Hi Guys,
Thus this sounds familiar to somebody?
When in reverse, with running engine, sometimes I can't shift back to neutral or other gear, because the clutch is not operated by the servo/control unit.
It happens mostly after driving. E.g. comming home after a ride, shift into reverse on driveway, back up and then it won't come out of reverse.
When we shut the engine down we can shift back to neutral, start the car and all works fine again.
It never does it when the car is just started, always after a ride.
Problem was there before I put in the new engine.
Just to be clear, you never have a problem shifting INTO reverse, just trying to shift out of it?
It seems that the control valve isn't working ??? when You move the gear shifter.... I haven't heard of any one having that problem before....
as it is working so You can select reverse....
even more odd that it only happens in Your shed!!! not when parking etc...
Lee
Quote from: sb001 on 07 May 2018, 16:09
Just to be clear, you never have a problem shifting INTO reverse, just trying to shift out of it?
Correct: It only happens trying to shift out of reverse.
Quote from: 68autobug on 08 May 2018, 06:44
that it only happens in Your shed!!! not when parking etc...
Not only in the shed, also when parking, but always after a drive.
I do like trouble shooting, but this is getting strange. ::)
Does it help if you rev the gas when trying to shift out of reverse?
I am thinking two things here- #1, the idle speed in gear is too low and causing problems trying to shift out but it is OK in neutral trying to shift INTO gear. However I would think this would affect the other gears as well.
#2, it's possible that the contacts at the base of the shifter are out of alignment such that it allows you to shift into reverse but has trouble shifting out of it (i.e. pulling the gear stick back does not make the contacts touch to activate the control valve and disengage the clutch.) And it doesn't affect the other gears.
Other than those two options I;m out of ideas- if it was having trouble shifting into reverse as well as out, or if the other gears were being affected, I might have a few more options. I CAN tell you that when my clutch diaphragm developed a small tear in it, it seemed to affect reverse more than the other gears BUT it did make it extremely difficult to shift INTO gear as well as out, AND it affected the other gears, so I don't think it's that. I'm eager to hear the diagnosis!!
Now that is really strange.... Cannot get out of reverse when parking after a run... it doesn't crunch going into reverse????
The only thing I can think of is the contact points, not working when You try to go OUT of REVERSE....
which would mean the points are burnt on one place, which is where You try to go out of reverse... VERY ODD though...
The worst case would be something in the gearbox or the selector...
I wonder if the cause could be the nylon bush on the gear shaft under the gear shifter??? it is worn enough to stop the points being selected to go OUT of reverse, remembering that reverse is in a completely different position... DOWN & forwards....?????
or the only other thing could be a worn reverse lock out plate under the gearshifter....
LEE
Finally had some time to look into the issue. Problem was caused by to much distance between the sensor (contact) in the gear shifter.
Glad you got it resolved!!
Quote from: paulheger on 16 July 2018, 22:36
Finally had some time to look into the issue. Problem was caused by to much distance between the sensor (contact) in the gear shifter.
That was a really odd problem that I haven't heard of before... Great to see You have found it..
Lee in Australia
ok, I'm hijacking this to ask a dumb question. When your bug is turned off, i.e. ignition off, can you (or should you be able to) shift the autostick into different gears?
Andrew
Yes, just like a regular manual box, mine does.
Yes, like a manual gear shifter but the clutch needs to work when the gear shifter is moved and the electrical points connect as you move it...
Good to see You know the what the problem was...
Guess what folks! I am now having the exact same problem as the OP here! :P
This has happened twice now in a week- drove to work (about a 40 minute drive), no problems at all shifting in forward gears between Drive 1 and Drive 2 while driving, BUT when I got to work and pulled into the parking lot and stopped, I tried pulling the gear shifter out of Drive 1 to shift into reverse to back into my parking space-- lo and behold the shifter would NOT pull out of Drive 1! I was blocking traffic so I tugged and tugged and finally jerked it out of Drive 1 (and ground the gears a bit in the process.) Then it went into reverse just fine so I backed into my parking space, but then again sure enough when I tried to pull it back out of reverse and into neutral it would NOT pull out of gear again! >:(
This time I simply shut the car off so I could pull it out of reverse, then I turned the car back on and it shifted into AND OUT OF every gear just fine!
