Transmission Troubleshooting

I'm having a problem with my transmission popping out of all gears on its own, even if I go over just a slight bump. Someone told me, he thought it had to do with the linkage from the stick shift to the transmission. He said that the "rod" between the stick shift and transmission needs to be lengthened.

That rod can NOT lengthen or shorten in use (if it did the only result would be that the gearstick would angle more to the front or rear of the vehicle).

If the gearbox is jumping out of gear it usually means that the hockey stick (gear selector) inside the nose cone of the transmission is cracked or broken, or else the gearbox is just very worn (for example - worn bearings allowing the shafts to move off line a little.)

Other problems (loose gear stick, difficulty in finding gears) are often caused by a worn tunnel bushing (a plastic bush inside the tunnel just behind the gear stick) or the rear coupling (under the hatch under the rear seat) is worn/loose. Instructions for dealing with these problems are given at the above links.

I bought a 74 late beetle in a "basket" got her running and discovered that reverse doesn't work. If I pull rather hard I can hold the shifter in reverse, but can feel something turning and there is an audible "click" every 1/2 second or so, the click is accompanied by a push-back. If I don't keep my hand on the shifter it will pop out of reverse during the click.

Does that sound like anything familiar?

A number of things come to mind - in order of difficulty -

1. The stop plate under the shifter -- this has to be positioned right to get all gear smoothly. It's called a stop plate because it stops you getting reverse until you push down on the stick. Remove the two bolts and the gear stick. Have a look at the plate - it should be mounted "ramp to the right". Have a look at the inner lip of the small ramp - if it's worn and has a sharpish corner where the metal is bent up to form the ramp (rather than a smooth bend) then it's worn out and should be replaced. Clean and regrease the cup in the shift rod in the tunnel and the ball on the gear stick and put it back together.

   There are several techniques for finding the right position for the stop plate -- one is to have the bolts just finger tight, then jam to the stick HARD into first, and tighten the bolts. Try for each gear and if 1/2 or reverse are a little hard to get, loosen the plate slightly and tap it rearwards a few mm and try again. It should not normally need to be tapped to the right at all using this method - just fore/aft.

2. Rear coupling. Under the back seat inside the tunnel. If the gear changes are sloppy/loose, then this coupling and maybe the tunnel bushing (3. below) are probably to blame. The coupling is easy enough to replace if it looks at all loose.
3. The tunnel bushing - inside the tunnel just behind the gear stick. There is a procedure on our site for replacing this. The main symptom is a sloppy gear change and if the rear coupling has been renewed it's the most likely candidate on the list.
4. The hockey stick inside the nose cone of the gearbox -- worn or broken. It's called a hockey stick for it's shape -- it slides between/pushes the gear selectors as you move the stick. If the above fixes don't work, this is the most likely cause, and it's a gearbox-out job to fix, and probably a gearbox expert to repair it.

I bought a 73 super convertible yesterday. It drove great during my hour-long test drive. I filled out the paperwork and wrote the check. Went outside backed up and the car died. I restarted it and it wouldn't go into gear. I finally got it to go into 3rd and got home (in 3rd gear the whole way). Now the car won't come out of 3rd. The shifter feels like it is in neutral and will not go into another gear. When you let off the clutch the car goes forward as if in 3rd. I was so looking forward to cruising by the beach with the top down showing off my new car and not it is stuck in the driveway. Do you have any idea what could have happened?

It sounds like he's got it completely stuck in one gear. Could be a stop plate problem -- but why would the stop plate go out of adjustment abruptly like this? Perhaps the coupler? Broken hockey stick inside the nose cone? This one has me a bit stumped.