Is this normal to have one half of the plastic in the coupler not seated properly in the cage? What would cause this as I'm not sure how much more I dare tighten it up
Mine went in fully without any issue. Try getting someone to wiggle gear stick to get it in better position. Or undo it from gearbox first
As above, it should go fully home. If the screwy bolty thing won't pull it in, use a pair of strategically placed pry bars to squash it together first.
Is your bolt the original weird self tapping thing? If it's not, whatever Joe Bodger fitted may have run out of thread.
You might just need to tighten the nasty self tapper hex headed screw thing that goes in the split tin sleeve that holds it all together. If the cage has a VW logo on it keep the high quality cage , buy a new EMPI coupler with polyurethane bushes . Take the bushes and the screw and split sleeve from the EMPI kit and put the EMPI cage to one side to be welded as a spare (the collar comes loose from the EMPI cage...so weld them together..)
Right been fiddling. It's like it because the end of the gearbox and the end of the sift rod don't align. I jack the engine and gearbox up and managed to get the coupler cage all sorted and aligned. Sadly after having to lever the back left engine mount into place it's pushed the rubber coupler back to how it was before. I've had the engine and gearbox out a couple of times and I always seem to have issue getting the engine mounts to line up and levering it in place. Is this usual to have a problem lining it all up.
No. That's odd. You can shift the mounting yoke of the gearbox up and down a bit for vertical alignment.
Have you still got the old one ? Try the old cage with the new parts fitted in case the new cage has been made on the wonk !
Having to jack the engine and gearbox up implies that the misalignment is vertical but the pic looks like it’s horizontal. Either way obviously it’s not right or usual to have a problem lining it all up. Something is bent – either the bus or the shift rod. Have you tried to remove the engine and gearbox without disconnecting the coupling at some time?
I'm inclined to agree with 77 Westy.. the shift rod is surprisingly easy to bend with the weight of the lump and box being waggled of the shaft if someone, let's blame the PO , forgot to disconnect it first... Obviously a man of your stature wouldn't make such a schoolboy error I'm sure..
Ha ha, thanks. It's a recon box and I didn't connect the Marmite road till it was in place. It's definitely horizontal alignment and seems to be correctable at the connector end but it's the engine bracket end that's the problem when it's ok at the gearbox. I could redrill another hole in metal suspension bracket attached to the chassis but that can't be right. I will have to have another fiddle tonight so to speak.
Do you mean the engine hangers at the back, or the transmission hanger? The engine mount brackets are adjustable (slightly).
Well this was my Saturday. Good call, bent shift rod. Few mins in the vice and was almost as good as new. Thanks for help
