Hi, I'm a relatively new autostick beetle owner. I have a 69 autostick. I've had it for 2 1/2 years now. First year it wouldn't shift gears and needed a new servo repair kit. Worked fine until this week.
Now it jumps out of gear when you aren't shifting or touching the stick. This happens in first and second gear. Any troubleshooting ideas on what this can be?
Ps We have 4 beetles and a 1970 bus. Only 1 autostick.
Thanks,
Kathe
Hopefully someone may be able to help You Kathe..
sounds like something may be worn in the nose of the gearbox..
allowing it to jump out,,
Fingers crossed, it will be an easy fix...
Lee
My brother is the mechanic for all our beetles. He's been working on beetles for 15 years. But doesn't know anything about an autostick. Has anyone else had this problem?
Thanks,
Kathe
Hiya Kathe,
Welcome to the forum!
Popping out of gear is a sign that you have an "out of spec" problem. This is true of AutoSticks as well as manuals. The problem here is just exactly where that problem is.
You mention that this happens only in First (upper right in the shift pattern) and Second (lower right in the shift pattern). Does this occur when you are putting a load on the engine? Or is this something that happens randomly; for example, sitting at idle? Any problem with reverse?
And what happens to your shift lever when this popping out of gear occurs? Does it stay in position or does it pop out into nuetral?
Whoops! And another thought just occured............are your tranny mounts in good shape?
And a couple of final questions.........have you checked the gear oil level in the transmission case? Have you ever had the opportunity to look inside the bellhousing to check the clutch components?
Hi All,
My AS has started to jump out of gear too. It started to kick out of high gear when under acceleration. At first is was very occasional, but it has gradually worsened to where it always jumps out. A very light touch on the shifer will hold it in gear without disengaging the clutch. Does this mean something that is non-terminal to you Bookwus? I have had other cars that jumped out of gear (not VW) and the fix was always new gears, synchros and sliders. I don't think service parts are available for AS internals, are they?
Bigpapa/Kathe,
If everything Mike suggested doesn't help, it's a fair certainty your problem lies inside.
Kathe, the A-S box is *fairly* similar internally to a manual box (forgetting the clutch section that is..). Parts do interchange, but there are a few that don't.
I would ask Bruce (PM him) as he is a trans guru .
It may wind up cheaper in the long run to buy a second hand semi-auto box of the same vintage.
HTH
Volkenstein
My 69 jumps out of gear into neutral when you are accelerating. It also happens in 2nd gear too.
Checked the oil and cleaned the filter.
Kathe
Here's a clairification. On the 69, the clutch fails to disengage while driving or while driving the clutch engages intermittedly. Happens in 1st and 2nd gear. Low and reverse seems to be ok.
Sorry, popping out of gear wasn't an accurate description. 2 other regular beetle mechanics nailed me on this one.
Kathe
Hiya Kathe,
Quote from: Kathe on 05 August 2008, 20:11
Here's a clairification. On the 69, the clutch fails to disengage while driving or while driving the clutch engages intermittedly. Happens in 1st and 2nd gear. Low and reverse seems to be ok.
Sorry, popping out of gear wasn't an accurate description.
Hmmmm..........this sounds more like you are having problems with the clutch assembly. I'd check to see if you any more adjust left in your clutch freeplay. If you do not then it's time look inside the bellhousing. If you do have room for a clutch adjustment go ahead and do it. That may make a difference for you. If it does not you're back to getting inside the bellhousing. Could be that your pressure plate is giving up the ghost.
Hiya bigpapa,
It's very likely to be non-terminal.
But that does not mean there won't be work done and money spent.
I'm thinking that there are likely two causes for the popping out...........
1. Your nose tranny mount is giving up the ghost. This is something that can be inspected by you (or your mechanic). If your front mount is shot it can be replaced. New mounts can be had.
2. You have an internal problem with the tranny. As Sean suggested, the best course for more information here is to contact Bruce via e-mail. He can give you a pretty good idea of what's going on inside the transmission.
Non-fatal injury is generally preferred...I picked up a junkyard trans out of a 69, it looks very much like my 68 except for an extra sender near where the hoses hook up. I plan to swap it in and see what happens. I will inspect the front mount for both before installation. The rear mounts on the junker fell apart after removal so the front may very well be deteriorated too.
I don't know who Bruce is. I would like to get more information about what can be done on the insides.
Bigpapa,
Bruce is his username on this board. He frequents www.shoptalkforums.com and www.thesamba.com as "Bruce" & "Bruce2". As I said, a transmission guru. There are schematics and cut-aways in the Bentley Manuals, but for hard core hands on experience gained over the years - Bruce is your man for advice. He is in Canada though, so not easily accessible. You could post whatever questions you have in the Transaxle forum over at STF and the lads (Pablo/Dangerous/Bruce/KCR/Marc etc etc) will point you in the right direction.
QuoteI picked up a junkyard trans out of a 69, it looks very much like my 68 except for an extra sender near where the hoses hook up.
Hmmm...Sure the one (in your '68) hasn't had a plug or broken unit in there? Sounds suspiciously like the trans got replaced by a later one already, or at least the Bellhousing. I've posted a pic somewhere here of where the gearbox code is (maybe on the OLD board?). You could read it off and post up what it is?
HTH
Volkenstein
Well the 69 is fixed thanks to my other mechanic. The points were screwed up (the fiberglass had deterioriated) and a wire had popped loose. Picked the parts up from a junk yard so very inexpensive to fix.
Thanks for your assistance. It was key to the repair. You guys really know auto-sticks.
Thanks, Kathe
Quote from: bigpapa on 06 August 2008, 04:42
Non-fatal injury is generally preferred...I picked up a junkyard trans out of a 69, it looks very much like my 68 except for an extra sender near where the hoses hook up. I plan to swap it in and see what happens. I will inspect the front mount for both before installation. The rear mounts on the junker fell apart after removal so the front may very well be deteriorated too.
all the front gearbox mounts I have seen were in great shape..
and I also believe that Your gearbox was a later one with only one temperature sender..
the 68-69 gearboxes had two senders - one for drive 1 and Drive 2..
it was later found that the ATF doesn't overheat in Drive 1..
so only one temperature sender...
cheers
LEE
Both my front mounts look good. The rear mounts are questionable, I'm glad I bought new ones.
You are correct the transmission that was in the car is a BE code out of a later year. The BA that I'm putting in should be like the original. We'll just have to see if it works!