PLEASE HELP? gear stick fallen through gator

hi,
new member looking for some help.
recently bought a mk1 gti needing tlc. Main problem is to do with the selector i have been told. Basicly the gearstick has dropped down through the gator, gears can be selected but with difficulty (if you jiggle the gearstick enough you can find the gear) Can anyone help me with this problem, is it a selector problem? what needs to be done if it is? what else could it be?
Thanks Igloo2000 :dontknow:  :dontknow:  

Easy fix mate!! Chances are if you take off the gaitor you'll see at bottom of gear stick a spring above the bearing plate. At top of the spring is a circlip which sits in a grove around the gearstick shaft and keeps the spring in place.

I guess this has popped out allowing you to push the gear stick down through the spring.

You can clip it back in but it may well go again so worth buying a new one for pennies from VW and fitting it! (Get circlip pliers to for ease!!!)

Also check under the car. If you have pushed the stick right down, you will have probably poppoed out a plastic disc which sits in the rubber boot underneath the stick under the car. IF you don't replace it you'll get all sorts of crub/water finding its way in.

I talk from experience - and was lucky that my plastic disc fell out on my drive!!

May be worth checking all of the gear linkage too in case worn

Cheers
Andy

Seconded!!!

 
Dan

hi, thanks for the suggestion of checking if the circlip is still intact, unfortunatley the problem is not that simple… the circlip is still holding the spring in position and is not the problem, i have removed the gaitor and i cant see anything obvious, gears can be found but the stick can be lifted up and down and is 'sloppy'. it may be something underneath the car, although i cant see anything obvious, it seems like there should be something to hold the stick in position but there  is nothing  to do so???
please help if u can make sense of my jibberish, thanks matt :dontknow:

Sounds like the plastic ball that supports the stick has broken. Below the circlip should be a plastic ball in a metal socket that the stick passes through. This ball and socket mechanism stops the stick falling through the floor. Have bits broken out of the ball or is it in pieces?

Cheers