tranny issues/shift linkage...help

[nogaroblueaudi]

Soooo, I've been having issues getting my car started after a tranny swap and timing belt job. Well I finally got the car started and everything was done and It was time to align the shifter. Well it was terrible at first, but now I got it to go into 3-6 ok and it engages the gears... 1st and 2nd go into the gear slot just fine, but it doesnt engage the gear. Reverse is the same way. I've tried adjusting it several times but nothing. I feel like the tranny I bought my be bad or that something is up with my shift linkage. I can't see how it could be messed up though since i Just swapped everything over from one tranny to the other. I reused my old slave cylinder so I know its ok, and I know my clutch is fine because I inspected it during the swap.

I guess it may be possible that a bushing got lost in the shift likage swap, is that something that could happen and would cause these issues? I just dont see why it will go into 1st and 2nd just fine but not engage. It seems like if it were a linkage problem it wouldnt even go into those gears. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
and yes, I have searched for hours for someone with a similar problem. No def answers yet

[nogaroblueaudi]

after some more research I think I'm going to check if that little shim fell out of the linkage.

[nogaroblueaudi]

well im stumped. i spent forever working on this today and the washers are where they are supposed to be on the stabilizer link. The shim is inside the hole on the gear selector link, and all of the in tranny nut/rollerball things are in place. I'm beginning to think i was sold a bad tranny

[AAAA]

how could it "go into 1st and 2nd" but not be "engaging?" that doesnt' make any since. if you mean that its moving around in the slots, but not into gears, then that could still be a linkage issue. buy a magnetic angle finder and watch jhm's video and see if you can get any better results. its a bitch to align them back up

[Matt@JHM]

You could be either:

1) Shifter mis-aligned, watch our adjustment videos at jhmotorsports.com/videos

2) You installed your linkage in the wrong spot (SEE IMAGE)


What year is your car and what year was the transmission from?

[awdbiturbo]

after some more research I think I'm going to check if that little shim fell out of the linkage.

Man dont get me started on theat shim piece! It baffled me for 2 months aligning my shifter would cure the problem untill i attempted to shift into reverse then pop i would have NO gears....Then i fixed it by upgrading to the JHM shift linkage improver kit no worries since JHM FTMFW

[nogaroblueaudi]

jesus christ matt you are fucking amazing! i looked at my old tranny early today to see if i could have possibly mounted it to the wrong spot but there was only one hole. I've watched ALLLLL of your guy's videos, checked for the shim, aligned it 100 times, I NEVER would have figured that out
My car is a 00 and the tranny is a 01.5
i heart you

[Matt@JHM]

jesus christ matt you are fucking amazing! i looked at my old tranny early today to see if i could have possibly mounted it to the wrong spot but there was only one hole. I've watched ALLLLL of your guy's videos, checked for the shim, aligned it 100 times, I NEVER would have figured that out
My car is a 00 and the tranny is a 01.5
i heart you

Glad I could help.

[jaybquick@JHM]

Man dont get me started on theat shim piece! It baffled me for 2 months aligning my shifter would cure the problem untill i attempted to shift into reverse then pop i would have NO gears....Then i fixed it by upgrading to the JHM shift linkage improver kit no worries since JHM FTMFW

Yup, here is that booger. When I bought my B5 back in 05 it was screwed up by the previous owners mechanic who did the clutch swap. It took me a while too. Heck this picture right here is from back then when it first happened to me.



BTW. We sometimes have used linkages from doing the upgrades so we can sell people just the shim for $30 shipped usually. Since a new end piece is $80 from the dealer and our linkage is $189.99. But I agree, just do the linkage upgrade and be done with it.

jesus christ matt you are fucking amazing! i looked at my old tranny early today to see if i could have possibly mounted it to the wrong spot but there was only one hole. I've watched ALLLLL of your guy's videos, checked for the shim, aligned it 100 times, I NEVER would have figured that out
My car is a 00 and the tranny is a 01.5
i heart you

Glad Matt was able to help. I got your PM, but it looks like Matt beat me to the punch. Now I know why I went through the trouble making that picture above. I actually had a shop back east baffled and tried 2 linkages and took them a month with their customers car to figure it out. Once he called me and I looked at the trannys I had on the shelf I figured that issue out. What sucks is the early 00s only have the lower hole, so if you put an early 00 trans in an 01.5 and up it wouldn't work right ever unless you knew to swap over the selector shaft cover.

