Dodgy gears

[Ant]

I know this has been rasied before plenty of times but my gear selection on 1st 2nd and reverse is all over the place.

I've had all the bushes, the bottom of the selector and the relay shaft replaced, checked the plastic ends and there's no play in them.

The only thing I did see was that the shift rod from the bottom of the selector has a slight bend in it, is this normal or the problem?

89 G reg 16v Gti

[turbo]

youve checked for play in the linkage and theres no play..... check the rod which is bolted to the top of the box your weighted shift rod (if you have one) is connected to this... sometimes the nut comes loose there is a little shift rod which is about 3" and is also connected to this rod....

if theses are ok......without seeing its hard to say whats causing it.....it could be the selector forks in the box itself.......

[RKett 16v]

I've got a similiar problem on my 1990 gti 16valver. It goes in all gears fine but if changin into 1st or 2nd it can go all over the place and in 1st go into reverse which is a bit of a pain at junctions with somone behind you!!!
Ive had a look by taking the gaitor off and there a bit of play up and down on the gear stick so if you pull it up the problem goes away so iwas thinkin of trying to;
1 either higher the little plastic thing on the shaft that stops it going into reverse or
2 on the other polastic piece bit that sticks out next to it on the box extending it down so it wont slip into reverse.
Sorry for not being very technical in my explanation but has any one got any better suggestions as i dont think its my linkages!!!

[Ant]

How much play is there in you stick if it's a good few cm then you probably need a new ball in the bottom.

[RKett 16v]

No i wouldnt say theres that much about 1cm if that but its just enough to allow the stick to slip under the stop that prevents it from going into reverse. If its the ball how much do you think this may be?? Cheers for the input.

[rubjonny]

If it can slip into reverse without you needing to press down on the stick then either the ball or the housing is worn and needs replacing.  On my 1.6 driver the ball was fine but the hosing had worn through so much you could see through it!!

VAG still sell a repair kit for it, and detailed repair instructions are available here:
http://www.oxfordshirevwoc.co.uk/gearstick_fix.htm

[RKett 16v]

sorry dakoyam if i kinda highjacked your post but cheers rubjonny for your input the link is quality and i'll have a go at taking the job on if i get quoted a stupid ammount for it to be done when it goes in for a service in a couple of weeks

[JMallows]

I recommend this, even though it may be more expensive, i'd still look into it. A while ago, i had a LOT of problems with my gearbox, had everything replaced loads (under warranty), in the end i gave up and had non vw one fitted, which is far superior. This was a long time ago, and have had no problems since. This is a very common problem with golfs, normally relating to the second gear.

[rubjonny]

No probs mate glad to be of help  The job is straight forward, its just a bit of a b!tch to get to all the bits you need to swap, just take your time and get a mate to help you out.  If I can do it anyone can

[Ant]

No info on the shift rod?

As said before, I noticed this had a slight bend in it just before it went through the bush in the body work, is the bend normal or not?