Gear selector issue no third or four has anyone else had this issue sorted but the engine is smokin

The bus is at specialist at the moment and they put it through its MOT on Friday and I was due to pick it up after work. They rang me to say their would be a delay as they were unable to select third or four gear they rang me again today to say the gearbox is more than likely the culprit. I have replaced all the bushes and they are going to replace them again apart from the ones in the Bowden tube but they are considering dropping the engine and box.
The gearbox was rebuilt with the engine recently by someone that came highly recommended on here and to be honest I'm almost certain the box is not at fault.
I called tonight to look over the linkage and it seems almost solid in the Bowden tube and its bottoming out where it passes through the rear cross member which makes it tight to rotate could the gearbox be to low?
Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

Yes it's all been off at some point during the resto.
When the gearbox is fixed at the cone end using the fork can the height alter, its as if the box is about 10mm to low cause the linkage to drag on the bottom of the crossmember

 

Nothing should be hitting unless it got bent. If somebody forgets the gearbox coupler at a garage involved in changing an engine and gearbox for instance they could have bent the shifter rod as it all ends up hanging from it.
Once it bottoms out it may be preventing full rotation into third/fourth.
The highly skilled garage crew should know you can do a basic check by disconnecting the coupler and changing gear by moving the shifter rod in the nose of the gearbox using carefully applied (so as not to gouge the shifter rod ) mole grips or similar.
Also worth checking the front bushing which has the biggest effect.
And if the gearbox is sloppy by itself its worth pulling the nose cone and checking the "hockey stick" and the little donut that slides on the end of it .

I would suggest if everything arrived at the garage in working order the problem was down to human error and can probably be bent and adjusted back into shape..

 

Check first that half the rear coupling hasn't fallen out. Quite often if you can't select 3&4 or 1&2 it means one half or other of the coupling is disintegrating/missing.

 

Quick update I spent 5hrs at the garage today going over everything and it's the gearbox itself that's at fault. I've been in contact with the guy who recond it and he has no issues in putting it right even though I openly admitted I may of damage the selector when in stalling it, however he's a 10hr round trip from me and it will more than likely put the van off the road for another year.
The vw garage currently working on the van have spent a day and a half messing with the linkage and now want to drop the engine and box to send it away at a cost of £40 per hour.
So I'm a little unsure how to move forward...

A. Let them drop the box out to send it off to be repaired....

B.Take the van away and do it myself .....

C. Do it myself and fit a temp box if I can find one in good nick local and send the other away in the meantime

D. Try and drop the rear of the gearbox at an angle and take the nose cone off to see if I can see any issues

I'm at my wits end with the van it's take three years to get to this stage to then find I'm going backwards.

My skill set is limited I obviously fitted the engine and box myself but screwed up some where along the way. I thought the linkage was at fault at first as it scrapes along the last two cross members before the gearbox not sure why though neither is the garage.

Any advice would be great fully appreciated, thanks

 

It'll be the C bracket in the nosecone that's broken is my guess, easiest to drop engine and box together to get at, you can get the nosecone off in situ but it's a fiddle.

 

Doesn't the linkage have a slight bend in it towards the rear? I'm not sure which way up it's supposed to go but worth double checking.

 

My box is fixed at the nose cone end with a fork type bracket 72/73 are they easy enough to replace?

 

your right it does but more towards the gearbox coupling

 

Sorry I mean there is a C bracket inside the nosecone that can and does sometimes break, it holds the selector shaft which is moved by the hockey stick, nose off job.

 

Sorry I didn't word that very well
Is it possible to drop the box low enough by undoing the nose Cone support fork and then undoing the nose cone and sliding it off to replace it and is it straight forward enough to replace myself?

 

I believe it's possible but I've learnt its always easier in the end to drop the lot,

 

Thanks @Flakey if I manage to get it off in situ is the c bracket a striaght swap or will I end up with parts all over the place

 

There's not much inside the nosecone but if it is that bracket the hardest thing will be getting hold of a new one. Only 2 bolts to replace it.
The other bits in there are the hockey stick and the selector fork.
Seems like you're sure the problem lies within the box so it's definitely the best starting point to finding the problem in the selecting process.

 

if its the c bracket you weren't at fault and id suggest doing it yourself
this thread might help however I didn't add the welding never worked and it took me hours on the internet to source one which was off the shelf from some place in America that sold parts for the Baja bugs sorry I don't have the name
http://thelatebay.com/index.php?threads/gear-selection-problems.58094/page-3#post-1077856

 

by the way it cost 30 dollars but 60 shipping

 

Fantastic info and pics thanks @kiddy12 managed to slide the cone back enough to have a luck inside this afternoon but not quite got it off completely back on it all tomorrow, cheers

 

Was it Weddle Industries? https://weddleindustries.com/transaxles/vw-transaxles

 

yep that's the guys