inderpalgill · 12th April 2011, 16:51

Hi,
I have a strange problem with my shifting of 61 bug, I replaced the coupler and found the old one was cracked, the shifter moves very well when the coupling screw is off(the one towards the shifter) but when tightened up, the the shifter becomes stiff, imean the shaft that goes towards the transmission is too hard to be moved by the shifter, can you help me what can be the reaon, is it the dirt or grimse some where,or is it the transmission at fault,please help me and rescue

PAVAN KADAM · 12th April 2011, 20:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by inderpalgill

Hi,
I have a strange problem with my shifting of 61 bug, I replaced the coupler and found the old one was cracked, the shifter moves very well when the coupling screw is off(the one towards the shifter) but when tightened up, the the shifter becomes stiff, imean the shaft that goes towards the transmission is too hard to be moved by the shifter, can you help me what can be the reaon, is it the dirt or grimse some where,or is it the transmission at fault,please help me and rescue

Sirjee,

The trouble is not with your gear shift coupler...

Its the trouble with the "SHIFT COUPLER BUSHING"

And this is situated at the centre spine just below the back seat bottom. Remove your rear seat, and you will find a plate near the Chassis number imprint, remove the plate and you will be able to view the coupler.

Replace this part and Aaaall izzz Well....

inderpalgill · 13th April 2011, 12:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Sirjee,

The trouble is not with your gear shift coupler...

Its the trouble with the "SHIFT COUPLER BUSHING"

And this is situated at the centre spine just below the back seat bottom. Remove your rear seat, and you will find a plate near the Chassis number imprint, remove the plate and you will be able to view the coupler.

Replace this part and Aaaall izzz Well....

Dear Pk,
i have replaced the same,and is a round one in my 61, as it comes till 64,and the pic you attached is 65 and up, but the problem is still there, here is a point to be noted that the shifting becomes very smooth after 10-15 minutes of idling, and as i drained the oil today, it was full of dirt and grimes, may be the oild is too thick and avoides shifting and after idling it gets a bit warm and slim, so what do you suggest, is it advisable to flush the gear box withs some solvent ,without removing it from the car,awaiting suggestion

Jaggu · 13th April 2011, 13:00

Use flushing oil itself first and then refill with the right grade oil and see. While on flushing oil dont drive the vehicle. Instead jack it up and use the gearbox.

inderpalgill · 13th April 2011, 14:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaggu

Use flushing oil itself first and then refill with the right grade oil and see. While on flushing oil dont drive the vehicle. Instead jack it up and use the gearbox.

thanks alot for the suggestion, a very experienced mechanic suggested some thing new for me, he suggested to use TQ oil in the transmission ans this will make the gears glide very soft, what do you suggest,iam flushing the gear box at present.

PAVAN KADAM · 13th April 2011, 15:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by inderpalgill

Dear Pk,
i have replaced the same,and is a round one in my 61, as it comes till 64,and the pic you attached is 65 and up, but the problem is still there, here is a point to be noted that the shifting becomes very smooth after 10-15 minutes of idling, and as i drained the oil today, it was full of dirt and grimes, may be the oild is too thick and avoides shifting and after idling it gets a bit warm and slim, so what do you suggest, is it advisable to flush the gear box withs some solvent ,without removing it from the car,awaiting suggestion

Quote:

Originally Posted by inderpalgill

thanks alot for the suggestion, a very experienced mechanic suggested some thing new for me, he suggested to use TQ oil in the transmission ans this will make the gears glide very soft, what do you suggest,iam flushing the gear box at present.

Since VW has the gearbox and transmission in a single housing, there are 2 drain points. You must follow a certain procedure while changing oil

1) Park the car on a level ground, Dont jack it.
2) Flush out the old oil
3) Tighten the allen nuts
4) Use 90 Hypod gear oil, this is available locally
5) Once u see the oil is upto the inlet allen nut, stop and close it
6) Run the car for over 1-2 kms
7) Drain the oil
8) Replace again with 2.5 ltrs of gearbox oil.

This might solve your trouble.

inderpalgill · 13th April 2011, 15:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Since VW has the gearbox and transmission in a single housing, there are 2 drain points. You must follow a certain procedure while changing oil

1) Park the car on a level ground, Dont jack it.
2) Flush out the old oil
3) Tighten the allen nuts
4) Use 90 Hypod gear oil, this is available locally
5) Once u see the oil is upto the inlet allen nut, stop and close it
6) Run the car for over 1-2 kms
7) Drain the oil
8) Replace again with 2.5 ltrs of gearbox oil.

This might solve your trouble.

so what do you personally feel, is the gear box running with thick oil, or is it full of smudge and needs a flush, pls suggest the role of 90 Hypod gear oil?

