This morning my new shifter bushing that I installed last weekend evidently failed. When shifting into gear, I felt a jolt and suddenly the stick was loose and sloppy as before.
Has anyone experienced this? What happens to the bushing. Will it require removing the rod again?
May not be a bushing failure, see if the gear shift rod coupling is still connected to the gear shift rod/gearbox.
hth Roger
"Randall Brink" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@adelphia.com...
Well first do the obvious...
Check the coupler under the rear seat and make sure its connected properly. Then, if that is ok, I would pull the shifter out and look at the bushing. If the bushing fell out or something, you'll have to reinstall...
Good luck,
Dane
Randall Br> This morning my new shifter bushing that I installed last weekend evidently
The transmission shifts, and the car drives normally, so I'm inclined to think that the transmission coupling is OK.
Yep. I'm about to tear into it again to put the bushing back in its place. I wish there was a better way to ensure it stays there.
From: "Dane Tyler" Subject: Re: Shifter Bushing Date: Friday, February 18, 2005 7:05 AM
Well first do the obvious...
Check the coupler under the rear seat and make sure its connected properly. Then, if that is ok, I would pull the shifter out and look at the bushing. If the bushing fell out or something, you'll have to reinstall...
Good luck,
Dane
Randall Br> This morning my new shifter bushing that I installed last weekend evidently
When i did mine i felt it kinda snap in place, i did not use the clip and it seems to be staying, it is not a daily driver though. David
I drive mine daily. When I installed the bushing, it, too, snapped in place, and did have the retaining circle clip, which apparently did not help much.
I noticed an increased shifter stiffness the day before the failure.
Sounds like the hole the Shift rod Bushing goes inot is elongated and damaged. Causing a nice easy install then failure as it squeezes back through,.............that is if it did not cut/break the bushing in two. There's a kit for fixing that too if you look around.
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MUADIB®
If the bushing popped out because the mounting hole is elongated slightly you might try it again without the clip. If the hole in the mounting bracket is worn too much the fix is to cut the tunnel open above the bracket and weld in a new one. There's probably a "how-to" for doing that on a VW related website somewhere.
Now that you mentioned it--after 35 years the hole could get elongated, and cause the bushing to push through. I'm surpirised the engineers, who thought of everything else, didn't think of that.
They did, that's why there is a bushing there.
The hold gets elongated because previous bushing(s) have been worn out or nonexistent.
Randall Br> Now that you mentioned it--after 35 years the hole could get elongated, and
Yeah, they thought of that. And the bushing was their solution. It's a wear-and-tear item kinda like your brake linings. A good maintenance program involves checking it periodically and replacing when needed. Unfortunately, the PO didn't follow proper maintenance and now you are reaping the benefits :-(
This is off the top of my head but I think the repair proceduure for that elongated hole is to cut out that bracket area out of the tunnel along its weld seam and then welding in a new bracket unit that should be available from somewhere....(I forgot where though).
Good Luck, geoffe elias -74 Super Beetle
Wait, on second thought, I think the thing was spot-welded in place...
geoffe elias -74 Super Beetle
Everyone keeps telling you about the repair, but Here's a link that has a picture of the bushing (second from the bottom of the page) and the repair piece that holds the bushing (just above the bushing.
This one appears to be one that mounts under the shifter mounting plate or maybe from the bottom of the sheetmetal inside the tunnel. I have not had the pleasure of doing one of these, but it seems like it'd pretty much explain itself if you had one in hand
Looks like the best idea for your baby.
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MUADIB®
Yes, I just installed the very parts depicted there. The only problem is, the bushing has aparently fallen out.
I went through the same hassle you have when replacing the bushing on my car. First tip is to make sure the bushing you have is of decent quality and a little stiff, not soft. The good one feels more like plastic than rubber. I know there are at least two on the market and the softer one is a piece of crap. As you'll likely be replacing the bracket, make sure you buy a *german* bracket. Drill out the 6 spot welds from the top with progressively larger bits. You should be able to see the welds as little impressions from the top. The new bracket will have little nipples facing superiorly from the top; you'll probably want to grind those down as they are in a different spot than the spot welds you drilled out. Put the new bracket and grommet on the rod and install it in the tunnel. Use the 2 bolts to hold the bracket in place until you can spot weld it in place. Make 1 tack weld, reinstall the gearshift, and test to make sure you can adjust to grab all 5 gears. If you can, finish your welds and be happy that you'll never have to do that again. Good luck...
-Chip
Randall Br> Yes, I just installed the very parts depicted there. The only problem is,
Thank you very much for this info. That's a job I'm certinly not looking forward to.
You're welcome. I can tell you that I wanted to avoid replacing that bracket too. After having the bushing pop out twice I can tell you that replacing the bracket once is easier than doing the bushing 3 times. One thing you might want to try is to make sure you have the rod greased up very well with something that's not too thick. You may be able to get by without it popping out again if the action is really smooth.
-Chip
I think I may have had too much lithium grease in the bushing. It popped out on a cold morning.
I used lithium grease on mine as well since most petroleum based grease will affect many types of plastic. The mounting hole in mine hadn't elogated (much) as far as I could tell so I haven't had a problem. I made sure that my shift rod was clean and shiny where it went through the bushing by running it through a wire wheel on my grinder. Perhaps shop silicone spray would be another answer since it won't get stiff when cold or dry out like lithium grease.
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'64 sunroof Beetle '55 semaphore Beetle
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