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
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