PAVAN KADAM · 13th April 2011, 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by inderpalgill

so what do you personally feel, is the gear box running with thick oil, or is it full of smudge and needs a flush, pls suggest the role of 90 Hypod gear oil?

Here's an article from the Classic VW site.... Hope this will help u sirjeee.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by classic vw

How to change the gearbox oil in a VW Beetle

Your gearbox (transmission) does plenty of work, changing up and down many, many times every time you drive anywhere. it needs lubricating just like the engine, just less often. The recommended time is every 30,000 miles. That's a lot of miles, but considering how old your Beetle is, there's a good chance it needs doing and the previous owner never did it. The toughest part of this job is getting your bug in the air and making sure you're safe when you're undoing the bolts on the gearbox, so it's worth doing if you have no idea when it was last done.

You will also need to do this if you've had the rear brakes completely apart. The gearbox oil also lubricates the rear axle, so when you have the brakes completely apart, e.g. when replacing a rear backplate, the oil will leak out and need replacing.

You will need
Jack and axle stands or ramps
Spanner (wrench) for wheel nuts
Torch or lamp of some kind
17mm Allen-head spanner or socket (male-type)
Gearbox oil (e.g. Halfords Gear Oil EP 80W-90 Hypoid Light) RECOMMENDED
Short bucket / tub
Cloth for cleaning up spills
Blanket to lie on

How to change the gearbox oil
The gearbox is just in front of the engine. To get at it you need to crawl around under the car and to undo the bolt to get the oil out you need plenty of leverage, so you have to get the car up in the air a bit so you can get right underneath it. So, jack up the back of the car and put it on axle stands, or drive it up on to a set of ramps. The ramps my Dad has are slightly too steep for the Beetle to go up without scraping the back of the rear wings, so I had to jack mine.

Once the car is safe on two axle stands, lie down underneath it. Never, ever get under a car which is only held up by a jack, no matter how good that jack might be. Plenty of mechanics have been crushed under cars just because a jack has collapsed, or let itself down gradually, trapping someone underneath.

Take the left hand side rear wheel off (that's the left hand side as you're sitting in the drivers seat, looking out the windscreen.) You'll need access to a bolt on the side of the gearbox, and it's a lot easier with the wheel off.

On the side of the gearbox is the filling hole, and it is quite awkward to get at. You need a 17mm Allen head socket or spanner (wrench) to undo the bolt. I have a socket and had to use an extension bar so it would stretch through to the bolt head. if you only have a spanner, this might be easier to do from underneath the car, but that is very awkward (did that on a Karmann Ghia once, hurt lots of muscles trying to get the bolt loose in such a confined space.) Take out the filler bolt, which means you know you'll be able to get new oil in to the gearbox once it's drained.

Unscrewing the gearbox filler bolt using a 17mm Allen socket head with extension.

Next, put your blanket under the car and crawl on to it, take the torch. You're looking for a hole for the 17mm Allen spanner to fit in to. In front of the engine is a bulbous block, that's the gearbox, on the bottom will be the hole, you might need to poke about a bit if it's dirty and clean up the hole so the Allen spanner will fit in. The bolt fits right in to the gearbox, so it will be flush or almost flush to the bottom.

When you take out the bolt, the oil is going to start pouring out, so you don't want to be underneath it. However, the bolt might not have moved for a few years, so you'll need to get it loose before getting out of the way. Put the Allen headed spanner or socket in the hole and get it a half or full turn loose, this might take a little while as it's tight under the car.

Once the bolt is loose, get the bucket or whatever's going to catch the oil and put it underneath the bolt. You'll now need to stretch out to undo the bolt the rest of the way. Try to catch it before it drops in the bucket, but if you don't it doesn't matter as you can clean it off later.

Now you have to wait for the oil to drain out of the gearbox. Time for a nice cup of tea.

The gearbox bolt and Allen head socket needed for unscrewing it

When the oil has stopped dripping out of the gearbox, you can replace the draining bolt and do it back up.

Some oil is going to spill on the floor when the gearbox gets re-filled, so put something down that you don't mind getting ruined. The new oil I use is EP 80W-90 Hypoid Light Gear Oil, the label on the back says it's suitable for manual gearboxes.

The new gearbox oil now needs to go in to the filling awkward hole. Fortunately, the bottles the oil comes in have a pull-out spout. The idea is you pull the spout out until it stretches a couple of inches (or however long it'll go) and stick the end in the hole. Unless the bottle is on it's side (I couldn't get mine in that way) squeeze the bottle to pump oil in to the gearbox.

