reverse is popping out of gear.....help!

[nybugguy]

Almost finished with a 1960 spatz body sitting on a 1974 beetle chassis.Build pics will be coming as soon as the body is back from being painted.The problem is that it shifts into reverse fine and seems to be going all the way in but as I start to back up it pops out. Tried 3 different reverse lock out plates and no change.My question is where do I go from here? Do I pull the motor and tranny and pull the nose cone or do I look deeper for the problem.Just trying to narrow it down to avoid un-neccesary work.....any of you guru"s got a checklist I can follow.Thanks in advance for any help you can throw my way!

[bugvert]

its probably some wear on the reverse idler gear, its brass and can wear out easily. You should always hold the shifter in the reverse position while using it. Only way to replace it is by taking the tranny apart and rebuilding it. If it works while holding it in, just live with it.

[Gary0302]

Hey nybugguy,

I am by no means an expert in this, but when I set my adjustments for shifter/shift rod/coupling/tranny combination, the first thing I did was to put the tranny in the reverse position, by using the couple as a handle. Then, I held the shifter in the reverse position, as we attached the shift rod end to the coupler, and tightening down the shifter bolts. That at least got us in the ballpark.

Also, I was wondering if your clutch cable had the proper tension. At least the 2 above suggestions don't require any major parts removal.
_________________
Gary David Holbrook
Facebook and YouTube
Coastal North Carolina

Check out my videos on Youtube

"It's a buggy not a space shuttle...." - Dale M.
"When in doubt, blame it on the previous owner" - Gary0302

[nybugguy]

First second third and fourth shift o.k. When I shift it to reverse it sounds and feels like it is going in and with the cover plate off and the rod off I can't seem to get it to go any further by hand so I am confident it is as far as it can go.With that being said I don't think it is a rod length problem so I guess I will be pulling it out and checking out the guts for worn parts. Since it pops out of reverse(even trying to hold it in with 2 hands) as I back up I guess that pulling it out is my only option at this point.Definately appreciate the feed back......feel free to give me any more ideas since I won't be getting at it til next week.Still time for some devine intervention!!!!

[towd]

bottom line, reverse is bad very commom on vw trannys and an easy fix.

The carrier is brass, you might call that the shift fork. they wear on one side and then won't push the gear all the way in. Then people keep screwing with reverse and tear up the gear.

worse case they keep screwing with reverse, which rides on the first gear on the main shaft. end up screwing up the main shaft.

The trans has to come apart, but only out of the case. You can then repair reverse. you will need the brass cage, gasket set and a gear. At times the gear it's self will be tore up on one side, but not missing any teeth. Those can be turned around and reused, in doing it that way shifting to reverse has to be done slower to let the gear engage.

As far as I know all these parts are NLA, but people save these from other trannys, i'm sure places like Ranhco, weddle would have them

you can do this repair at home, but you will need another trans case to use as a jig for adjusting reverse. should you decide to take this on.. look for another trans, like one that been sitting for 40 years, maybe one that the seller says has 4 th gear out.. I say this in hopes that you may get a good reverse set.

it is worth learning to repair your own trannys. no .. you don't have to have all the Hi $$ jigs. Those can be made from vw trans cases.

[towd]

These are links to a place that has the parts listed. as you will see the carrier is Brass the gear is steel.

the picture of the carrier is a bit misleading, if it were turned over you could see the craddle were the gear rides. there are four prongs hanging down making a craddle / box . these get woren ( Bad )

do some google searching, you will find a site explaining how to make the repair





http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC%2D113%2D311%2D571

http://www2.cip1.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=VWC%2D113%2D311%2D531%2DA

[Gary0302]

Worse-case scenerio, you can do what I did; I boxed up my transaxle and sent it off to Rancho for a complete rebuild. I called them in advance to talk about what engine I was using, how my buggy was going to be driven, etc. I have no regrets in going in that direction.
_________________
Gary David Holbrook
Facebook and YouTube
Coastal North Carolina

Check out my videos on Youtube

"It's a buggy not a space shuttle...." - Dale M.
"When in doubt, blame it on the previous owner" - Gary0302

[lbitcon]

It's not the fork it is the reverse gear teeth or the reverse teeth on the 1st, and 2nd slider the teeth get rounded and start poping out of gear! I have built thousands of vw tranny's and done tec articles (vw trends and hot vws).I have never see it be the reverse shift fork!