Date:         Thu, 29 Jun 1995 10:15:33 -0600 (MDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jack Reed <jackr@fortnet.org>
Subject:      1981 091 Tranny repair made simple (?)

Hi all,

Well, I got the van back home on Monday after spending 6 hours on my back 
outside of a closed repair shop.  As surmised the problem with the tranny 
was the clip that goes on the selector shaft that holds the selector 
finger in place.  Rather than go through the backup light switch hole to 
fish the broken parts out and put everything to right, I opted to pull 
the entire gearshift housing off to make sure that what I had opined was 
correct, and it was.  The reason the job took so long is that I don't 
have any wrenches with swivel heads and clearance was at a premium.  One 
bolt took about 45 minutes to get off and the same to put on.  With the 
right tools and a lift I could have had the housing off and back on in a 
1/2 hour.

For those of you that ever have need to solve this problem:
1. Gearshift lever feels like it's jammed.
2. After moving the gearshift/linkage around a bit you now have NO 
shifting capability, here's the fix that can be performed by almost anyone...

Pull the backup light switch and have a basin/whatever to catch wayward 
tranny fluid.  Shine a flashlight into the hole and check for the 
selector finger on the end of the shaft.  If it's there then your 
problem is more significant than this, tranny, etc. is bad.  If it's not 
there then fish around with a magnetic pickup for the selector finger and 
push it back on the end of the shaft.  This part can be tricky since 
there's only one way for it to go on the end of shaft.  Then use the 
magnet again to fish out the broken parts of the clip that holds the 
finger to the end of the shaft.  If you don't have a spare clip then 
twisted wire should get you to a shop where you can get another one, 
although the dealer I checked with needed a week to get a new one.  A 
circlip of the correct diameter would do in a pinch and probably would 
stay in place a long time.

That's it.  The van's never driven better.  Thanks to all that offered 
suggestions/remorse, I appreciate your concern.

Jack