Stuck in 1st Gear

Maybe the clutch isn't releasing.

long shot, maybe linkage is jammed or broken or clutch cable is stretched or cut.

I'd too look at the clutch cable.  Have someone push the clutch pedal while you look at the arm on the transaxle that pushes throw-out bearing for the clutch pressure plate.  If no movement or very little - clutch cable.

Gotta pretty much pull engine to get to the transaxle.  Sometime the carbs and exhaust before it comes out and drops down.

@Cartod

First try rocking the car back and forth with the car still in gear (forward and rearward with e-brake off) and see if that allows you to shift into neutral.

Won’t allow me to get to neutral.  Clutch seems fine I started it and took it into my basement to put it on a lift.  I’ll lift it this weekend to check cable but it’s jammed in first pretty good.

Also check and see if the shift rod is still connected.

^^That^^

No one has asked if the shift lever is moving, but nothing is happening with gear changes.  

This may be a long shot, but Pull up the carpet on top of the center tunnel, just behind the seats, and remove the metal tunnel cover to see the shift rod coupler (one screw at the front, pry he cover up and pull out towards the front).

Most likely, the coupler set screw(s) have loosened up, allowing the coupler to “float” and not really move the actual shift rod into the transaxle.  The shift rod must be able to rotate (left/right) and move in and out to select the different gears.

Since it is stuck in first, I suspect that the coupler is loose and isn’t moving the shift actuator.  Not all that uncommon, too, truth be told, but totally worth checking out.  If so, push your shift lever over to the left and approximately where you think first should be, then go back to the coupler and tighten the lock screws and that should get you in the shifting ballpark.

Good luck!

Is the lever moving?  If yes, check the coupler.

Shift lever is not moving it’s stuck tight in first gear.  Clutch is working fine, I can drive the car but only in 1st gear.

@Cartod wrote: "What kind of job is it to pull the transmission?"

To get the transaxle out, you have to start by removing the engine:

Get the car up on jack stands and disconnect the battery.
Remove the fuel hoses and electrical wires

Remove the big, lower pipes from the heater boxes.

Remove the four bolts holding the engine to the transmission at the bellhousing
Then slide it back about 6"-8" and then let it down.  All that takes about 90 minutes or so.

It helps to use a roll-around motorcycle jack because the jack holds the engine more-or-less level coming out or going back in.  Once it's lowered down, you'll have to tilt the engine back so that the alternator/fan housing clears the body unless you have a lift, then just raise the car up to clear the engine.

Once the engine is out, then the next step depends on whether it is a swing-arm or IRS rear suspension.  For Swing arm you need to disconnect the e-brake cables and brake lines at the brake drum/disk and take everything out as a unit.  For IRS, simply remove the drive axles and leave the drums/disks in place.

Disconnect the shift rod coupler in the central tunnel, disconnect the back-up light switch wire, remove the mount bolts at the nose cone (front) end of the transaxle, support it with a jack and remove the  two big bolts at the bellhousing, then lower it down and out.  That's another 30 minutes or so.

I may have missed something, but you get the idea.  It helps greatly if you have a lift.

If you pull it, you could check inside the nosecone housing to see if anything is broken, like the selector (it looks like a hockey stick and is a weak point).  If everything looks OK, then it's time to visit a repair shop.

Your profile says you're in West Virginia so maybe @Alan Merklin can recommend a transaxle shop in your area.  Otherwise, some of us ship them back to Rancho Transaxles in California (about $150 each way) and @DannyP on here sometimes works on them - He's in New York State but he's in the middle of race season and is probably quite busy.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

@Cartod wrote: "What kind of job is it to pull the transmission?"

To get the transaxle out, you have to start by removing the engine:

Thanks for taking the time to post that Gordon!  It’s a huge help.

The humming noise before its end is strange.  Might be worth pulling drain plug and draining fluid - a gear tooth or shiny metal particles coming out will give further evidence of internal failure.  Fortunately, there are a lot of rusted VW on East coast as a source for a replacement --- if you are just after a stock transaxle.  Check Facebook Market place or Craigslist for local sources.  This would get you through the Summer driving season - and old one could be sent for a rebuild.

