Author Topic: sloppy tranny shifter (Read 4653 times)

dieselwagen · « **on:** June 05, 2008, 06:37:11 pm »

replaced all the shifter bushings on my 5 speed golf
including the nylon ball on the relay shaft
after i got everything tightened down
the shifter up-down movement was very tight = 1/10th of an inch.
but side to side movement still felt loose = almost half of an inch (0.5") of play, i wonder if this is normal?
any ideas/input welcome.

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #1 on:** June 05, 2008, 08:14:32 pm »

Nope, not normal.

A couple of things to check:

- on two cars now the the holes for the bushings that press into the tranny have worn on me... this translated into lots of lateral slop as you describe. I "shimmed" the new bushings with JB Weld and it fixed the problem permanently

- the bracket or flange thingie that the relay ball rides in can expand over time... you can usually bend the sides back in pretty easlily so that your new relay ball rides tight.

- shifter ball itself on the shift lever (after removing the shift boot)... it can get loose and sloppy as well... although it usually shows up as slop in all directions. This is a long short and I pray it's not the case... the parts are cheap but the exhaust has to be lowered to get at it. :cry:

the caveman · « **Reply #2 on:** June 08, 2008, 01:10:30 pm »

90 % of the play when worn comes from the bellcrank lever that bolts to the rear tranny mount. Did you replace the bolt at the same time as the 2 white bushings ? If so are you sure it's tight. Because the nut is under it's sometimes hard to get a wrench on there and tighten it properly. As Vincent said , check that where the bushings went into that housing. When the old ones are there ,there's enough corrosion and grime that gets removed when those bushings get replaced and then they are loose in the housing. Did you also replace the arms with the ball sockets on them.? If not is it possible one of them broke when you took it off ? another trick is under those ballsockets there is a foam washer . In the kit there may be some extra. double them up by putting another one on top of the original, that will help tighten ebverything up.

burn_your_money · « **Reply #3 on:** June 08, 2008, 04:43:50 pm »

pop the hood and grab the shifter on the tranny. Wiggle it back and forth. What ever part of the shifter linkage stops the movement is the problem piece

The long rod from the shifter up to the back of the tranny also wears and can cause slop even with new bushings. I beleive it is still available from the dealer

dieselwagen · « **Reply #4 on:** June 09, 2008, 03:39:50 pm »

thanks everyone for the replies.

can't believe i jb weld the bushings
double up on the foam washers (long selector rod)

the rest of the slop will be taken up
when shifter box bushing needs replaced
can't complain with the end result
this the tightest it has been

thanks again all

zukgod1 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 09, 2008, 09:16:58 pm »

Quote from: "Vincent Waldon"

- on two cars now the the holes for the bushings that press into the tranny have worn on me... this translated into lots of lateral slop as you describe. I "shimmed" the new bushings with JB Weld and it fixed the problem permanently

Vince, can you describe this a bit more for me?

I'm not picturing this in my mind. I just rebuilt my shifter as well and it's not to bad but not really much better. Nothing I replaced was "worn out" but I replaced EVERYTHING anyway.