transmission stuck in 3rd

[clbanman]

I got about halfway home from work, and couldn't shift my tranny out of 3rd.  Got home and can't see any disconnected linkage parts, the main rod from the shift lever seems to move freely, but the pivot selector at the farthest left won't turn or move by hand at all.   Any ideas or suggestions on what to look at?   

[clbanman]

Looked at brokevw's page on transmissions stuck in 3rd and looks like I'm out of luck.

[rallydiesel]

Yeah that's a bit of a pickle  . I guess it's time to break out the big firetrucking hammer.

[Powered by Spearco]

If you can, check the oil level and condition. If there is no glitter. Maybe there still hope. 

Try and take the shift selector out of trans. It might be a broken shift fork or rod in ternally

[vanagonturbo]

If you have disconnected the linkage and cannot manually pull it out of gear; it is most likely the 3/4 gear selector hub. Not sure what car or what trans you have, but the earlier 020 trannies had 90° cuts in the reliefs for the dogs. As a result, tension from the synchros pushing against the hub will cause a small amount of cracking in the hub itself. The slider that selects between 3/4 will get jammed because the outside area of the hub is no longer cylindrical and has become more cone shaped thus wedging the slider in one gear or another..

[745 turbogreasel]

Not sure if this offers much consolation, but third is  probably the most versatile gear to be stuck in.

[R.O.R-2.0]

try getting stuck in 2nd gear about 25 miles from home..

gear shift was in "neutral" but let the clutch out and you took off in 2nd gear.

before that, i was just driving it around in 3, 4, 5th gears..

i would use low range, 3rd gear to take off, and then grab 4th in low, then shift back to high, then grab 3rd again, then 4th, then 5th!

this was not in a vw tho. and it was because the shift fork retainer bolt broke its head off. then somehow it found its way into 2nd gear, and i had no way to get it out of gear!

anyway, hope you get your problems figured out.

and dont be scared, transmissions are not nearly as scary inside as they may seem. they are very simple.