Glad I could help.

Thanks dude. Now keep the link for that other pic for the wedge so you can help more peeps when I am too busy.

[nogaroblueaudi]

so my issues just keep getting more weird. fixed the placement of the cross stabilizer, but now it wont go into reverse, 1-6 just fine. I bought a magnetic angle aligner and have it aligned perfectly. But it will go into reverse and the spot below it while pushed down, but not engage. The shim is still there, eveything is bolted up correctly with the right washers and such, I just dont get it. Could it have anything to do with my linkage being from a 00 but my tranny is a 01.5? I'm also hearing a clinking sound coming from what I believe to be my tranny only when I brake or decelerate using the gears. If im at idle and I push the clutch in it stops, but If I'm moving and i push the clutch in while braking it does not. kinda sounds like my throw out bearing is rattling against my pressure plate. Is there a spring inside that is supposed to keep tension on that like in some older vehicles. I've brought it to two shops and they both say they have no idea, but it doesn't sound major. But I'm thinking the two issues might be related. I know it's almost impossible to diagnose a problem without seeing the car, I'm just wondering if anyone else has had any similar issues.

I'm about to pull this tranny back out and buy a whole new shift linkage

[nogaroblueaudi]

after more reading, i would to officially say, son of a bitch. My dad removed that damn torx when filling up my tranny. I just called him over and showed him the picture and goes, uh oh. So my dad will be picking up jhm's video tomorrow and we get to have another fun filled weekend. If anyone has any tips for removing the front part of the tranny as in what NOT to do, please let me know

[Matt@JHM]

after more reading, i would to officially say, son of a bitch. My dad removed that damn torx when filling up my tranny. I just called him over and showed him the picture and goes, uh oh. So my dad will be picking up jhm's video tomorrow and we get to have another fun filled weekend. If anyone has any tips for removing the front part of the tranny as in what NOT to do, please let me know

Sorry man. For future searches on this thread - this is the picture that you speak of.



Trust me, you are not the only one that has done this.

[jaybquick@JHM]

after more reading, i would to officially say, son of a bitch. My dad removed that damn torx when filling up my tranny. I just called him over and showed him the picture and goes, uh oh. So my dad will be picking up jhm's video tomorrow and we get to have another fun filled weekend. If anyone has any tips for removing the front part of the tranny as in what NOT to do, please let me know

To keep from having to remove the back half of the trans you should do the following. If you do not do it this way and don't have the back half dissasembled the pinion gear will fall out and the 23 little bearings for it will end up in the trans.

Obviously drain the trans before you remove it.

Stand the transmission up on the driveshaft end. You will need a helper to hold the trans steady since this side is narrow. Then undo ONLY the bolts that bolt the steel center case to the front aluminum bell housing. Once this is done you need to pry the bellhousing off. Be careful, if you pull the belhousing off too fast the front diff will grab onto the pinion gear and the 23 little bearings will fall into the back half. So when lifting, lock on of the front output shaft flanges and then turn the other back in forth as you pull up to keep the pinion from hanging up.

Then once the bellhousing is off leave the trans standing up on the small end and you should be able to undo that bolt and position the lever back into place. Then put that pivot bolt back in (the one you used to fill it). Then once it is right, you should clean both surfaces and reseal with silicone and put it back together. I would remove the throwout bearing collar up front and replace the input shaft seal, since most likely once you put the bellhousing back on you may damage the seal. Then put all the bolts in and torque to 25nm or 18 ft lbs.

If you watch the video and read these instructions you should be ok.

Good Luck!

