Got a phonecall form my wife this morning saying that the gearstick in our vRS wouldn't move. Apparently it was jammed solid with no travel in any direction. I asked her to pump the clutch a few times and she foiund she could select 2nd and 4th but no other gears. Now, I'm proud to say my wife is a pretty bright woman and not easily flumoxed by a mechanicl issue. So, I jumped on the bike and headed home to investigate. When I got there, rather than trying the stick myself, I jumped right in and opened the bonnet to have a look at the selector cables and selector tower to see if anything was jammed up or otherwise buggered. All looked well. I then gave the selector weight (the metal weitght used to dampen gear slection) a good waggle. At first there may have been a little resistance to up and down movements but it swung sided to side no bother. After this first waggle it moved freely in all directions (all legitimate bdirectiosn I should say). The intiial resistance to up and down movements may even have been my imagination. I then got in the car and found that the stick was also moving perfectly normally. I now realise I should have tried the stick first to see if I could experience the problem as it was described by my wife, but there you go. Having said that, she is fairly mechanically minded so I am inclined to accept that the gearbox was playing up before I got there. So, my question is, does anyone know of any fault that would cause the shifter to cease up (even just side to side movement was not possible apparently) and then suddenly release and work perfectly well? I took it round the block, all gears different revs. No nasty noise and no resisatance getting into any gear. I also removed the gaiter to see if anything was jammed at the gearsticxk end. All looked clean to me. Before anyone asks, gear linkage was clean and well greased. Alignment is bang on. I'm not sure if it could be the clutch but I doubt it because surely even a totally buggered clutch should not prevent the selector from moving side to side when in neutral. Very puzzled as to what it could be. Please help! iep

Edited 23 November, 200916 yr by iep

Your wife's on crack

Just monitor the issue!

Something often missed come services is to clean and lubricate that end of the gear linkage. It's also worth applying some of the correct grease to the ball at the base of the stick inside the car as this can come off due to the heat from the exhaust below.

Next step I would say would be a change of gear oil, using the genuine VAG stuff for you car.

Ice? Random I know, but just thinking of all possibilities on a cold morning.

Did you check the selector locking pin to see if it was positioned correctly and retracted? I've heard of them sometimes getting mangled as they're only plastic.

Thanks for the input guys. I'll try to respond to comment below:

1. I'll check whether my wife is on crack. Hopefully not though, I gather it's very more-ish.

2. Having lifted the gear stick gaiter, all looks well with the internal linkage connections and there is a healthy amount of grease on the ball/socket already. Are there further (more exposed) linkages beneath the car?

3. While I agree that changing the gearbox oil won't hurt, I don't see how it could cause the stick to cease up totally. In my experience, a requirement for new oil is normally announced by noisy transmission and/or notchy shifting?

3. It was pretty warm here today so ice is unlikely to have been the problem.

4. Where is the selector locking pin? I'm not sure which part you are referring to but I'll definitely have a look if you can let me know where it is.

Thanks again,

iep