Here's list of trans codes to assist in selecting a used one -

Aircooled Gearbox Code Reference Table - Limebug

Just a thought:

Why not remove the set screws from the shift coupler, or completely remove the coupler, and see if the lever is still stuck. We know it doesn't move now, but if it still won't move after being disconected from the transmission then the problem probably isn't in the transmission.

I know it's less likely, but it's easy to check before going down the route of ripping out engines and transaxles.   Making assumptions before starting mechanical work usually creates more work in the end.

@Cartod  You're in Parkersburg WV? We can fix you right up with the right ppl Do you know Tom Buchannon  - Parkersburg ?   Tom & I have both se the same trans guy in Dumbar WV he is the best in the area . 

@Cartod

If you have a swing axle and must remove the transmission, I have a few suggestions.

While the car is on the ground remove hubcaps and cotter pins and loosen the big 36mm axle nut. Failure to do this before engine and trans removal could be a headache. These birds are REALLY tight.

When pulling the trans I simply remove the backing plates intact with shoes and springs and ebrake cables attached. Much easier to reinstall, needing no brake bleeding. If you have discs, you can simply remove the caliper and pads only.

If you have IRS, none of this is necessary. You just remove the CV half shafts, motor, then finally the trans.

I had a trans stuck in second gear and it's probably the same thing. There are three little pawls and 2 springs that hold the pawls in place between the slider and the synchro hub. One of the pawls is probably bent, broken, or out of place. This locks the trans in gear, as you can't get it out.

@Cartod posted:

Shift lever is not moving it’s stuck tight in first gear.  Clutch is working fine, I can drive the car but only in 1st gear.

This same thing happened to me in high school, speed shifting from first to second trying to chirp the tires on my dad's '67 bug!  Boy, was he mad.  He had me drive it to a local VW shop (in first gear!) while he went ahead and waited.  The guy at the shop said it was a stuck hockey stick.

I found this really good description of the issue and the solution on the Samba:

"The tip of the hockey stick has come out of the 1-2 shift rod before the gearbox was fully out of 1st gear. Then the 1-2 shift rod popped back into 1st gear while the hockey stick was over in the 3-4 shift rod, or the R rod.

To fix this, jack the left side of the car up. Remove the left rear wheel. Remove the oil filler plug from the gearbox and look in the hole. Locate the large diameter straight cut gear. This is the 1-2 slider (aka operating sleeve). With a screwdriver, you need to GENTLY pry on it to move it towards the front of the car. If it tries to cock, you will need to turn the shaft. You can do this with a couple of helpers. One to hold the clutch pedal on the floor, while the other turns the rear wheel."

The car shifted fine after this repair and I slowed down on the speed shifting!!

Yes, this can happen with a VERY worn hockey stick. But not often.

It's not easy on a Speedster to remove the nosecone to fix this the other way. In order to remove the nosecone you need to remove the trans if James method doesn't work.

Thanks James.  This will be great if it works!  I’ll will attempt this my next free weekend.

So today I removed the 17mm transmission bolt and drained the oil out.  It was 20 year old milky black sludge.  It’s still draining as I type and I’m going to let it drip overnight and tomorrow I’ll put a bore scope in their to see if I can make heads or tails out of what I see.   The magnetic plug didn’t have any metal on it but the gear oil was really chunky sludge.   If I can fix it I feel like it needs flushed.  All help still appreciated.

@DannyP posted:

I had a trans stuck in second gear and it's probably the same thing. There are three little pawls and 2 springs that hold the pawls in place between the slider and the synchro hub. One of the pawls is probably bent, broken, or out of place. This locks the trans in gear, as you can't get it out.

What did you end up doing?

Milky means water got in there!  Trans oil does smell awful.

Did you take nose cone off?  That's where you should start. Guess Varol or kerosene could be used to flush.

