I thought I'd post this just to give some other poor soul a chance to find it in the archives. I'd written earlier that after removing and replacing the transaxle I couldn't get the shift linkage adjusted properly. I was experiencing what seems to be a common problem: real trouble getting into 1st and 2nd (fighting the reverse lockout all the way), getting into reverse was just about impossible, and, if I managed to hit 1st or 2nd, the top of the shift lever was so far left it was knocking against my leg. This was frustrating the heck out of me because the car was shifting fine before the R&R, I knew that all the shift linkage components were OK and I'd performed this adjustment in the past with success. Why wasn't it working this time? Daryl at AA Transaxle set me on the right path. Although I didn't perform the adjustment in just the way he suggested, what he made clear to me is that not only do the center and rear shift rods slide over one another along their length, they also rotate with respect to one another, and that it was probably a rotational adjustment that was needed. Suddenly the light bulb went off; one of the first things I'd done before removing the trans was to unclamp the two shift rods and then shove the rear shiftrod forward to get it out of the way. It would only be by luck that, when I pulled the rear shift rod back into position, it would be oriented properly. Apparently the end of the center shift rod is splined or knurled and this, along with 20 years accumulation of crud, was preventing the two rods from rotating into their proper positions. One more time I dove under the car, undid the clamp, and sprayed the junction of the two rods liberally with penetrating oil. Using my 19mm spacer I positioned the front shift rod/gearshift lever properly in the shift mechanism housing, retightened the clamp and... Success!!! All's well with the shifting action. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Tom Young tomyoung1@home.com Lafayette, CA 94549 '81 Vanagon ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- |
Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of
Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection
will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!
Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com
The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.
Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.