Considering the OP's resolution to this problem I guess it's time to check my contact gap!
This brings up a question though-- should you be able to actually rotate the upper section of the gear shift lever freely even when installed on the car? I did this before turning the car back on and am wondering if this somehow brought the two contacts into closer proximity with each other.
Take a look at this diagram:
(https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1808018.jpg)
The upper part of the gear stick lever (#2) just goes through the adjuster sleeve and is not really connected to anything else. See how the adjuster sleeve locknut (#10) is on the bottom side of the adjuster sleeve (#6)? From what I can tell that locknut should thread down over the bottom section of the shifter (#11) and then the adjuster sleeve screws down over the housing and tightens up against the locknut, which keeps the upper and lower sections of the shifter together. But there is nothing I can see that would prevent you from "twisting" the upper section of the gear stick around once it's installed- the bottom part of it (with the upper contact protruding just a bit) just rests on top of that spring (#7) inside the bottom section of the shifter. Is this correct? Can all of you freely rotate the upper part of your shift lever around while installed on the car?
If this is the case it should not theoretically bring the contacts closer to each other since the upper contact will always be riding on that spring.
Upper part turns freely when installed, does not change the distance.
The problem with mine was not solved.
Yours seems the same, but only with me it only happens while in reverse and wanting to shift out of reverse. Indeed, killing the engine free's the gearbox from reverse. With mine it is always blocked in reverse now.
It seemed fixed for a couple of times after readjusting the senor in the stick lever. Then was back again, tried to re-adjust, but this didn't help anymore.
Did not have time to sort it out yet, and as it only happens in reverse to me, my driving became a work around (don't back-up...)
If I can find some time this weekend I will join you in the search...
Hi Paul, I feel your pain I once had a chevy cavalier that the reverse gear went out on, I had to drive it for a couple weeks making sure to either park facing uphill so I could roll back, or park away from the store so no one would park in front of me. Wouldn't you know it the day before I was to get it fixed some yahoo decided to park right in front of me with numerous other parking spots available-- I had to push roll the car backwards out of the spot.
Anyway, your issue is interesting since it was fixed at least temporarily every time you adjusted the contacts- seems that it still has to be the contacts or the way the upper gear shifter section is sitting in relation to the lower part-- I can't think of anything else that would allow you to go into reverse and all the other gears just fine, and ONLY prevent you from pulling the shifter out of reverse! I wonder if the wire attached to the lower contact has come loose from the contact, or broken inside the housing? Perhaps it simply still touches the contact or the other section of wire when you shift down and forward but then is separated again when you try to pull the shift lever back out...?
If You undo the top locking nut You should be able to turn the top of the gear shifter...
You cannot turn the complete gear shifter around as at the bottom there is a round pin that located the gear shifter so the points ONLY work when the gear shifter is moved backwards or forwards... and doesn't do anything when moved sideways... like if You knock the gear shifter with Your knee... lol
You May NEED to adjust the clutch... there is a clutch adjuster on the LHS of the gearbox connected to the clutch arm...
Undo the lock nut, and turn the center piece [adjuster] inwards 1/2 a turn, and check if everything works... if it all works OK.. tighten the locknut on the adjuster...
If You still have problems selecting gears [making sure the contact points are clean & working correctly] then turn the adjuster center piece another 1/2 a turn and tighten the locknut....
I hope that helps..
Lee in Australia
Quote from: 68autobug on 04 October 2018, 08:35
If You undo the top locking nut You should be able to turn the top of the gear shifter...