Now I see where everything is!   Thanks Wolfgang.  Before I remove the nose cone I’m going to try the trick above to see if I can get it unstuck.  I assume to remove the nose cone I’m going to need to drop the engine.   F***!

@Cartod posted:

So today I removed the 17mm transmission bolt and drained the oil out.  It was 20 year old milky black sludge.  It’s still draining as I type and I’m going to let it drip overnight and tomorrow I’ll put a bore scope in their to see if I can make heads or tails out of what I see.   The magnetic plug didn’t have any metal on it but the gear oil was really chunky sludge.   If I can fix it I feel like it needs flushed.  All help still appreciated.

The pictures are from the drain bolt. What James was telling you was to look inside the FILLER hole.

The pics show the reverse idler gear and mainshaft coupler. That looks normal.

@Cartod posted:

What did you end up doing?

Complete disassembly, parts replacement, and reassembly is the only way to fix the damage I had. I had bent/broken parts.

@Cartod posted:

Now I see where everything is!   Thanks Wolfgang.  Before I remove the nose cone I’m going to try the trick above to see if I can get it unstuck.  I assume to remove the nose cone I’m going to need to drop the engine.   F***!

Yup. If you remove the nosecone, you can possibly put the three rails into neutral and re-engage the hockey stick into the rails and put it back together.

If you find the rail cannot be moved out of first, complete teardown is your only alternative.

@WOLFGANG posted:

Milky means water got in there!  Trans oil does smell awful.

Did you take nose cone off?  That's where you should start. Guess Varol or kerosene could be used to flush.

Greg, I'm not picking on you, here. But seriously, have you ever rebuilt a VW trans? Or have you just combed the internet and soaked up some stuff? There's a difference.

@Cartod If what James is saying happened the "hockey stick" slipped between the parts 16,17,18 in the above diagram. Only ONE shift rail can move at a time(Mostly, but you can engage 3 or 4 and reverse at the same time. I do this when torqueing the main and pinion shaft locknuts{86 ft./lbs. then loosen and re-torque to 43}) But in your case if 1st is engaged no other shift rails can move.

Danny - No transaxles just Bugeye Sprite trans and helped with AH 3000 trans.  Ha, and an Opel Rallye trans which I drained in a shower stall in college dorm.  Several gear teeth fell out - so replaced it with a $100 junkyard one.  Just wanted to point him to the right end of the transaxle to find hockey stick.

Okay.. I guess the real question is did you sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night? LOL!

Some good reading for @Cartod here:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/fo...amp;return_chars=200

This is a hockey stick:

https://www.mooreparts.com/emp...-79-w-synchro-trans/

This is a nosecone:

https://www.mooreparts.com/tra...tEAQYAiABEgK9RPD_BwE

Neither of these were pictured in Greg's photo. The little ball on the business end of the hockey stick MUST go in the U-shaped area of the shift rails in Greg's picture.

My trans worked perfectly, shifting and such, but when I went to change out the oil, I found a very large piece of a ring gear tooth laying at the bottom of the case. A long day at the elbow of a guy who knows all there is to know about how to do this stuff, and the two of us had the engine and trans out.  IRS rear drive. A week or so at the transmission whisperer's shop near by, a pretty big check written to him for his parts and service, and another long day putting it all back together.  Unless you can get 100% convinced that the issue is in the external shift linkage vs inside the case, I'd recommend to bite the bullet and get the whole thing refurbished by someone who knows his shyt and can verify the degree to which that JPS "beefed up" trans was really beefed up.  I have a JPS and I run a 2332 and have the HD Freeway Flyer -- or so it says on my bill of sale.  My trans rebuilder found a number of parts in there that he said he replaced with stouter equipment.  And if you tie up with Merklin The Magician you will get the best advice and info available.

