage to look at. Known them for years, so they're good with having suggestions thrown at them!

Will update as things develop.

Cheers,
Alan

[fourringsrus]

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...em-please-help

I had similar issues with mine 10 years ago, please find in the link above, what the issue was. Please bare in mind there are two pages. Please read the whole story including the solution to my problem. Pictures to follow in seperate post.
Stuart

[fourringsrus]

Hope this is helpful.
http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/a...chmentid=12434

[BackintheFold]

Can’t see pictures without a login.
What number on the diagram is the bit that was broken please?
Thanks

[Alan67]

Originally Posted by fourringsrus

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...em-please-help

I had similar issues with mine 10 years ago, please find in the link above, what the issue was. Please bare in mind there are two pages. Please read the whole story including the solution to my problem. Pictures to follow in seperate post.
Stuart

Hi Stuart,

Unfortunately, as mentioned by Backinthefold, the photos aren't viewable without logging in. If need be, I might need to sign up at some point.

However, the link to your thread is certainly interesting. Looking increasingly unlikely though that I'm going to be able to tackle this myself in the short term. Weather (Scotland! ) and dodgy knees/back aren't looking promising for next few days. However, this is something else that I can suggest to the garage when they collect the car, hopefully on Monday.

As I can't see your photos at the moment, does the rubber 'bung' in your description appear on the exploded diagram above? If it does, would you be kind enough to point it out to me please for clarification.

Thanks for the information.

Cheers,
Alan

[fourringsrus]

unfortunately without my daughter at my side I cant move links and stuff around but basically the bung is on the external casing of the gearbox and looks like a drain/fill bung and is star drive, when fully removed it is about 50/60 mm long and is like a non threaded bolt which steps down in size in three increments.I t had been leaking from bung very lightly as it had worked loose. As it was actually a fulcrum pivot point internally you can see how the selection of gears was interfered with.
I will try tomorrow to make the photos available for you.
The part I describe is none of those in any others diagrams in this post, this is an external fit like an oil fill/drain bolt/bung