You cannot turn the complete gear shifter around as at the bottom there is a round pin that located the gear shifter so the points ONLY work when the gear shifter is moved backwards or forwards... and doesn't do anything when moved sideways... like if You knock the gear shifter with Your knee... lol
Interesting as I don't seem to have that locating pin nor do I see it on the diagram I posted... could it have been added in later years?
I also don't have a top locknut (above the adjuster sleeve)-- only one underneath as that diagram shows. If you look at the diagram posted:
(https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1808018.jpg)
the top portion of the shift lever (#2) simply goes through a hole in the adjuster sleeve (#6), it doesn't "lock" to it in any way. It goes through the adjuster sleeve and then the bottom end of it (i.e. the upper contact) rides on top of the contact housing spring (#7.) So when you slide the adjuster sleeve down over the bottom portion of the gear shifter (#11) and secure it with that locknut on the bottom (#10) you are just compressing that spring which holds the upper gear shift part in place height-wise (i.e. in relation to the lower contact), but there is nothing preventing you from swiveling that top portion of the gear stick all the way around. If I am missing something here then please let me know!
Hi,
at the bottom of the gear lever there should be a pin pointing towards the front... this is needed to have the gears in their correct position.
moving the lever forwards and backwards activates the clutch via the gear shifter points...the points will need cleaning and adjusting every few years..
not very often.... if the pin is missing from the bottom of the gear shifter lever, the gear shifter can move in all directions... something it cannot do, mainly because there is a wire coming out the lower side of it.... also, the long shaft that goes back to the gearbox has a spring located under the oval plate under the rear seat,,, this pulls the shaft to one side... So, the gear shifter knob is always on the RHS , so You just move forward to drive 1 and backwards to drive 2... and You need to pull the gear shifter over to the LHS to find LOW gear and reverse gear.... but if there wasn't any locating pin in the bottom, then none of this would work correctly.... also check the wire coming from the bottom of the gear lever, it usually needs replacing. I found it easy to solder a new wire to the original points.. and clean them up....
The main reason You cannot get out of reverse is : the control valve is NOT getting the electrical signal from the gear shifter electrical points...
so, it cannot activate the CLUTCH so You can move the gears......
LEE in Australia
I seem to be having some trouble with shifting OUT of reverse too... as the OP said, after my car has been running a while.
Put in new contact points, adjusted by hand tightening the threaded collar and then backing off a half turn.
Still gets hung up when I want to shift out of R
Thoughts?
Hi,
You need to adjust the adjuster located on the LH side of the gearbox.... You need to undo the thread...of the locking nut then tighten the adjuster 1/2 a turn or more... that will fix the problem of selecting Reverse which is the first gear to play up when the clutch isn't engaging fast enough.... Just turn the center piece of the adjuster 1/2 a turn tighter...... I need to do this on My Beetle too....
cheers
Lee in Australia..
I have a '74 w/the Park feature... and Reverse is forward/left... no down.
Is that adjuster common to all autosticks?
BTW-you're not referring to adjusting the servo?
Thanks Lee!
Yes, I was meaning the servo adjuster.....
I wasn't sure which one You were talking about....
The gear shifter doesn't need to be be adjusted often... once it is operating OK.... then it should be OK for a long time....
So, the clutch servo adjuster.... 1/4 to 1/2 a turn tighter on the adjuster....
LEE
Instead of the suggested 1/2 turn for adjusting the shifter contact points, I tried 1/3 turn instead.
Initially, I still had trouble getting out of R... but it hasn't been an issue in several weeks. Keeping an eye on it though.
Hi,
Yes a 1/3rd adjusting is fine or even 1/2 a turn.... so You can carefully select Reverse with out crunching....
I used to always crunch when going into reverse but My Wife never ever crunches????
Once You fix the selecting of reverse , all the other gears will be OK....
Lee in Australia..
Sorry for getting back so late...all other gears are fine. Even going INTO reverse.
After adjusting the back off (of a 1/3 turn) getting OUT of reverse is no longer a problem. Finicky beasts these are!
tHAT IS ALL IT TAKES.... A BIT OF FINE ADJUSTMENT.....