Ok my new VW went wrong today All the gears broke and upon further inspection it seems the gear selector has fallen to bits on the M4. It looks pretty easy to fix but i have no idea what the missing part looks like as i have never seen it before.

If i can get to the stage of picturing it all in my head and actually knowing what part im looking for i can cheaply source a new one. I am too poor to take this to a dealer now so its scrapyard searching. Im more than capable of doing the labour myself if i can get a blown-up diagram of original the area. I called out the RAC but he had no idea except agree that a bit was certainly missing. I will pop into a dealership with the photos tomorrow to see i they can help identify it and ill stop the next person i see driving a VW Transporter for a look under the hood.

Does anyone know what part im missing? Does anyone know anything about VWs? I have the same engine as a VW Golf i think. Does anyone have those CDROMs with car engines in?



Zoomed out picture showing problem area:
     



More detail of area:




Zoomed in to area with missing part:
     



Sideview of missing part with camera held side on:




Taken from floor area so a little out of perspective:

arrrrrgh!

I cant tell from the picture... but I just know Id know right away if I could see it in person.... and now its driving me crazy !


edit...

tho Id say it will fix into a "cup" (mmm... the way a ball fits into a mouse)
and that the other end of it will fix onto the fixed (non-moving) point on the engine
so as you move the gearstick from left to right... the bar coming from the gearstick will rotate.... and having that ball at a fixed distance from the gearbox will mean that the bit going into the gearbox will move up and down (in and out of the gearbox)

moving the gearstick forwards and backwards should move the pole coming from the gear leaver forwards/backwards (in line with the van) and so turn the point going into the gearbox clockwise/anti-clockwise.

The main movment is left and right.

I am seriously hoping that the up and down movment i am getting atm is because its broke. If i need an up and down movement with the new part in place i think i will have to do some serious jigging of the gearbox to set it all.

More information as this has become a base to store all my internet searching

Make: VW Transporter  1998
Model/type: 800 special TD SWB
Wheelplan: 2-axle-rigid body
Taxation class: Private/Light Goods (PLG)
Fuel type: Heavy oil
Cylinder capacity: 1896 CC

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~A friend has send me some part diagrams that i think show the correct parts that i need. All looks ok.

My main problem now is how to rethread or remove the broken bolt It looks very deep.
           

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Ok sorted now i think.

I went from Cardiff to Bristol to get the part as ALL the local dealers/scrapyards didnt have it. VW ftw!. Cardiff said it was 10-days wait from Germany. So i paid Ã,£20 to the stealership for what appears to be a small bit of metal with a plastic ball-joint in it! I had no other choice.

I then proceeded to TRY to fit the ball shown on the left of the picture into shoulder on the new Ã,£20 part. JESUS what a job it was! I have done alot of things on cars in the past and this topped them all in frustration. No matter what i tried to do they just would not fit togther. I tried clamps, levers (which may have bent the attached part), hammers, etc to no avail. The amount of force required to get it to go in was insane.

In the end me and madocks (who came over on day 2 to help) took the entire gear stick off, took it to a local  garage, asked to use their heavy duty vice and with the correct angle/force it took a matter of seconds to pop in.
The wierd thing was i previously asked a VW mechanic how he did one a few weeks ago and he said "it was a bitch of a job but i just levered it off the engine block with a metal bar". My effort with a shovel didnt come close and eventually broke a T-section on the water res. How the hell he did this and avoided major damage is a mystrey. Someone must be driving about with a damaged/broken gear selector or he was VERY lucky.

Morale of the ordeal: 1> It is better to fix stuff yourself if you have the time as a mechanic will probably fook it more. 2> Whenever doing stuff on cars it is easier to take the thing to pieces in the long run.

good times.

used to have simmiler problems with cirton vans...... we used to keep a crow bar under the pasanger seat for forcing them back on at the side of the road after theyd randomly pop off !

tho it was a bit freaky as a learner when you go to change gear and the gearstick falls over and lies on the floor... :S