I accidentally disabled the gear stick in the T4

[Seano]

Was 'negotiating' with the child in the back seat from the front seat whilst parked in town. My manoeuvre pushed weight against the T4's gearstick which I felt shift under my weight and I thought I'd simply pushed the stick out of 2nd and into neutral.

Nope.

When I came to getting underway the lever had gone well floppy and there was no notchy gate feeling. A quick play made me realise I had 3rd and 4th but nothing else. Pox! We got underway with the intention of hitting up my mechanic before I realised that Old Mate has Friday's off. Double Pox! So I had to do a block and get the DOKA up to the VW dealer (triple pox?)....no mean feat in 3rd with numerous roundabouts and the odd stop sign but I only stalled it the once.

Rolled into their carpark and the hit up the desk to find the VW mechanic was a lunch. Tried to track down the missus for a lift but no go - out of office. Quad Pox!

The child and I had nothing better to do so after peering underneath to find linkage in place but wickedly floppy I though to lift the bonnet and see what I could see over the gearbox. Sure enough...the T bar end of the selector rod (bottom of diagram) had been displaced. The ball (41) side of the T situated over the selector plate (50) had been pushed out of the clevis socket (49).



A simple grab with one hand and squeeze got the parts back together with only well greasy fingers being the cost. And I had full functionality again though some of the easiest least resistant shift feel one is ever likely to experience.

I suspect that since it was so easy to both break and fix that worn parts are distinctly likely. So the VW bloke can have it next week and I suspect some wear parts (balls, bearings and clevis can be renewed...

Damn glad though I was sufficiently aware to manage to avoid a rather hefty taxi bill...

[Sunny43.5]

Job well done I know what you mean about the T4 selector gizmo I did two of them on my sons T4 .

[jets]

Yes, replacing of balls on linkage comes up quite frequently on higher mileage vans on the T4 Forum.Yours may have gone bit longer if it hadn't been for your mishap, worth changing though. Thanks for sharing.

I know you are getting VW to replace them Seano but here's a link for anyone else reading this thread with the same problem.

Gearshift Bushes - how to - VW T4 Forum - VW T5 Forum

[Seano]

Thanks for the link. The smaller ball end has to be knackered...it was too easy to relocate. I'm not wedded to the idea of the dealer fixing it but current lack of a suitable press is a concern. I do have a bench vice that could suffice if I did the small ball end of T bar first.

The key will be sorting the right part numbers (though I suspect that most noughties T4 will be the same) and sourcing the parts...might be worth checking out the dealer parts counter tomorrow...

[Seano]

There's a wrinkle with my DIY plan....

The parts diagram for the selector rod is actually this one...


which in itself is no big deal. However, my suspicion that there's not enough bolts for part 52 was borne out when I realised upon inspection that a transmission mount/strut is bolted in over the top of it. It runs across towards the battery box and it seems to be required to prevent lateral movement rather than up and down movement. It's part 8 in this diagram...



So I suspect that I need to support the engine whilst I'm playing...which can be done but it does make it a bit more complicated...

[Seano]

A follow-up to this little tale. I've established that replacing the bushes 'should' be a methodical arm wrestle so I set about hunting the parts.



The parts I needed are labelled 27 (2 of), 40 (2 of), 43 (3 of), 46, 47 and 53 (1 of each) in the Vagcat image. Turns out they are all still available. I turned up three of the parts in the UK and none were much more than a couple of Oz dollars each . However, shipping was expensive and three parts couldn't be IDed.

I left a couple of messages with Inchcape and ASV but got nothing back. Camden GTI got back to me saying they couldn't help. So I trundled down to the local VW parts counter this morning and walked away $123 poorer. That's right - ten pieces of engineered plastic with an average price of $12.30 each. Like....wow. Even allowing for $10 freight...that's still what can only be described as an adequate markup...<sigh>

Hopefully I'll have them mid next week.

[aSimpleLife]

You're getting great value out of that T4.
I wish I could the same about my poor old T5. That contrary to your very sage advise. Back before I became wise enough to understand it. I seem to have over-thought to death.

[Abyss]

Ten years is the magic number it seems, job is on the list for me, this time here in Australia and not in the UK but with the same vehicle 😁

I did set my linkage up pretty badly last time (I removed it all!) So bad that really only I can drive it haha, now I should rectify that! Anyone finding genuine VW linkage bushes around? I only find aftermarket but have not tried the dealers as I believe most items are now NLA. 🤔

[Sunny43.5]

The big problem these days is that car makers are not obliged to keep parts ten years after the last model is built , so they may stockpile enough to satisfy the needs during that ten years but not after .