eddy 0 Posted December 3, 2006 Could someone tell me how to adjust the gearbox selector cables as i can't select 5th gear and there is a lot of play in the gearstick? At least i hope it is my selector cables and not my gearbox??? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kongo127 0 Posted December 4, 2006 There´s a special VW tool to do this. I don´t have it, neither saw it! I did mine along with a friend, it´s not an easy job IMHO. So you should do it a day after waking up with a lot of patience! :) In the end you´ll feel very happy, because the result is great! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted December 4, 2006 Could someone tell me how to adjust the gearbox selector cables as i can't select 5th gear and there is a lot of play in the gearstick? At least i hope it is my selector cables and not my gearbox??? as long as you don't mess with the gearstick end of things it's pretty easy to adjust. each cable has a 13mm nut where it joins the selector unit on top of the gearbox, get a friend to waggle the gear lever from left to right to identify the left/right movement cable and slacken that nut and move slightly on it's fitting. (no 32 to left of 51 on diagram) there's nothing stopping you manually moving the selector unit to make sure you can actually engage 5th in the gearbox first, just to make sure it's not a box problem. If it's a later car (92 on), with the shift weight, then it may be that the black plastic part (51 on diagram) where the cable clips on to the selector tower has started to crack and break up, this is a common fault and a cheap part to replace from the dealer. David. BTW, the diagram shows both early and late systems, later one above. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Edwards 0 Posted December 4, 2006 What he said. Make sure your gearbox mount is in good condition as if this goes the shift action rapidly goes downhill... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eddy 0 Posted December 4, 2006 Cheers for the info guys, I will have a look at it tomorrow when it is light. I also forgot to say what car it was? It's a 1993 K reg vw corrado vr6. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rosswalker 0 Posted December 4, 2006 I'm hopin you come back and say it was simple. I have the same thing to do for 1st gear on my '93 L reg VR :) I've just been to lazy lately to bother. - Ross Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eddy 0 Posted December 5, 2006 Right folks i have had a look and attempted to adjust, But i lost reverse gear so i put it back as it was. I pulled the selector bar in the gearbox to select 5th gear manually ( as this is what i lost ) and it engaged? So it looks like its not my gearbox and it is the selector cables. I've decided to replace them with new one's and when i phoned my local vw dealer they said it would cost me around £145.00 plus vat so does anyone know where i can get them cheaper? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted December 5, 2006 Right folks i have had a look and attempted to adjust, But i lost reverse gear so i put it back as it was. I pulled the selector bar in the gearbox to select 5th gear manually ( as this is what i lost ) and it engaged? So it looks like its not my gearbox and it is the selector cables. I've decided to replace them with new one's and when i phoned my local vw dealer they said it would cost me around £145.00 plus vat so does anyone know where i can get them cheaper? If it's really the cable, then mk3 golf ones (note smaller engined mk3's have rod change boxes) are the same part, so just buy a second hand one off a golf. Are you sure you've not just moved the adjustment too far, or that the black plastic bit isn't partially bust? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eddy 0 Posted December 5, 2006 It was only the side to side bar that i adjusted and not the actual gear change bar and i did'nt notice if the black plastic part was damaged so i will have to take another look tomorrow? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted December 5, 2006 It was only the side to side bar that i adjusted and not the actual gear change bar and i did'nt notice if the black plastic part was damaged so i will have to take another look tomorrow? there's not really much to go wrong with a cable, unless it's end connector shears off, they do wear a bit, but I've never seen a cable that prevents a gear being selected on it's own. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eddy 0 Posted December 5, 2006 I took it to see a mechanic friend earlier today and he reckoned that they might of stretched as they are 13 years old? But you can select 5th gear by pulling the selector bar directly from the gearbox with no problems? If you try and select it from the gearstick sometimes it will go and other times it will grind? So i will have another look tomorrow to see if the black plastic thingy is damaged? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
davidwort 0 Posted December 5, 2006 I took it to see a mechanic friend earlier today and he reckoned that they might of stretched as they are 13 years old? But you can select 5th gear by pulling the selector bar directly from the gearbox with no problems? If you try and select it from the gearstick sometimes it will go and other times it will grind? So i will have another look tomorrow to see if the black plastic thingy is damaged? nothing wrong with my 16 year old/150k ones, the selector cable doesn't do a great deal of work anyway, I can't say 100% that they don't stretch a bit over time, but I'd have thought the adjustment at the top of the gearbox would more than make up for that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Edwards 0 Posted December 5, 2006 If it will drive bring it to the WOrcestershire meet this weekend and we'll either sort it out, or tell you what needs fixing. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eddy 0 Posted December 5, 2006 Cheers for the offer but the car is not yet on the road. I got it so i can restore it to how it was when it left the showroom. So for the time being it is of the road. But hopefully not for to long? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eddy 0 Posted December 24, 2006 Right then folks after plenting of messing around i have decided that it is my gearbox. It still drives but i have no 5th gear, So does anyone know where i can get one from? I have sourced a couple myself but one is a bit far away and the other i have been told whine's. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eddy 0 Posted December 30, 2006 I managed to get a good corrado vr6 gearbox but i now have to wait while the guy takes it off. But hopefully it will only be a few days. So does anyone know how much it would cost to fix the 5th gear in my old box or should i just sell it on? ( How much would it be worth? all gears are fine apart from 5th ) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Edwards 0 Posted December 30, 2006 I would be surprised if the gear itself is the problem? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rosswalker 0 Posted June 15, 2007 Sorry to drag up an old topic... but... I'm finally getting round to sorting my 1st gear problem. I've lifted the gearstick gator and everything looks ok (I think) but to honest I'm not sure what I'm looking for. Do I have to lift the lower trim off to get a the adjustment bolt or is it just the top bit. Any pics with big dumb person arrows would be great :oops: Cheers Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
