1st & Reverse?

I have noticed a few times that every once in a while my car doesn't want to go into 1st or reverse very easily. If I am trying to put it in reverse, it will start to grind. 1st feels almost as if it the shifter is out of position. If I shut the car off and put it into either gear and restart, it works fine. It sounds to me like the synchronizers are uhh... outa sync. What do 'yall think?

Or clutch no totally disengaged?

Clutch cable may be stretched a bit and not totally disengaging?
Where's the pedal postion ?

Have a 'gander' at this too;

http://www.vw-resource.com/transmission_troubleshooting.html

Isn't reverse and first the same gear? Could be some alignment issue.

The clutch was another thought I had... it is all the way to the floor. How do I go about checking it for proper adjustment?

Thanks,

Mark

I had the same problem on a Celica some years back, and it was the pilot bearing binding. Most cars don't have a synchronized reverse, and the pilot bearing would keep the gears spinning if the car was in neutral, even with the clutch disengaged. First was quite stiff, but didn't grind because it was synchronized, while reverse was a real bear, with grinding and stiffness. Unfortunately on a VW that means pulling the engine to get at.

if you hear thundering hooves on the horizon, don't think zebras..... in this case, if it grinds going into 1st or reverse, the clutch is not fully disengaged. And the very most likely cause of that problem is the adjustment of the pressure plate/clutch cable/throwout bearing. If you have a standard cable, rather than a hydraulic clutch assembly, there should be a large wing nut on the adjustment. There needs to be a small amount of pedal travel before the throw out bearing touches the pressure plate release fingers. How much? I personally shoot for no more than 1/4-1/2" travel of the pedal before the throw out bearing contacts the fingers. How can you tell when that happens? On my car I can move the throw out arm by turning the arm manually until it contacts the fingers, you can feel it when it contacts....I am using a hydraulic system on my car as well as a 2100# Kennedy pressure plate, but the adjustments are the same.....

Thanks guys for the replies - I definitely think I will check the clutch first, then go from there.

Mark

I have another question. My chassis is a '69 Beetle, so it has the adjusting nuts instead of the wing nut. I am wondering that while I am under the car, if I can just change out the adjusting nuts for a wing nut. Or should I just get the clutch cable adjusted and leave well enough alone?

Well that seemed to be pretty easy(which frightens me!). I measured the play in the pedal, and by my best calculations it seemed to be about 1.5" of play. So I got under the car and made the appropriate adjustments and it now looks as if it is within proper limits. I could definitely tell there was more clutch to play with the first time I put it in gear! And no grinding whatsoever! Thanks again for your suggestions.


Mark

here is a pic of the flap

mark,
i had this problem as I got to the Paso show. called John at JPS and he walked Warren and i thru two things. The first was to take off the rubber boot covering the shifter and adjust and tighten the nut with i beleive a 13mm. this did no good. The second which worked and I have had no problems since was use an 8mm wrench and tighten two nuts or srews that are under the little cover you can peel back on the hump between the seats in the rear. One was very loose and this solved my problem

Thanks Gerd - I will take a look at both of those if the problem persists. BTW - love the picture of you and Warren at Paso!

Picture caption...

"...gosh, Gerd, before now I never realized how blue your eyes are!"

"...I'm telling ya, Warren, everyone THINKS we're adjusting this shift linkage. They'll NEVER know we're blazing a doob (cough, cough)!"

"...Gerd that's the 30th time we've heard the Beatles 'Taxman'. Turn off that CD player or I'll have to give ya a Fresh One!"

Glad to hear it was something simple - and not the thing I suggested (ewww).