Popped something in the shifter

I think he's just being cautious.

It's not uncommon for older VWs to have worn out linkages. There are many aftermarket places where you can get a kit of all the bushings and stuff for under $50 and spend an hour or two replacing all the various parts. It's easy for the most part...it's a question of just matching the old and new parts and process of elimination...match part in bag to part on car, replace part, move on to next part. It's generally not too hard.

The only "hard" part is that there is a ball at the bottom of the shifter that is accessible by removing the shifter box from under the car. Some people say this goes bad a lot, but I found in my '91 GTI it was fine and I replaced it while I had it out. This one's more difficult because to get the shifter box out you have to move the exhaust out of the way to do it. Some have dropped the exhaust while others have uncoupled it from the cat and just pushed it aside. I was doing an exhaust replacement at the time so that's why I did it. But the shifter ball replacement kit is often sold separate from the from the other bushings so you can do all the other stuff and not worry about the shifter ball at all if you don't want to.

Was it the arm bolted to the top of the relay shaft that came loose:

Man I love the looks of those linkages.

The question is why did the linkage pop off? If it's just wear and thear then VW carries a bushing kit for A1's for a couple of bucks. Add a few more bushings to make up the difference between A1 and A2 and you're set. The shift rods are a little more expensive and someone's mentioned that ball thingy but I've never replaced the ball.

Good luck! Darryl.

Go to the dealer and ask him for the 2 rods on the linkage, ask him to show you where they go as well, presto. That;s probably what popped off.

It was the rear selector rod. $15 installed (that's canadian, taxes in).

Thanks for everyones input!