Siezed gear stick RESOLVED!

Thought I'd pass on a recent experience ... my motor is a 57Reg 1.9PD Estate with about 80k on the clock.  The gear stick progressively began to lose its smoothness and 'feel'.  Some energetic lubricating under the gearstick gaiter appeared to make a difference .... but I was fooling myself, the problem lay elsewhere.  The 'north/south movement of the stick was silky smooth, the east/west movement was as rough as blazes.  The problem came to a head after the car was parked up for 3 months in a long term park at Heathrow while I was abroad, when I returned the gear stick had gone beyond 'rough' to 'rigid' and siezed solid.  Subtelty didn't work so I heaved and wiggled the stick until a bit of movement occured, I could feel it grating and grinding ... not subtle, not mechanically sympathetic, but I was up against it because no help was at hand and I had to get moving.

Further sub-gaiter lubing ... no joy.  Threw myself on the mercy of Loughborough VW garage who were great.  They whipped out the airbox and ducting exposing the top of the Gear Selector mechanism which has two elements: 1) The north/south movement of the stick causes axial rotation via a cable, and 2) the (troublesome) east-west movement lifts the shaft up and down.  The crucial part of the mechanism is a plastic bell-crank/ quadrant/shaft which gets pushed and pulled by a cable to lift the gear selector.  This bell crank is a single plastic moulding and is a flawed design.

The plastic shaft runs through a bored hole through the casting, no lubrication whatsoever.  Being near the front of the engine bay it is prone to the weather.  The large bearing surface twixt plastic / aluminium is the cause of the problem .  The Tech generously sprayed WD40, pushed pulled and wiggled .... and broke it!

New part ordered in for the following day, Mk.2 design, much improved for reduced friction and ability to take grease. dropped in in minutes, job done, problem solved.  I was marooned far from home without tools, but the spare part costs only about £20, so if you can do it yourself its a cheap get-out.

Also works for the VW Passat.  Note:  Ignition must be switched off when removing air box and sensor or you'll trigger a dashboard warning light that will require an expensive connection to a diagnostic machine to remove.

Edited 2 April, 201412 yr by mikeroch