Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:36:03 -0400
Reply-To: Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Ken Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Was: Tranny Repaired!!! Now: Shifter PM
In-Reply-To: <011301c88587$cca12090$6401a8c0@DJZL7KF1>
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I think many people get their vans with crappy shifting and they just
think that this is "normal". No when the Vanagon left the factory the
shifting was smooth and felt good. If you shifting is vague and stiff
then you have a problem. You should inspect and lube the rear and front
shifter linkage areas (right at the side of the transmission and right
below the shifter handle) if you are feeling anything weird. In the
rear a boot that is meant to keep lubricant in place tends to disappear
after a while leaving a cup to catch road dirt and hold it against the
shifter ball. You can see why this would wear out quickly and cause
stiff shifting. The front shifter parts are all plastic and rubber.
However over time the plastic gets very brittle. One fine day you will
be driving along and go to shift and the shift lever will drop down and
you will not be able to shift. This one I would replace as part of
preventive maintenance. If it has never been replaced then it is good
to do so before it fails.
I have kits on my web site to address either of these rebuilds. The
front is shifterkit1 and the rear is shifterkit2. The parts in the kit
are all VW parts. The VW dealer actually sells a kit for the front
shifter however it is much more expensive than my kit because they
include a metal part that never wears out (not sure why). If you want
to do either of these jobs I would recommend doing them soon. The price
on both of these kits has tripled in the past three years. Just to give
you an example, when I first started selling the shifterkit1 a few years
ago it was $24. Now it is $71. I am sure by next year the price will
have gone up another third at least. So waiting to do these jobs is
costing you money. Anything that you want to get that is VW dealer you
should get now. You will save yourself 1/3 of the cost (on average)
over waiting to buy it next year.
Just want to throw this out there.
Ken Wilford
John 3:16
www.vanagain.com
Scott Daniel - Shazam wrote:
> Great story !
> And it went from 'shifting perfectly and smoothly' to complete broken in one
> short spontaneous event, right ?
> I have a sneaking suspicion it was dodgey, vague, or stiff for a long time
> and there was plenty of warning.
> In other words, all preventable.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> John Rodgers
> Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 8:12 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Tranny Repaired!!!
>
> About ten days ago my manual tranny locked in reverse right at a
> critical time. I could not get it out of reverse gear. I borrowed a
> Suburban from my brother to have immediate transport. Well, I got the
> local towing service to bring the 'ol roll-back to pick up the van and
> take it to the my mechanic of choice. He got it up on the rack and found
> the shift arm connector on the side of the tranny had simply broken into
> pieces, and jammed. so I could not get it out of gear. I got a repair
> kit from Kin Wilford, and in a couple of days I was back on the road.
> That rebuild kit was long overdue. Fortunately, there was no problem
> inside the tranny. That would have been very expensive. Total related
> cost to be roadable again - Approx $765!! Note that I said "related"
> costs .... costs revolving around the incident.!
>
> "Now how on earth could that little repair cost so much?" you ask. Well,
> here is how it went down.
>
> Cost me a hundy for the roll-back. Actually $105.
> Parts added up to $200 - rounded up slightly. So that makes $305.
> My mechanic charged me $125, the labor including replacing a hose.
> Wouldn't have done that if it weren't already in the shop.
> So that is $430.
> Then there was the $135 speeding ticket I got in the Suburban I
> borrowed from my brother since e my van was broken and I was in a hurry
> because I was gong to miss the deadline for an art show set up and I
> needed the money from the show. There was also a very large plate of
> chagrin that had to be swallowed, because I haven't had a ticket of any
> kind in over 45 years.
> So now it's up to $565.
>
> I drove home from the shop, and the shifting was good and easy. I parked
> the van, and before I could get out , I got a call on my cell phone from
> the mechanic asking how the shifting went on the way home. . I went
> ahead and got out of the van, and as I did so, I flung the van door shut
> ....... at the same time dropping an awkwardly held cell phone right in
> the lower door jamb where it loudly went "crunch!, as the structure of
> phone failed under the impact of the door slamming shut .......$200.
>
> Grand total related costs for a tranny jammed in reverse - $765.
>
> I ain't about to ask what is gonna happen next!!!
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver
>
>
>
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