TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:03 am

I've been posting a lot of questions about problems lately so, I thought I'd share a success story with everyone.

The shifting has been very sloppy on my (our :roll: ) new van. I don't really mind as I'm used to it. However; first and reverse have been a little difficult to differentiate.

The other day, I was on a small, quite, side street. I was having some difficulty with first and kept hitting reverse. A shiny silver Tahoe pulled up behind me. I was frustrated and accidentally hit third and moved forward a little. Tried again for first and hit reverse. One more time and same result.

Then the Tahoe honks at me! Remember this is a very quiet street.

I rolled down my window and looked back. It was a guy in a suit just sitting there (I'm a professional also so, nothing against the suit).

I waited until he rolled down his window too and asked him if he couldn't tell that I was having difficulty and doing my best.

He said "No."

I said "Really, you couldn't tell? You thought I was just having a good time?"

He said "I couldn't tell."

So I says "Really? You couldn't figure that out? Wow."

I rolled up my window and felt satisfied. It was actually a quite civil discussion and I wasn't angry. I was just amazed this guy didn't exhibit more empathy.

I realized that if it had been my wife, she would have come home pretty angry about the van. So, I set out to see if I could fix the problem. I checked all of the linkage and it was tight. I took the plate and ball out of the shifter, cleaned, regreased, and replaced with the spring just a bit tighter to help differentiate first and reverse.

Success! This is my 4th Vanagon and this is the best that any of them have ever shifted! Woohoo

Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:12 am

I didn't know it could be that easy, not that it will be, but I am going to give it a try this coming weekend. Thanks for the post!

Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:35 am

Guy in the Tahoe has probabaly never seen a stickshift before. I'm amazed at how many people I know who have never driven a stick. My van is an auto, but my Passat is a 5-speed. I try to always leave enough space between me and the car in front of me at stops, but especially so when the vehicle in front of me is a car that has some liklihood of being a stick.

My dad always said "when you're driving an automatic, you're really just steering, when you're driving a stick, you're really driving".

Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:37 pm

I took mine apart and greased it up real good when I added the short shift kit. shifts great now!

Mon Oct 27, 2008 6:44 pm

hiram6 wrote: Guy in the Tahoe has probabaly never seen a stickshift before. I'm amazed at how many people I know who have never driven a stick. My van is an auto, but my Passat is a 5-speed. I try to always leave enough space between me and the car in front of me at stops, but especially so when the vehicle in front of me is a car that has some liklihood of being a stick.

My dad always said "when you're driving an automatic, you're really just steering, when you're driving a stick, you're really driving".

I understand exactly what you mean. I have people pull up inches within my rear bumper on uphill stoplights, then they lay on the horn when the van rolls back a bit. That, and I've almost been rear-ended by people who don't understand that it takes time to shift from first to second; they're apparently just used to flooring their automatic and just accelerating with no delay.