Perennial Shifter Bushing Problem

I have not tried it myself, but some large diameter heat-shrink tubing might help.

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" ..... I ain't no bandleader!!"

Very good possibility. I will look into that.

Heim Joint would work better. Rubber? may as well use jb weld.

Heim Joint. I'm not familiar with that. What is it exactly?

Is your shift rod well covered with grease? If its rusty suspect it would eat at the bushing real fast. Repeated? - They seem to last 10 years or so.

No, the rod has been thoroughly polished. The bushing falls out, possibly due to using the wrong kind of grease.

Randall, The hole the bushing sits in, or the bushing, is not the right size (possibly bushing is too damaged), The bushing will *not* fall out if it is all correct size.(also correct materials)

I watched the original thread about the bushing issue, even made an entry...............I am not at all sure of your repair. You said you use both the bushing, and the bracket replacement if I recall correctly. Is it possible that I misunderstood?

Anyway, the bushing should fit well, and like it's barbed into the bracket. Once the bushing is in the bracket, the shift rod is supposed to "fill" the center up to a size that makes the bushing tight enough to both the inner and outer contact, to make it impossible to "fall out"

It's possible that the bushing is one of the cheap "rubbery" feeling bushings..............they don't have a good reputation. When it is new, the bushing you install should be fairly hard and "slick" on the surface, and should be very rigid along the length of it. The flexibilty should be in the diameter/circumference, to allow for the "shrink" to install it without damage.Generally the ones I have installed have an opening that is not straight front to rear, but angled through the length of the bushing. Kind of angularly.

I know, by reading your posts that you are not an idiot, so please do not take my explanation and offering as an indication I think you are. Seems to me you have a good grip on mechanical operation and assembly. There are however many nuances to the construction, engineering, and assembly of these ACVW's..............I, like everyone else, am here to offer my help (as little as it may seem helpful)

On the CIP1 Site (page below) the "hanger part " is what I thought would fix the original concern, along with a new bushing. Part # VWC-111-0701-255-B

Part # VWC-111-0701-259-A (new bushing)

The Bushing they (CIP1) seem to be out of at the moment...........I am not sure whether the one they sell is the slick one or the rubbery one however. Shoot 'em an email and see if you can get clarification.

Good luck once again.

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MUADIB®

one small step for man,..... One giant leap for attorneys.

Thank you. I think you have identified the root of the problem--a bad, "rubbery" feeling bushing. I am going to order some new ones in hopes of finding a stiffer material. Then and only then will I dismantle the shifter mechanism again.

Please may I ask as to what that link has to do with shifter bushings ?? Interesting item anyhow.....

James

Hell if I know!................I have yet to figure this out, but once in a while I have a copy/paste operation that goes awry like that. I frequent a Toyota Camry newsgroup and was terribly curious about the posted link and had to check it out. I can't figure out how it got to the post I made on this group, 'cause I read two more groups and posted some links on them also,...........same day.They came out fine. Those were posted between when I checked out that silly Toyota record Album thang, and the post I made here.

Go figure...............How about I post a proper link anyway............LOL

Here goes...........

Works for me, so I'll post it.

It has the "hanger" for the shift rod bushing about halfway down the page.

Thanks for pointing that out..............

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MUADIB®

one small step for man,..... One giant leap for attorneys.

If you haven't already bought the bushing, try Wolfsburg West. The last one I bought there was the correct hard nylon item and not the rubbery junk. You might want to consider purchasing a bracket at the same time to save on shipping as you'll likely need one in the future and they are less than $10. Good luck.

-Chip

Another thought for you. The next time you have the bushing out, measure the bracket's I.D. and post the number you get. I unfortunately don't have one handy to measure but perhaps someone can give you the diameter of a new one. I can get you the number next weekend if nobody chimes in. If your's is out of spec, just replace the bracket and be done with it. The procedure is not that difficult and not much more time consuming than replacing the bushing itself. If you need some shots of the VW workshop manual let me know and I'll send them too you. Good luck.

-Chip

Thank you very much for all this. I will order from Wulfsburg West, and also measure the ID of the bracket. I do not visually see any wear on the inside of the bracket, however.

I just bought a new bushing and coupler for my Baja (figured I'd better do it before the final bolting on of the nose) and the bushing is kinda soft like you described. I'll give it a shot though...... gotta be better than what's in there if there's anything at all!

Mac