Nearly had to call on my first yellow taxi today but managed to drive the 40 miles from the coast home on small roads in first and second after the rear gear linkage coupling self destructed it's rubber bushes. Luckily I didn't have to reverse but it was certainly a noisy drive! Two questions please: 1. Is this easy to change in situ? Any tips? 2. Can I buy just the rubber bushes or do I have to get the whole cage/linkage and if so, any recommendations? Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk
It is easy to change in situ, I have some blocks of wood which go under the rear wheels and raise it by 4" or so, gives me enough belly wiggling room to access the cage. Then swapsie time. Point to note, the VW ones aren't that great but CSP are recommended by the good folk on here.
1. Yes. Bit of a squeeze, but doable. 2. Don't think you can buy the bushes seperately. The CSP coupler is good.
Amazing guys, super fast response and just what I was hoping to hear. I will order one right away. Just love TLB. I posted for help on a Fiat 500 forum because my wife's car had an aircon issue and never got a single reply! Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk
I dont know if they do them still, but if you could make it to GSF, they sell the EMPI couplers which have polyurethane blocks and other parts which can be raided to re-populate the missing parts in your picture. But they are still stock-ish in terms of cheese metal parts. The CSP couplers are really crisp, with cast integral bodies, machined pin across the coupler. solid polyurethane blocks, and bolts you tighten to clamp the blocks made out of proper metal, which is their plus side. Downside is that lining up the gearchange plate under the gearstick to match the gearbox can require more accuracy than the basic loosen, waggle in first and second, tighten again. And yes, you will need to adjust the shifter plate under the gearstick with a new coupler, as that old coupler will have allowed waggles of the gearstick up front that dont match a working gear change linkage. ..
Our invoice is in the post Only thing to watch out for with the couplers is the ID of the hole where it fits on the shaft. You may have to drill/ream it out a bit.
Last I looked the rubbers were available. I’d recommend replacing them and the bolt screw arrangement thing if that was fine previously. CSP one is a bit of a faff and can require trimming or alterations to the cross member above as it can hit it on some buses when changing gear.
This or replace the whole thing, whatever's easiest. You shouldn't need to adjust anything afterwards.
Great, I will try and replace the rubbers by themselves initially and if that doesn't work buy the whole thing. Cheers guys, one day I must attend Techenders and pay in beer vouchers! Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk
i bought one with the red polyurethane bushes, just used the bushes and fitted into my original metal cage. kept the repro cage in my spares bin just in case. pretty sure i also put along bolt across it with a nyloc nut instead of the self tapping arrangement it comes with.
I have done just the same thing. The self tapping type roofing bolt thingy is poor, I also used a longer through bolt with nyloc nut, looks and feels a better.
Glad you have posted this, as I'm having a few gear change issues which I think/HOPE are linkage related! I'm going to check the front & back bits as soon as it's cool enough! & will add photos My issue is: Hard to change gears, but made it to the campsite! Before heading home I went through the gears with the engine off, all fine. Then first half of journey all was smooth on the gear change front, then I heard a gentle thud/clunk and then it was hard to change gear again. I already have a NOS VW stamped gear coupling, that i bought years ago from @davidoft Plus a JP 8131700210 Joint, shift rod kit. The coupling looks poor but the bushes are stamped: Germany VW 311711233
I can't see the through bolt properly on the shiny coupling but that on the black one is in my opinion poor. I replaced mine with a proper bolt (as @rob.e has done by the sounds of it) with a nyloc nut on. Feels great now.
yeah i doubt i'll use anything from the black one. The OG through bolt looks proper and the screw in bolt has the hole in it.
Make sure you Hopefully its the coupler . But you see those grooves /marks on the through bolt.. if they are 0.5mm deep the coupler will go floppy. They are where the force from the gearstick is rotating the shift rod in the gearbox. A bit of slop there turns out to be centimetres at the top of the gear lever..
