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Mon Aug 17, 2015 9:56 pm

Hey all... Long time reader, first time poster.

Having a issue with my Westy and am hoping that someone may shed some light on the problem...

First and foremost. I have an 1983 VW Westy Camper, 1900CC, Manual Tranny.

Okay, so I'm driving up the trans canada hwy with my fam after a vacay on VanIsle. I'm driving up a long easy hill in 3rd gear at about 80km/hr. No weird sounds, klunks, or other wise....just business as normal. I get to the crest of the hill, depress the clutch in prep to slide into 4th, and....uh oh... the stick won't move. I double clutch to try and free something up and no dice. I'm stuck in 3rd - the clutch is disengaging the engine from the tranny (ie. it's not stalling out if the clutch is depressed, but it won't release out of 3rd).

So, now I'm pulled over, I try to play with it a bit, but no luck. The stick shift doesn't seem disconnected as it's not flopping. So it doesn't seem to be the linkage.

I managed to get it going in 3rd gear and legged it into Revelstoke BC....now laid up at a campsite, and trying to make a plan.

No VW shops in this town and the only tranny guy doesn't seem too familiar with these gals, so I'm not too inclined to let him lift her skirt.

Based on the reading I've done, it seems to line up with the "common transaxle issue" but I'm not sure.

ANY HELP OUT THERE??

Thanks everyone. Cheers from Canada.

-Posted Aug 17 2015-

Mon Aug 17, 2015 10:25 pm

The 3rd/4th gear slider hub are known to crack and break and cause being stuck in gear in the Vanagon trans.
VW in the later versions of the trans was made a little differently less prone to cracking (they still do) one. Weddle Industries makes a aftermarket one from far better material.
It sounds like the trans is going to need to come apart to fix.

You may want to post this in the Vanagon section to see if someone is near you.

Tue Aug 18, 2015 7:46 am

^^ This

Very common issue in '83-'89 Waterboxer transaxles. There are lots of threads on broken slider hubs in the Vanagon forum, most with the same symptoms.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1171315.jpg

Tue Aug 18, 2015 8:17 am

https://weddleindustries.com/products/1000170/1001023

Notice the slots have rounded corners? The oe volkswagen one has squared off corners and crack at these corners, eventually the corner breaks and causes the slider to get stuck one way or the other. 3rd or 4th gear.

Tue Aug 18, 2015 8:49 am

So would it be correct to assume that the whole transaxle requires replacement? Or is it typical to simply change out that slider hub??

Tue Aug 18, 2015 10:04 am

RoxyRoller wrote: So would it be correct to assume that the whole transaxle requires replacement? Or is it typical to simply change out that slider hub??

When your trans is broke you fix it, not replace it. If the van gets a flat tire do you replace the entire van?

Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:28 pm

Unfortunately it is most likely the issue everyone is describing. As a last ditch effort, block the wheels, and crawl under to see if something unusual has come loose in the shifting linkage. Doubtful, but that, or the hydraulics of the clutch are about the only things you can repair roadside.