Update on transmission:  

after trying the doityourself method I decided to take it to a highly reputable shop in Columbus Ohio a few hours away.   After dropping the engine and removing the trans they said there were numerous things wrong with it and it’s not worth rebuilding.   I suspect when JPS mated this transmission up to the 2.0 liter type 4 he lacked a proper transmission (even though the build sheet stated HD trans $425 ).  I think someone in this post guessed this exact scenario.  

I’m having a new transmission put in next week, having the ride height adjusted and bringing it back home.  Love this little car but it’s an early JPS and I’ll be nice and say he was in his learning stages and I believe he was the first to drop/ squeeze in the 2.0 VW engine.

2-liter air cooled engines have been around since the late 1960's (at least).  

Hell....  I had a 2,110cc in my 1957 VW sedan in 1970!   HD VW transaxles date back that far, too, because some of us (@ALB, not me, of course) used to race against Detroit V8s back in the day and could sometimes surprise them with hole shots

The builder of your car knew exactly what he was doing - Selling more than he was installing has been a common thread with him because you can't tell what's in there once it's put together.

@Gordon Nichols posted:

The builder of your car knew exactly what he was doing - Selling more than he was installing has been a common thread with him because you can't tell what's in there once it's put together.

Trust is everything when you can’t see exactly what you are getting.  That’s why if someone does wrong, it should be well publicized, so others don’t get taken in by a fancy sales pitch.

What transmission should I put in it?  

Well, that depends...

What size engine do you have?  I ask, because that answer will determine your final drive ratio (ring and pinion ratio) and a few other things.

If your engine is a 1915 or smaller, then a stock VW transaxle with stock gearing 1-4 should suffice.  That should give you a 4:11 final ratio and at 70MPH with the same tires most of us run the engine will be turning 3,500+ RPM which some may think as fast, but it makes the fan move a lot of air to cool the engine, too.  The lower, 4:11 rear ratio will make each gear seem "peppier" so it will almost feel like you have a bigger engine, but your top end will be limited to 80MPH at 4,000 rpm.  I'm assuming that you have a .89 fourth gear for those numbers.

If you have a 2,110cc or larger, you could opt for a stronger transaxle, like a Pro street with a few (mostly labor intensive) upgrades to handle more horsepower.  You should also opt for a 3:88 final drive ratio, which will have the engine turning 3,250-ish at 70mph with that same .89 fourth gear.  

You could ask about a 3:88 in a stock-geared transaxle, but realize that as you gear the final ratio higher (lower numbers), you will feel a decrease in performance in each gear.  A 1915 can push a .89/3:88 combo but you'll lose a little "snap" in performance going through the gears.

So that's your choices.   Selecting gear ratios is somewhat like choosing oil and everyone will have an opinion.  Either way, these guys are very good and I've bought two transaxles from them.  Call them up and talk about how you expect to drive and they should be able to recommend a good combo for you.

https://ranchotransaxles.com/vw-transaxles/

You'll need to know your engine size and horsepower(exact is good but seat of the pants works too). That and driving style(predominant use and terrain) will get you there. Interstate cruising, back road twisties, mountain twisties, city stoplight to stoplight, etc.

135 hp 2.0 liter type 4 with 130fp of torque. It had the 3:88 in it and it was plenty down low. I’d like to stay with that ratio just wondering the best place to source it.  I see them for around $1,700 -$2500.   Not sure where/ who to buy from.

Yup - go to that link I sent up above for Rancho.  They are very good and stand behind their products.  Call direct and tell them about the engine and what you had for a transaxle and how you expect to drive and they will suggest your best options.  They will take in rebuildable transaxles as a core, too, to lessen the overall cost.  IIRC, my last one cost me around $150 to ship the core from Mass. to CA, you cost may vary.  

BTW: I've been to their shop and the entire operation is a class act.  They do a LOT more than lowly VW transaxles.

Good luck!

I've got a Rancho transaxle with a 0.93 4th gear and a 3.44 differential coupled to a 2,332cc motor rated at 145 hp.  These transaxle ratios are well suited to this motor, allowing me to cruise at 75mph at 3,300rpm for hours.   

Jason