[nogaroblueaudi]

will do. thanks for the help. I decided since Im pulling the tranny again I might as well do the clutch. So It'll be a couple weeks before i get started, but we will have your video handy and some of your parts to upgrade:). I wish we had a stick thread on all the things to watch out for on our trannys. It seems like I've ran into almost every problem possible, and you all have a picture for all of them. It would have been helpful to have all of these pictures easily accesible so I could have avoided some of them. so if anyone wants to make this sticky, feel free to

[jaybquick@JHM]

will do. thanks for the help. I decided since Im pulling the tranny again I might as well do the clutch. So It'll be a couple weeks before i get started, but we will have your video handy and some of your parts to upgrade:). I wish we had a stick thread on all the things to watch out for on our trannys. It seems like I've ran into almost every problem possible, and you all have a picture for all of them. It would have been helpful to have all of these pictures easily accesible so I could have avoided some of them. so if anyone wants to make this sticky, feel free to

I have been planning to do a sticky with all the info. After this thread and some recent threads I think I have all I need.

[fourings06]

my linkage is all wacked out for some reason, and the dude that did the work won't talk to me anymore so I'm SOL lol, looks like I'm just gonna buy your upgrade. Don't want to bring up an old thread, but do you think this could be a misaligned shifter or linkage installed wrong? -

generally everything is fine, but sometimes when i shift from first to second, it goes into second and stays, but its not actually "in gear", car's still in neutral. If I put it further back in second gear, pulling it hard to where the shifter is further back then normal, then it is in gear. After this occurs, all the gears seem to be off, almost have to put the shifter in different spots then normal if I want to shift into gear. Also when this happens, there is a neutral position, but the shifter is tilted further back then normal, and the shifter will not move side to side freely like it normally would. I'm stumped... I am assuming it is my linkage, in which case I will just upgrade... but does this crappy explanation bring any other possibilities to mind?

[jaybquick@JHM]

my linkage is all wacked out for some reason, and the dude that did the work won't talk to me anymore so I'm SOL lol, looks like I'm just gonna buy your upgrade. Don't want to bring up an old thread, but do you think this could be a misaligned shifter or linkage installed wrong? -

generally everything is fine, but sometimes when i shift from first to second, it goes into second and stays, but its not actually "in gear", car's still in neutral. If I put it further back in second gear, pulling it hard to where the shifter is further back then normal, then it is in gear. After this occurs, all the gears seem to be off, almost have to put the shifter in different spots then normal if I want to shift into gear. Also when this happens, there is a neutral position, but the shifter is tilted further back then normal, and the shifter will not move side to side freely like it normally would. I'm stumped... I am assuming it is my linkage, in which case I will just upgrade... but does this crappy explanation bring any other possibilities to mind?

Take it apart and confirm the wedge is missing. Sounds like he lost the wedge when it was apart. Our linkage will include this part. Or we can get you an OEM piece for about $70. Or email us and we may have a used one laying around that still has the wedge in it and we can give you a great price.


This pic should explain it all.

[fourings06]

The wedge is there, the first time we reinstalled my linkage from the clutch job, he lost the shim, but I bought one from you guys and we put it in. anything else come to mind? I want to get your linkage anyway, but I don't know what the install entails . Will my trans have to come back down? I could only find a video on the install once the the linkage rod was removed (on your site).

[lucajS4]

my cars like that to i just change the salve cylinder and now cant shift into gears as well i mite need to bleed the clutch again cause its kinda stiff....and i cant get into revesre alot and gets really really annoying also cant throw it in 2nd as good and other gears as well

[fourings06]

yeah same way here, it all starts because if I throw it into second even a little more agressive then a granny shift, everything goes out of wack.

[lucajS4]

so did you fix the problem...im hoping its just needs to be bleed again

[fourings06]

im talking about my linkage, nothing clutch related here

[jaybquick@JHM]

Double check the cross rod for damage and see how much play is in the stabilizer bushing as well. If you put my linkage and stabilizer bushing on and you still have a problem then it must be in the trans.

Also check the slave cylinder hose, it may be catching on the cross rod, or even some wires.

[cederrowe]

Bringing this back from the dead, Having shifting issues, cant adjust, so bought a new linkage rod cup on the tranny output, how are you guys getting the cross rod 10mm bolt of at the linkage? Nut just spins the ball joint? I'm doing this with tranny in car, trying to pull the shift rod out to check for the wedge and replace the ball socket,