Gearbox wont select 1st!

[AlexBabes]

Ok, so here we go with the whinges, I bought a 96 Anni Mark 3 on Monday, paid a pretty bargain basement price for it, and it will not go into 1st gear.  Other gears are selecting ok, it drives fine other than this one issue.  My housemate is a dealer (car one obviously) he's had it up the ramps yesterday with another Golf enthuse, checked out all the selector rods which are fine, bushes changed there as well, managed to change the gears manually by hand, and checked out the clutch cable which is also fine.

The outcome, they suggest a gearbox rebuild.  I'm obviously devastated at a massive bill already, does anyone have any steer on this, or suffered a similar problem?  I can obviously just pull away in 2nd if need be, and avoid slow moving traffic, but that will eventually burn the clutch out and me!

Does it need a rebuild, does anyone know anyone that can fix this problem.  I'm not a great mechanic so any help would be great.

Love you all!   

[AlexBabes]

Ok, so here we go with the whinges, I bought a 96 Anni Mark 3 on Monday, paid a pretty bargain basement price for it, and it will not go into 1st gear.  Other gears are selecting ok, it drives fine other than this one issue.  My housemate is a dealer (car one obviously) he's had it up the ramps yesterday with another Golf enthuse, checked out all the selector rods which are fine, bushes changed there as well, managed to change the gears manually by hand, and checked out the clutch cable which is also fine.

The outcome, they suggest a gearbox rebuild.  I'm obviously devastated at a massive bill already, does anyone have any steer on this, or suffered a similar problem?  I can obviously just pull away in 2nd if need be, and avoid slow moving traffic, but that will eventually burn the clutch out and me!

Does it need a rebuild, does anyone know anyone that can fix this problem.  I'm not a great mechanic so any help would be great.

Love you all!   

I should add, the gear linkage rubbere have all been changed VERY recently and the car does have great servce history.

[mrsaunders]

well if its not the linkage or the rods which it wouldnt be if one gears out, i think one normally does 1st, 2nd, rev and the other 3rd 4th 5th so it probley is a box issue

[GolfGL]

If it feels like the stick wont go far enough over to get first play with the adjustment on the relay shaft clamp then the gear lever adjuster. my box felt fine but first was a pig to get into and i replaced all the rods and bushes but it didnt help untill i adjustedwhat i mentioned above. worth a try atleast
Adam

[mrsaunders]

worth a try but surley you all checked that when you were under there doin the rods?

[Leon27]

Did you buy the car with the gear problem or did it just suddenly stop selecting 1st?
(Also which part of North London are you from?)

Depending on who replaced the bushes before it's possible that, what GolfGL said, that the linkages were not aligned afterwards - if you knew the history or had an invoice that might help. If not then maybe start with ensuring the alignment is ok.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW3104-Gearshift-Gear-Selector-Tool-Golf-Jetta-Mk2-Mk3-/150563820300?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item230e4d930c

After changing the bushes its true, the alignment is normally out and it should be checked but if someones been there before then go over everything that they have done before you look into replacing the gearbox.

Maybe get some pictures up of the linkage?

Also... and this is a massive longshot... I had a new Mini some years back in my dealer which had gearshift problems, they are known for the cables to come off but I saw loads of sh!t in the cup holders, pulled the gaiter off and there was a make-up pencil wedged in the shift mechanism!

[AlexBabes]

Did you buy the car with the gear problem or did it just suddenly stop selecting 1st?
(Also which part of North London are you from?)

Depending on who replaced the bushes before it's possible that, what GolfGL said, that the linkages were not aligned afterwards - if you knew the history or had an invoice that might help. If not then maybe start with ensuring the alignment is ok.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW3104-Gearshift-Gear-Selector-Tool-Golf-Jetta-Mk2-Mk3-/150563820300?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item230e4d930c

After changing the bushes its true, the alignment is normally out and it should be checked but if someones been there before then go over everything that they have done before you look into replacing the gearbox.

Maybe get some pictures up of the linkage?

Also... and this is a massive longshot... I had a new Mini some years back in my dealer which had gearshift problems, they are known for the cables to come off but I saw loads of sh!t in the cup holders, pulled the gaiter off and there was a make-up pencil wedged in the shift mechanism!

I'm in Edmonton, Picketts Lock Leon27.  Do you know it?

thanks for all these responses, I am really glad I joined this forum.  I bought the car off Ebay so was unfortunately committed once it all ended, although to be honest, if I'd driven it before handing money over, there would have been some doubts.   The car has had a hell of a lot of work done though, so I am sure it hasnt been abused.

I do have the invoice from the place the did the linkage work so I guess I could always refer it back to them.

I must admit, reverse and third is a bit lumpy as well.  The guy that looked over it all yesterday does also own a MK3 and he prodded and played for an hour or so and just summarised it as 'not feeling right'

[AlexBabes]

... I should mention as well, sometimes it just goes in like a breeze, and then if you take it out of gear immediately,it will go in again, I think for piece of mind, I will probably end up just getting it rebuilt, last thing I want it to be losing 3rd, 4th etc further down the line.

[Leon27]

You are more north north london then I'm in Barnet area so not that far away really and I see two Anni's around my area, both say hi so was wondering if one was you!

If you say reverse, 1st and 3rd are not quite right then I'd definitely work on the linkage/alignment issue first.
Does it jerk a bit when reversing? How is the clutch? Cable look far adjusted?
A worn/wearing clutch may give you similar symptoms as well, 1st is normally hard to select. Best test for that is to have the engine not running and see if you can select all the gears, if you can and then can't select them with the engine running you've ruled out the linkages and the box and clutch can be removed to inspect.

If 2nd and 4th are ok then this points towards eliminating the linkage issue first.
Gearbox rebuild isn't cheap and a recon one is very expensive too 

[AlexBabes]

You are more north north london then I'm in Barnet area so not that far away really and I see two Anni's around my area, both say hi so was wondering if one was you!

If you say reverse, 1st and 3rd are not quite right then I'd definitely work on the linkage/alignment issue first.
Does it jerk a bit when reversing? How is the clutch? Cable look far adjusted?
A worn/wearing clutch may give you similar symptoms as well, 1st is normally hard to select. Best test for that is to have the engine not running and see if you can select all the gears, if you can and then can't select them with the engine running you've ruled out the linkages and the box and clutch can be removed to inspect.

If 2nd and 4th are ok then this points towards eliminating the linkage issue first.
Gearbox rebuild isn't cheap and a recon one is very expensive too 

Hi mate, I have only had it a week so not done the meets and greets yet, I will keep my eyes peeled though when I am driving around.  Yes, the gears all go in fine with the engine switched off, something else I noticed yesterday, someone mentioned clutch release bearings?? 

2nd, 3rd, 4th are generally fine, 5th is a bit notchy.. 

stumped!