Date: Thu, 5 Oct 2017 11:39:23 -0700
Reply-To: David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David McNeely <davmcneely40@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: difficulty shifting
In-Reply-To: <BN6PR20MB12977F108B00B32E28B3AC9FA0700@BN6PR20MB1297.namprd20.prod.outlook.com>
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Dennis, and all, thanks for the suggestions. I will check them all out. I
guess I hope it is clutch, not transmission, if the latter means rebuild
and the former offers the possibility of repair.
Does it make sense to put this off so long as it is relatively easy to
shift without the resistance since I know how? Of course, if it is a
master cylinder or other leak, that needs addressing, but I can't find any
leak evidence. I guess I never considered a manual transmission to be a
wear item, but then what do I know? Not much.
mcneely
On Wed, Oct 4, 2017 at 5:45 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Manual transmissions on Vanagons can and do break. Often without warning.
> As a person that has been working on VWs since junior high school one of my
> jokes is that back in the day all VW mechanics and owners knew how to swap
> or even rebuild engines. Especially with the 2.1L engines we had to learn
> how to replace and even rebuild transmissions instead. By 1991 or so I was
> doing Vanagon transmissions and automatics a few years later. I do far more
> transmissions than engine replacements.
>
> 1st and 2nd gear are the most sensitive to a clutch not fully releasing.
> 2nd gear is also the most sensitive to oil condition and usually the first
> to wear out the synchronizer. Your first step is to determine if you have a
> clutch or a transmission issue. If at a standstill, it is difficult to get
> into gear with the engine running, turn the engine off and if it will now
> go easy you have a clutch problem. It could be the pilot bearing, the
> hydraulics, or the pressure plate-disc has failed. Having the disc break or
> the linings crack and separate is not that uncommon. Usually though you can
> feel that in the pedal if you know the cues.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of David McNeely
> Sent: Wednesday, October 4, 2017 8:32 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: difficulty shifting
>
> Hello all, I have a 1991 Volkswagen Vanagon GL Campmobile, 2.1 waterboxer,
> 4 speed manual transmission, silver-tan, with 180K miles.
>
> The clutch was rebuilt in 2013, and has functioned flawlessly since. So
> far as I know, the transmission has never been rebuilt, but manual
> transmissions don't break, right?
>
> This morning I noticed a grinding as I shifted from 1st to 2nd gear. I
> got it into gear ok, but it repeated the same thing several times. I
> discovered that if I shifted very slowly, hesitating a split second at the
> neutral point, and made sure to push the clutch pedal absolutely to the
> floor, there was no grinding. There is no problem with any other gear.
>
> Before I take it to the shop, please help me understand what is happening.
>
> mcneely
>
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