No Reverse after Storage

[westy709]

Today I was approached by a chap who wished to sell his '88 Westy. This is a one-owner vehicle, always winter stored, but has run out of family members to use it. It has not been driven for about 2 years. Now, while the engine works and it will move forward, reverse is not functioning.

Question: is the problem with reverse likely to requite dropping the tranny, or is there a common linkage connection that may have seized during the period of storage?
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'85 Westy (Canadian)
If a boat is a hole in the water you throw money in, what is a Westy?

[Nitramrebrab72]

It is either not selecting reverse, or the reverse pinion is mashed.
Can you select reverse? If you can't it could be stuck, the selector shaft could be gunged up with crud on the outside where the shaft goes into the gearbox a clean with a stiff nylon brush and WD 40 could help for that. It could be something with the linkage back to the gearbox.
If you can select reverse but nothing is happening then it could be the teeth on the reverse pinion that are mashed up, to be sure you will need to drain the box and if you find chunks of steel it's the pinion, the reverse pinion is less harden then the main shaft pinion and designed to break when overloaded/worked before the main shaft pinion, for this reason this part is readily available, but will require someone who knows what they are doing. Replacing it requires only one specialist tool which is the main pinion nut socket. Nothing needs readjusting if the forks are still tight to the selector arms , you just need to take note and mark the large drive shaft nuts position .

[jlrftype7]

Automatic or Manual transmission?
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'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto

[AndyBees]

[zerotofifty]

No matter the tranny type, get under there with a bright light while someone tries all the gear shifts. Watch up front under the shift lever, and the linkage near gas tank, and at the tranny.
Look for excessive slop or play in the motion of the linkage system.

This is the first most easy step to take.

Then go further and with the shifter lever held in place, you grab from under the Van each side of each linkage joint and pull and push the linkage to get a feel for if there is any slop or play in the joints and end linkages. Be sure to pull on the linkage rod where there are clamps for adjustable length or rotation. Besure the clamps are tight, no slipping. If these clamps allow the linkage rod to slide in or out, or rotate, that causes the shifter to misalign, which can mean inability to get into certain gear(s).

You can also try to hand shift into each gear AT THE TRANNY. Use a tool like a screw driver/pry bar, pliers and such to move the tranny shifter shaft in and out and through rotation, trying to get into reverse gear, it you cant, then disconnect the linkage at the tranny and try again to shift into reverse by hand.

If you cant get it into gear by hand, then the tranny may need work.

But first up, get a helper on the shifter lever, and you under the Van with a bright light, see what is happening, use you hands to push, pull, twist the linkage, note how she works, what each shifter lever position selection does at the tranny end on the tranny selector shaft.

When helper moves the shifter lever from neutral to reverse position, you be under there at the tranny, watch that the tranny selector shaft is doing, is it being pushed clockwise, counter clockwise, pushed in or out? Once in reverse, try with you hands of tools to turn or push/pull the tranny selector shaft a bit more in the direction the linkage was moving it when going into reverse gear from neutral. Maybe the linkage is a bit out and the position inside for reverse at the shift lever has slipped a bit, so that the shifter lever and linkage just dont have that last bit of travel needed to get into reverse, but maybe you can force i tin at the tranny by hand, Then if she runs in reverse, you know it is likely only a linkage issue


Good luck, Report back!!!!
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Sorry About That Chief.

Give Peace a Chance.

Words to live by.

[Abscate]

If it is an auto, you start at fluid level, not linkage. Especially true for a sitter.
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[mike boland]

[zerotofifty]

[danfromsyr]

reverse in a vanagon automatic requires more fluid pressure than forward gears..
it's quite plausible to not reverse an Automatic on low fluid levels.
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[danfromsyr]

there's a 010 automatic troubleshooting guide in the tech manuals here

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/1975_010_transmission.php

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[westy709]

My bad. Automatic.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I will be visiting the van tomorrow morning and will report back.
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'85 Westy (Canadian)
If a boat is a hole in the water you throw money in, what is a Westy?

[danfromsyr]

check fluid level

may take time to get warmed up and internal piston seals to be flexible and seal
may move just fine after 10mins..
early warning signs of need for a refresh.
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[AndyBees]

I'd check fluid level before starting the engine (cold) just be sure there is fluid. It should be high on the dip stick.

Then, assuming it has fluid, I'd let the engine idle until it is fully warmed up. Check the fluid level as it warms up. Once you've confirmed it is full, take it for a drive in a direction that doesn't require the use of reverse. Maybe drive it for 15 minutes or longer.

Next, back in your drive-way, see if Reverse works. If it works, as danfromsyr suggested, likely bad seals. Seals begin to harder as they get old.

I had an 87 VW Quantum that began to stay in 2nd gear for several miles then it would finally shift to 3rd gear. Once the transmission was fully warmed up, it would shift fine. I rebuilt it.... problem solved. (Yes, about all the seals were hard.)
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI, two trips to Alaska, 2014 & 16. 1989 Tin-top unmolested.
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine, seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003. 1975 Bay hopeful.

[Wildthings]

[AndyBees]

[?Waldo?]

[AndyBees]

Waldo, I agree 100% with your statement when the engine is idling cold.

But, if you check the fluid level when the engine is cold and not running, fluid should be high on the dip-stick. Checking the dip-stick before starting just confirms that it does have fluid or not. That was my rationale.
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI, two trips to Alaska, 2014 & 16. 1989 Tin-top unmolested.
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine, seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003. 1975 Bay hopeful.

[?Waldo?]

[4Gears4Tires]

[kamzcab86]