Car stuck in gear

So, after a bit of work on the car, I went for a quick 10 minute drive. As I come back home and drive inside the garage, I have to reverse a bit to go straight inside the garage… and then I cannot get the car to move forward again. When in first gear, the car will try to drive forward, but something is locking up. Second gear is the same. Neutral is the same, when trying to push the car. I can still put it in reverse and go backwards. I jacked up the left front  corner of the car and tried to rotate the wheel by hand, with the car in neutral. Backwards the wheel moves freely, but forward it's kind of clunky. It I move it back and forward a bit, I can sometimes rotate the tire 1/4 of a round, but mostly it won't move.

What am I looking at here?
Gearbox still has oil, and the oil doesn't smell burned - it's nice and clean, when checked through the speedo cable hole.

Have you checked all the linkage rods are connected as they can pop off if worn and you can get stuck in a gear.

I had the wife sitting in the car changing gears, while I had my eyes on the linkage - all seemed to be moving. 
I will take it apart tomorrow though - had to get away from the car,  before I got tempted to find a good 2kg hammer and vent my frustration.

Yes sounds like linkage issue. Has the gear lever dropped down like through floor? Missing the gate/ rubber ,my father in law presses down too much when reversing gear pushed it off circ clip

Gear linkage OK. I can see the gear selector change position, when i change through the gears. Reverse can also be selected, and the reverse light switches on.

Any other suggestions?

When I had a similar issue, I removed all the linkages by hand, then manually shifted all the linkages on the tranny….to verify that it actually would shift in all positions by hand and I could feel the shafts engage.

The Dub by nature is very hard to gauge the positive effect by the stick as there is usually a lot of play in the lever system that VW uses.

Replacing all the links and bushes goes a long way in making it tighter and ensuring a positive feel,  but once I used a Weighted shifting rod and short shift kit the difference in feel was amazing.  I bought my Cost effective kit from 4crawler in the US, it works, and after seeing the weighted billet they added, you can make your own.

https://www.4crawler.com/Diesel/ForSale/ShiftLinkage.shtml


There is also the stop finger lock out that can get busticated, and I have seen similar issues as it isn't working correctly and you can never get the car in to the correct gear I will show you a link on what to check and a couple of DIY repairs of that.

http://cabby-info.com/Files/RepairingStopFinger.pdf

The linkage was overhauled 3-4 months ago, after it started to pop out of gear. It's nice and tight now, compared to before.
I will give it a go though, and try them all by hand.
What's the easiest way to disengage the clutch, so I can shift by hand? I can't pull the clutch lever on the transmission by hand, I've tried.

I have removed the driveshafts from the transmission, and managed to roll it inside and drain the oil.
The oil looks pretty metallic to me - it's only done 10-15km's.

It sounds to me as though the diff has had it.

That may account for the lever being able to move but nothing happening.

Were there any massive vibrations or horrible noises beforehand? The fly wheel hasn't come loose and dropped of jamming the clutch has it? (Don't ask how i know that this can happen) ……

Ian

No sounds or vibrations before it happened - it just seized up, and only willing to turn backwards.
It's actually not even stuck in gear. I have removed the linkage and can move the lever by hand and select any gear without issues.
I will drop the gearbox later today, and see what's going on. I'm not an expert on transmissions, but it seems a bit odd that it can be turned backwards, but not forward?

Lots of info here but not sure if it's any use to you?

Welcome to BrokeVW.com

Got the transmission off this afternoon, and found this:



I guess the diff failed, which explaines why I was able to shift between the gears without problems.

I have started to try and disassemble the transmission (with help from BrokeVW), just to see if there's anything to see in the differential. Since the casing is cracked, I will just try and locate a decent used transmission.

Thanks for all the inputs so far.

Yep Classic symptom of Self Machining Syndrome where the Rivets go and machine the case.

Boo for you!

But yay for me! I may have actually been correct in a diagnosis for once  

Erm sorry  

Ian

borednow said

Boo for you!

But yay for me! I may have actually been correct in a diagnosis for once  

Erm sorry  

Ian

Haha no problem, I'm happy to make you happy!

Anything I need to be aware of, when finding a new transmission?
I know there's a two sizes of flanges for the driveshafts and I need  the three holes to mount the studs for the rear engine mount, but besides that?

Gear boxes from mk1's to mk3's will fit as long as it's an 020 box.

Be aware that some of the newer ones are hydraulic not cable operated. I think the cable bit can be swapped from your old one but not 100% on that as I've never done it.

Look out for ratios too.

020 GEAR RATIOS

Ian

Thanks, thats helpful - so lower ratio = less rpm?

I have an FH from 1982 fitted now. From what i can see on http://www.a2resource.com/eandt/ratios.html, the ratio for my transmission is like this:
3.46   1.94   1.29   0.91   0.71   3.89

Now, where I live its more or less only transmissions from diesel cars that are still availible. I have found a few 4T, where the ratio should be like this:
3.46   1.94   1.29   0.91   0.75   3.67

Flange and input shaft sizes are the same, so I guess it would be a good alternative?

 

Yarp, lower the ratio the lower the RPM.

Diesel boxes are great for cruising. Problems can come if the engine isn't powerful enough to turn the box though.

When climbing hills etc you'll also need to change down etc.

Ian

It's straight forward to swap the flanges over from your old gearbox if they are a different size.

I would recommend fitted some new seals to a second hand gearbox as it's alot easier with the gearbox off the car, follow the guide on the brokeVW site to change the flange seals and may be worth changing the input seals and brass bush.


A set like this

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Volkswagen-Golf-Jetta-Passat-Corrado-Vento-020-Gearbox-16v-8v-Oil-Seal-Set/112445735476?fits=Car+Make%3AVW&hash=item1a2e49c234:g:BvAAAOSwxeVefpqT

I would also remove the green cap and check/replace the clutch release bearing but this is possible once the gearbox is on the car if you don't want to do that job as well….

You can see some info/pictures and my home made tool to remove the flanges in my post here… a bit of threaded bar, nuts and some sort of box section and it's made.

https://vwgolfmk1.org.uk/forum/index.php?page=topicview&id=helllllpppp%2Funtitled_14

 

I have a how to change the cups and seals over on a mounted tranny, where there is less room but doable.

Changing a Differential Seal | Volkswagen Owners Club Forum

Thanks for the reply's, guys.

I replaced the seals on the current one, not too long ago. I did it with the transmission installed, so I will do it before I fit the "new" one.
 I have bought a complete seal kit - but without the brass bushing… where's that fitted?

I can see that my old box was higher geared in 5th gear, so I don't think the 4T transmission will cause problems ratio wise.