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Tue Jul 22, 2014 1:01 pm

My issue of not being able to find 1st or reverse has been solved. I was told that this was the issue so I went ahead and bought the parts but put it off thinking I would have alot of tweaking to do once they were installed. Well an hour of labor and the shifting is back to normal with no tweaking. The ball had completely separated from the arm and was just sitting in the cup so the shifting was horrible, especially at stop lights trying to find 1st gear.

The arm seems to be in perfect shape so I hate to toss it, so if anybody wants it pm me and I'll give it to you for the cost to ship it. All you would need to get is a new ball. It only fits on the tranny shaft one way ( I tried to put it on wrong just to see if it would go and it wouldn't) so its kinda idiot proof. Makes a hell of a difference.

Dave

Tue Jul 22, 2014 2:13 pm

Be sure to check the tightness of the 13mm nut that holds it on after a while, and routinely after that. If the nut comes loose the arm vibrates and eventually eats its own splines.

Tue Jul 22, 2014 3:09 pm

Good call, I'll do that. Bentley called for 25 foot pounds but I didn't have a torque wrench available to me so I tightened it to what I thought was close, but I'll check it periodically.

Tue Jul 22, 2014 3:48 pm

Hours of fun with "Ball in a Cup"! :P

Tue Jul 22, 2014 7:22 pm

Be careful not to overtighten. If it breaks you will be unhappy....

Tue Jul 22, 2014 7:50 pm

dprendergast wrote: My issue of not being able to find 1st or reverse has been solved. I was told that this was the issue so I went ahead and bought the parts but put it off thinking I would have alot of tweaking to do once they were installed. Well an hour of labor and the shifting is back to normal with no tweaking. The ball had completely separated from the arm and was just sitting in the cup so the shifting was horrible, especially at stop lights trying to find 1st gear.
So wait, what exactly did you do, and what were the costs? I'm having a very similar issue - need to kind of shift towards 2nd (with clutch depressed), and then slide towards 1st - in order to reliably shift. It could also be my ears, perhaps?

Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:27 am

Same issue here, have to go from second to get to first. Just started the other day and send intermittent...What to look for to diagnose this issue?

Wed Jul 23, 2014 6:36 am

I was getting ready for a camping trip and had some stuff done before I left. Long story short, I don't have a standard shift knob, just a momo ball with no pattern on it. The guy at the tire place apparently couldn't find reverse so he gorilla armed it until he found it so whatever was left of the 30 year old ball he killed it for good. I arrive to pick it up and cant drive it anywhere. They have it towed to a known and very expensive import shop.

They couldn't get the part I needed before my trip the next day so he told me how to limp it ( "1st is kinda here and 2nd is kinda sorta here") up and back which I was able to do with no real problems other than trying to get it into gear a while stopped but I kinda got used to it.

Here's what I ordered from GoWesty: http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=3368&category_id=&category_parent_id=

I also ordered the rubber seal that goes behind the arm form VanCafe: http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_130_332/transmission-to-shift-lever-boot.html

Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:49 am

glad you resolved this but
THIS IS A PRIMARY REASON IT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA FOR A FLASHY SPECIAL GEARSHIFT KNOB.
mobster mechanics unfamiliar with anything with a stick shift much less the idiosyncrasies of a vanagon telegraph shifter (i.e. non-cable shifter)

sometimes the price one pays..

Wed Jul 23, 2014 11:09 am

Agreed, lesson learned.

To answer b00t's question: It was immediately obvious once I got under the van that the ball had separated from the arm as I could see shiny metal where the ball used to be. Once I got the arm off I had to fish out the ball with my fingers. The hardest part was getting all the gunk off and keeping it outta my eyes :roll:

An easy fix and I was quite proud of myself after it was all said and done. May even go up to High Country Bus Festival this weekend.

Wed Jul 23, 2014 12:22 pm

There is a special washer that goes under that nut. If the washer is missing or the wrong one is used, the nut will tighten, but the selector will not be pinched against the selector shaft. In other words without the correct washer you run out of threads tightening it up. It appears tight, but in use will start to move around and the splines will eventually fail.

Wed Jul 23, 2014 12:30 pm

The repair kit includes the washer.

Wed Jul 23, 2014 1:51 pm

Now that is a kit.

Wed Jul 23, 2014 7:21 pm

dprendergast wrote: Here's what I ordered from GoWesty: http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=3368&category_id=&category_parent_id=

I also ordered the rubber seal that goes behind the arm form VanCafe: http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_130_332/transmission-to-shift-lever-boot.html
Well darn, it looks like you might've got the last unit because now GW is out-of-stock on that item... :?

Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:10 am

Looks like GW has them back in stock.

Tue Aug 05, 2014 3:25 pm

Record video while you do your repair! I need to do that same thing to my van and I'd love to see it done before I dive into it :) You could also post it on the video repair thread.