Keep doing this until the gearbox is full up to the hole. Once it is that full the oil will start leaking back out of the hole. Let it leak out, when the oil is level with the bottom of the hole it has the right amount in and you can screw the bolt back in. Don't put the plugging bolt back in before the oil has levelled out or you can cause too much pressure in the gearbox and damage it.

Squeezing new oil in to the gearbox filler hole from below.
Excess gearbox oil leaking out as it levels out to the right amount
Wipe away any oil that dripped out, put the wheel back on and get the car back on it's feet. Job's done for another 30,000 miles.

inderpalgill · 13th April 2011, 16:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Here's an article from the Classic VW site.... Hope this will help u sirjeee.....

yes PK, agree very much, but this is the method to change the gear oil and shows no hint of gear shifter or shifting to be tough, pls go through the problem again and suggest

PAVAN KADAM · 13th April 2011, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by inderpalgill

yes PK, agree very much, but this is the method to change the gear oil and shows no hint of gear shifter or shifting to be tough, pls go through the problem again and suggest

Wrong oil, u always have issues with Shifting.

I did that silly mistake of using 140 hypod oil, and i could see, my gearing got screwed, then later i came across this article and changed back to 90 hypod.

U follow the above instructions.

And maybe your trouble will vanish

If you face anymore problem. Dont worry, i will still do some more R&D for you.

IndrojitSircar · 29th April 2011, 21:45

Hi,

What is the status on the Gearbox problem? Did you do what i had suggested to you when we spoke the other day?

Thank You

Indrojit Sircar

inderpalgill · 30th April 2011, 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar

Hi,

What is the status on the Gearbox problem? Did you do what i had suggested to you when we spoke the other day?

Thank You

Indrojit Sircar

Thanks sir, the alighnment issues were ok ,i took the engine and GB out, gave the entire transmission a good clean up,it is ok now the test drive was done and shifting is now a wonderful game.will be going for a sunday drive tommorow,the fruit has riped and its time to enjoy it ,iam allways thankfull to you and your dad for you your continuous support-always,

IndrojitSircar · 30th April 2011, 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by inderpalgill

Thanks sir, the alighnment issues were ok ,i took the engine and GB out, gave the entire transmission a good clean up,it is ok now the test drive was done and shifting is now a wonderful game.will be going for a sunday drive tommorow,the fruit has riped and its time to enjoy it ,iam allways thankfull to you and your dad for you your continuous support-always,

Sir ,

Was the problem the same as i had told you or was it something else all together ?

inderpalgill · 5th May 2011, 16:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by IndrojitSircar

Sir ,

Was the problem the same as i had told you or was it something else all together ?

hi, it was full of smudge ,may be the previous owner never considered an oil change,and the smudge was so very hard that a flushing with new oil or solvent didnt help,then i had to remove it and clean it thoroughly,earlier i changed the coupling and shifter bushing,hence all new things and fresh clean gearbox now shifts like silk -Love it,here are some pics i drove her till my farm not much 10 kms approx -one way, all ok ,just some adjustments at the pedals eg the clutch free play etc etc,thanks god all major issues solved,now planning a monster under the hood ha ah , a big big music system,

rajchetan · 6th May 2011, 10:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by inderpalgill

thanks god all major issues solved,now planning a monster under the hood ha ah , a big big music system,

Congrats Inderpalji. She looks beautiful. Good that all issues have been solved. Been waiting to see the picks for a few months now.

Another beauty to your wonderful collection.

12th April 2011, 16:51	#121
inderpalgill BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Ludhiana Posts: 465 Thanked: 50 Times View My Garage	Re: My 1961 Volkswagen Beetle,restoration project Hi, I have a strange problem with my shifting of 61 bug, I replaced the coupler and found the old one was cracked, the shifter moves very well when the coupling screw is off(the one towards the shifter) but when tightened up, the the shifter becomes stiff, imean the shaft that goes towards the transmission is too hard to be moved by the shifter, can you help me what can be the reaon, is it the dirt or grimse some where,or is it the transmission at fault,please help me and rescue
	() Thanks

13th April 2011, 13:00	#124
Jaggu Team-BHP Support Join Date: May 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 20,383 Thanked: 17,291 Times	Re: My 1961 Volkswagen Beetle,restoration project Use flushing oil itself first and then refill with the right grade oil and see. While on flushing oil dont drive the vehicle. Instead jack it up and use the gearbox.
	() Thanks

29th April 2011, 21:45	#131
IndrojitSircar Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Kolkata/Delhi Posts: 2,319 Thanked: 1,001 Times	Re: My 1961 Volkswagen Beetle,restoration project Hi, What is the status on the Gearbox problem? Did you do what i had suggested to you when we spoke the other day? Thank You Indrojit Sircar
	() Thanks