first gear hard to find

How does it go into reverse when it's cold versus hot?

 

It sounds like your shift lever base is out of adjustment just very slightly and heating up it  allows things to find 1'st - 2'nd easier.

 

I would like to know how it does with reverse when cold, but anyway try loosening the two bolts holding the shift lever mount to the central tunnel just enough to allow a slight movement, then move the entire base to the right about 1/16" - 1/8".

 

Tighten everything up and try a road test.  If that fixes it, you're done.  If not, loosen it again, and move it left about 3/16" - 1/4" (going back to the original place and then left another 1/16" - 1/8").

 

What you're trying to do is find the "sweet spot" inside the transmission where the shift actuator (it looks like a hockey stick with an end about the size of your pinky finger) engages with the shift forks (little do-dads that look like tiny flags with a big, horizontal slot in the middle) to pull the fork out (2'nd) and push them in (1'st).  Just remember that there are three shift forks in there (reverse, 1-2 and 3-4) so messing with the shift lever base affects all of them and you're looking for a happy medium where they all engage properly. 

 

As you move the shift lever base left and right, it causes the hockey stick to move slightly more inside of the tranny and become more centered (or less so, if you choose the wrong direction) on the shift forks and either shifts better or less so until you get them centered. You're looking to get the lever centered in a range of motion such that it engages either of the available forks more-or-less equally.

 

How I just described it is how the original VW mechanics did it and, yes, it is trial-and-error.

 

Good luck.

 

Gordon

The Speedstah Guy from Grafton 

When I installed my CSP shifter I had trouble getting aligned.  The best advice I got was from Cory Drake.  Put it in neutral, unbolt it, and reinstall where neutral naturally wants to be.  The rest of the gears will take care of themselves.

That actually works well.  When you first get it into neutral, look at where the shift lever sits.  Is it straight up and down or slightly off to one side?  It should be pretty much straight up and down and then should engage the forks better.

 

Thanks, Tom, for jogging my old, tired memory.

I can attest this works very well. I credit a smooth install to Tom walking me through on the phone and advice from Cory. Very simple to do!

Thanks for the advice, I will have a go at it when the winter ends.
Peter

Peter,

 

It is a VW thing.  The fluids are cold and thick and once they get moving it thins to make shifting easier.  Actually, it is not just a VW thing but all manual transmissions I have had do that in the winter.  My 1993 Toyota truck shifts stiff until warm.

 

Stephen