Stuck in 3rd gear on my daily and only transport.

My 5 speed 020 gearbox (1991 AUG code) has just got stuck on the 3rd gear this evening and I cannot disengage it to neutral or anything. I limped it home and have disconnected the linkage at the selector arm on the gearbox and tried changing gears directly at the gearbox selector arm with no success. So that rules out the linkage between the gear stick and the selector arm as the gearsick and the linkages actually move freely once the last link (weighted shiftrod) is removed. So I am suspecting problems at the selector mechanism on top of the gearbox. I am hoping it is not a case for a complete gearbox teardown and rebuild as it is my only transport. Any pointers where to start and what to look for please?

unfortunatly yes the box will need to split down to fix it. thankfully since its an AUG code all mk2 gti boxes will fit, you can use a 16v box too but it will need a 16v friction disc (I'd buy a new clutch kit while its out tbh so no problem) the mk3 2.0 8v box will go as well, again it'll need a 16v clutch kit.

Be sure to check the code on your new box before you buy the clutch kit though as often they turn out to be different to what the seller thinks they are!

Thanks for your reply John. Strangly enough I managed to get it disengaged effortlessly after I drove it to the local specialist garage to discuss it with them. They didn't even open the hood, I just out of habit tried to pull it out of gear to start and drive back home and it pulled to neutral like it never happened.

The plans as agreed with them are to have it pulled out and checked over as I never liked this box ever since I owned the car. Most likely the 3rd slider is the culprit, and in case we need parts we will take apart a supposedly OK 4T code box I have lying around to cannibalise. They say that most internals are common to both boxes so I'll hope they do a decent job of it and take the risk. I also suspect something wrong with the selector mechanism as it was always too sloppy in my opinion and has also destroyed a perfectly good used detend ball bolt in less than a year or 15000 km. The old one was shot too by the way. Problem is I have to wait for another 2 weeks for the job to start with summer holidays and all. This is not my kind of job to tackle. I'm inclined to keep the original factory box in the car, it's pretty standard and unmolested, still running K-Jet and I'd like to keep it that way.


 

You got lucky there then, usually in an overshift situation its impossible to get it back out of gear

With the detent bolt, did any of the ball bearings escape? If sop this could be why you had the issue as when they die the balls can drop down into the box and cause all kinds of destruction.

if you suspect the selector might be bad this is relatively easy job to swap DIY, there are a few variations ideally you want the same type as yours. MK3 golf are a good source for low mileage late type selectors in the scrap yards.

I would also check for play in the diff flanges before you attempt to get bits swapped over from the other b ox, if they have play then you'll need new diff bearings plus raced, which means all the preloads will have to be reset

lots of info in here on how to swap selectors over and the differences between them, detent bolt designs, plus full strip down, check and rebuild procedures etc.
Welcome to BrokeVW.com

The secomd detent bolt that I installed about a year ago came out in 1 piece though I can see that it has deteriorated significantly in condition and there seems to be no missing small balls. About the older one I remember I had to fish out the large end ball with a magnet but the rest of the innards was complete even if in bad condition.

I only intend to have swapped out the 3-4th slider and what is basically necessary. It drives ok, well half decently in my opinion at the moment with the detent bolt out, no issues with Reverse, 1st, 2nd and 5th. Occasionally a short grinding on 3rd and 4th but usually avoided with care. No strange or unusual clunking, only a slight hum on depressing the clutch pedal which was always present since I have owned it and persisted after a new clutch kit, guide bearing and clutch cable.

I'm not sue I have the time and expertise to do a transmission split and rebuild myself apart from special tools or jigs that I might need and do not have. I've done an aircooled transaxle before and though it was interesting it was a lot of trouble. This is my daily so I cant have it apart for weeks.

BTW thanks for the link too.

ok thats good news then, if it was me I would swap the selector over just to see if its purely down to that, easy job even with limited tools. main tricky one is the massive nut at the front of the selector housing, but the link has some ingenious methods around that

then its just a case of check both boxes to make sure they are compatible, if not mk3 golf selectors from the scrappy should do you fine as the box in the car is late style same as mk3. grab some spare detent bolts while you're there