The gear changes in my Superb are spoiling what's otherwise a great car. Going up and down gear really is like moving a stick in a bucket of stones. Somewhat vague, lumpy, about 25mm of lateral stick movement when in gear. Worst is moving into 4th (up or down). None are smooth or precise. Ever gone for a gear, missed it and had to slam the brakes on to avoid being T boned on a roundabout, pulled out of a junction and missed second? I had smoother gears on my 1985 landrover.

I've seen articles on the Octavia forum regarding cable adjustment - is this the solution?

Please help.

Does the clutch feel okay? If it's not releasing properly the gearbox will still be carrying some drive while you're shifting gears, making the gearbox resist going into gear. If this is okay then I'd have a look at the linkages to the gearbox... Any chance something is jamming them.

I think if you go through the cable adjustment procedure you mentioned, then a worn or broken component in the cable mechanism would show up. The two cables used (forward/back, left/right) are very similar, so if one of them has too much free movement then there is another to compare it to.

 

The mechanism lives under the air filter box (on the diesel, petrol the same?). Once you are standing looking at it any broken/missing cable ends or clips should be easy to spot. There are some plastic and rubber bits in the external linkage, which could break I suppose.

 

The fault could lie elsewhere, but best start with the easy stuff!

 

No doubt someone else has seen this specific problem and will be along later!

 

HTH.

Edited 19 October, 201312 yr by CombatWombat

What's the mileage of your car? Two options are possible;

1. What CombatWombat mentioned - the mechanism on top of gearbox is packing up- being loose

2. IMHO more possible, the plastic mechanism of the shifter is worn/loose. Take the gaiter off and have a look what's goinv o in there.

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Thanks.

 

Gear lever gaiter up, no obvious sign on wear underneath gubbins.

 

Tomorrow, the air box comes out for a look and possible cable adjustment. There appears to be slight play in the cable housings/ bushings. These look like an easy replace. Question is where can I get some and what are the part numbers or are there aftermarket (better) options.

 

Thanks.

Ive had the plate on the gearbox work loose. It had to be tightened and cable/linkage adjusted.

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On my 1.9 PD the air cleaner box is secured by one (5mm?) hex bolt and two rubber bungs. When the bolt is removed, the casing is noticeably looser, but still unwilling to come out. The bungs have an odd-shaped plastic 'dowel' through their centre. On mine, pulling the box up whilst waggling it disengages them, but initially it feels like you may be about to break something as their grip is quite strong.

 

One of these bungs (maybe both) can be seen on the bottom (inside) of the case if the air cleaner element is taken out first, after removing all the self-tappers on the lid.

 

This is assuming you have already disconnected the air intake front pick-up and 'U' bend.

 

If you do the adjustment procedure, note that the locking pin on the selector turret is plastic. If you move the gear stick with it still locked it will shear off!

 

Depending on how far you want to dismantle; look out for the small white plastic clip that does the job of a split pin on the black plastic gearshift shaft/quadrant. Although you can't see it well until it's off, it's shaped like a 'euro' symbol and is quite brittle. The middle tang of the 'E' passes through the shaft.

 

HTH.

Edited 20 October, 201312 yr by CombatWombat

Re-set cables following a guide on you tube. (Search for dieselgeek)

 

This has made a slight improvement to the quality of the shift. I wonder about changing the cable bushes to removed remaining free play. Some of our friends on the Octavia forum have dome this using 42 Draft Design bushes with reported good results.

Theres a audi tt s short shift conversion that cost around £30 to reduce the throw, have a look on the octavia forum as it use to be quite a popuar cheap mod

Cheers.

 

Might just start with the bushes first. Think I'll be more than happy just to firm up the shifts. Although they're not that bad now.

 

Thing is the 42DD bushes are VW (golf) specific so might be a bit of a hit or miss with the kits and having the car off the road while any mistakes are sorted isn't really an option.

 

We'll see how things go.

Mine had a similar feeling and I took it to Skoda. They confirmed that the bushes need changing but they are on back order.

If you find the product number for them please let me know so that I can check for alternative suppliers.