79 Riviera won't shift into gears 1-4, only shifts to reverse...

[Tumbledown76]

Heya! Two nights ago, I got stuck at a store when I my bus (1979 Riviera 2.0 FI) would not shift into gear anymore. In neutral, with the e-brake off, the bus would not even roll down the slight incline. When I tried putting into reverse, I got a bit of a grind trying to put it into gear. I asked some people across the street to help me rock it, to see if I could pop it out of gear. That worked. The bus would roll in neutral again.

It was at that point I realized I could now shift into Reverse no problem. Other gears, nothing. Everything was met with resistance. I forced nothing, no worries, just feeling it out gently. I pushed the bus on my own 100 yards to a friend's parking lot, intending to leave it there overnight. With some more testing I was able to push the gear shift down (like I do when I start to shift into reverse) and shift the bus into 1st! I was only 1/4 mile from home, so I was going to go for it. It shifted as normal the entire way home (only tested 1st,2nd,3rd gear). Drove great. However, last night I reversed the bus out to the bottom of my driveway. And that was it. No further. Cannot shift into any gear other than reverse. My trick of pushing the stick down to get into first, does not work, nor do I want to do that again. At least it's home and safe.

Already going through the Samba forums and finding a lot of threads on similar issues, and compiling a lot of good info. Feel free to throw darts at my problem that could help if anyone has run into this before. The clutch is fine (since I can go into reverse? but maybe that's a wrong assumption), so the problem probably lies in and around shifting plate (misaligned?), bushings etc. Since I don't have much if any experience working on that area of the bus, nuances or tips are great too.

Props again to Samba member curtp07 for his willingness to come out to help me the night of the first break-down, even though I was not far from home
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'Camel' - '79 Riviera, 2.0L FI, Dakota Beige

[Wildthings]

Remove the pan from under the front of the bus and have someone move the shifter around while you watch what is happening to the front of the shift rod. Is the shift rod responding to the movements of the shift lever? If not then pull the shifter apart and see what is going on.

If the shift rod follows the movement of the shift lever then move to the back and watch what happens where the shift rod attaches to the shaft coming out of the front of the transmission. Does the shaft move with the movements of the shift lever?

[Tumbledown76]

Thanks for the response @Wildthings

I was alone when working on it. So I set up a camera. Here's a video from underneath the shifter, while move the shifter around from above. The front of the shift rod seems to be responding to my movements. Then again, people with a better trained eye than I, may spot something else going on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBRDLtkKI9Y&feature=youtu.be

Going to have my wife help me tonight, and we'll check the area where the shift rod attaches to the shaft coming out of the the front of the transmission.
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'Camel' - '79 Riviera, 2.0L FI, Dakota Beige

[Tumbledown76]

Here's a video of the shift rod where it connects to the transmission:

https://youtu.be/l6JC6FS4QyI
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'Camel' - '79 Riviera, 2.0L FI, Dakota Beige

[cmonSTART]

Lots of slop in those bushings.. enough that it might not be hitting the gears for you.
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'78 Bus 2.0FI
de K1IGS

[aeromech]

I'm on my phone so I can't send pics but I'd say you need the change your front shift rod bushing and your coupler. That said, I believe you have problems in your nose cone. Bad/missing ball on the hockey stick or possibly a broken bracket in there. Either way, you have major work ahead that includes dropping both the engine and transmission. The good news is that to fix your problems the cost of all the parts is less than $100
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[Wildthings]

The front shift rod bushing is definitely bad, but the coupler looks sufficiently tight to me. I would start by replacing the front bushing and also disassemble, clean, and relube the shifter before going so far as the pull the engine and tranny. Buy the best parts you can for doing these repair, the cheap Empi stuff will get you around the block a few times and not much more. You want stuff that will last for decades of daily use instead, well worth paying double the price for.

[curtp07]

Let me know when you're ready and I'll come over and help!


Hopefully it won't require a engine trans drop but either way it'll work out.

Curt
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Subaru

[SGKent]

[Tumbledown76]

[Tumbledown76]

The parts came in. I ended up getting a complete set of bushings from Wolfsburg West.

Question: I've read that when dismantling the shifter, the bus is supposed to be in second gear. Clearly, I don't have that option. What could go wrong if I dismantle the shifter in its current state and position? Thanks!
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'Camel' - '79 Riviera, 2.0L FI, Dakota Beige

[bigbore]

[bigbore]

[Tumbledown76]

Ruled out anything from the coupler to the shifter. Still won't shift as most suspected it would not. I was even advised to gently grab the coupler with a pair of channellocks and assist. Nada. Regardless, good to get in there, clean and regrease. Here's a couple pics of the work. I pulled out the 66' bushing and replaced it with the correct one.

Parts pulled

My little boy loves to observe and help

Quick shot after cleaning under the rubber mat

Parts cleaned and ready for grease and install

The stoke is up for dropping the engine and transmission, the holidays are behind me now. I read on Ratwell's site that it is possible to drop the engine with the transmission still attached to it. As one unit. Seems tricky to lower then together. Anyways, could folks chime in on whether I should lower as one unit or just go ahead and separate them.

Starting to shop for parts. Particularly the ball joint that everyone (even outside of Samba) say is probably mushed (004 301 241A). I see they make some metal ones too. Listed with the parts suffix 241As. I hear to go ahead with the metal one if I can find em'. Could be wrong there too. Anyways, I finally found one here: https://weddleindustries.com/products/1000204/1002085 part is listed as HD? Anyone know anything about this?

Cheers!
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'Camel' - '79 Riviera, 2.0L FI, Dakota Beige

[Tumbledown76]

Did my first engine and transmission drop at home.

The shifter ball I found in there is a metal one and very much intact.

The rear shift rod bushings (shuttle-cock lookin' ones) were mostly intact, one of the rubber boots is shredded, can't imagine it's the problem. I'll replace them all non-the-less.

Anyone spot anything funky going on in these pics?

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'Camel' - '79 Riviera, 2.0L FI, Dakota Beige