diesel gear linkage differences ?

[oorwullie]

this is mostly aimed at europeans cos i've been reading vague stuff in german about the complete linkage being not the same as petrol vans.

any definite facts are welcome regarding early/ late diesel tranny linkages 4 speed.

the idea is to figger out how to match a 1990 side shifter linkage to a 1983 nose shifter transmission.

also relevant is any information about whether early aircooled linkages match up ok to the diesel tranny.

quick as ya like please with plenty illustrative pictures and diagrams, work starts in about 12 hours again CET.

and i never had to do with diesels till now.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=554098

[MarkWard]

If I understand your question, you will need the last section of shift rod from an early diesel or air cooled gasser. The difference between the gasser and the diesel is the last section. Notice in the picture below the sweeping bend on the diesel rod. That is to make up for the different install angles of the diesel and the air cooled. You will also need the last section of shift rod from the later transmission. You will need to graft the early and late rods together. The later rod has the U joint, that you will need to graft on to the early rod.

If you search my user name here, I have posted pictures of the diesel install angle and parts diagrams for the early and late shifters. Basically the early shift rod was a 3 peice unit, that had the "flex/ujoint further up towards the front. The later is a two peice rod with the flex/ujoint in towards the rear. I did the opposite and installed the later trans into my early TDI vanagon. The parts to a point are interchangable.

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[oorwullie]

hey, thanks muchos for the photos and diagrams you posted.

i didn't realise the early diesel has that weird part around the shifter ball on the tranny.

after plenty measuring and considering, today i took off the rear section of the 1990 linkage, cut 15cm out and joined the 2 pieces again putting them inside a 20cm section of stainless tubing with 4 slots cut at each end and fixing them with U bolts, they were nowhere to be found cos all stores were closed here at 4pm today since tomorrow is ascension day or sumthin......

luckily i found an amazing metal workshop in the next village with 3 guys drinking beer and they had the U's in the size i needed and happily cut and drilled 2 flat irons to fit, and all for a case of beer.

i also created an alu plate to hold the shift linkage plate that goes thru' the rear section near the cup and it's now bolted to the nose mounting.

seems to work but may need some fine adjustment. the van is still on axle stands and it was 9.30, getting dark by the time all this was done.

tomorrow i'll see if it drives and has all gears.

or not..........

thanks again for your input.

i'll post photos later.

[oorwullie]

[MarkWard]

Sounds like a result. Glad I could help, but I totally misunderstood what you were asking, at least by looking at the pictures you posted. What year is the section between the trans and the splice from? It looks like you have made an adapter to mount the later shift bushing bracket to your trans. The early transmission had a "Pin" that supported the rear section of the shift rod. The trans case had a boss cast into it for the pin to bolt through. Anyhow, glad you got it solved. Here is a picture from my early transmission case. markw

[oorwullie]

i've simply shortened the original 1990 linkage and as you see, made a plate to fix the bushing bracket to the nosecone chassis mount.

got it off the axle stands today and only had 3rd and 4th gear, but my cunning sytem with the new tube part was designed to be adjustable. loosen the U , a slight twist of the rear part to change the angle at the shifter on tranny, re-tighten and good to go.

all works well now except that they also have something strange with the clutch pedal ( not my work, it was always like that they say...........).

the pedal was very soft and i've bled it, it's a little but not much better.

the weird thing is that the pedal doesn't go all the way to the floor.
driving normally is possible with good shifting in all the gears (up and down) but reverse is impossible to get with the engine running, nasty crunchy noise.

put it in reverse and start the engine, it works and reverse can also be disengaged with engine running.

they're camped down the river near me now and planning on heading (slowly) for eastern swissland tomorrow then austria and on to krakow, poland.