Broken gear shifter lever (and weld repair)

[Sodo]

220 miles from home, gear shifter broke off.
I poked a long nose vise grip into the hole, and by the grace of the gods, had a large spring that held it up against the shift gates.
With this I could find all the gears, but it took some practice.

It breaks at the setscrew hole.
This setscrew hole is SIMPLY un-necessary.
Try tightening the setscrew out of the hole - it easily holds the reverse-spring force.
And of course divot didn't have to go all the way thru either (weakening the pipe).

Everyone with a "Vanagon-of-a-certain-age" should:

lift up the shift boot
loosen the setscrew
slide the collar down, compressing the spring a littl and re-tighten the screw
reef on the lever and LOOK for a crack at the setscrew divot
if no crack, maybe you're OK for awhile
put the collar back where it belongs
lube your shift linkage 'cuz extra stress will cause a crack

This inspection is super-easy, 5 minutes task.
Kinda needs a video....

Some folks buy the solid shift lever ($90) from T3 Technique, (or the 711, $535)

Or you can weld over that setscrew divot and re-melt any subsurface cracks.

The hole is only for locating the collar, it's unnecessary.
You can locate the collar by just estimating if it's sufficient force for pushing down on the spring (for reverse).
It does not need a divot to hold the collar against the spring force.
I did not drill another divot after welding, I just tightened the setscrew and obviously holds the spring collar in place.

I read about putting a bolt inside the pipe, but wanted it to be a little stronger so I ground the corners off an 8mm hex tool.

Tool steel!

Welded the lever in the car.
I had to cool it quickly to prevent the plastic bushing from melting.
I didn't like quenching the tool steel, I hope it doesn't get brittle.

I made a better setscrew from an M5 bolt.

All good again !
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[jimf909]

Goodness, you had a busy morning. It seems that the metal rod insert is the backbone of this repair. Thanks for sharing this (I'm still busy disassembling ignition switches ).
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- Jim

[16CVs]

Does adding a quick shift kit put more stress on the shifter? It seems that it would change the pivot point but I don't know the consequence of it.

Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[Sodo]

Stacy by simple physics, if it's 20% shorter throw, then the bending force increases 20%.

=====

I drove this van for years with an un-lubricated middle shifter bushing.
I got used to the higher force req’d to shift, pushing harder on the lever.

My van is a ‘90, it has theOEM “shift rod protection” tube which protects it from ice buildup.
Which protects the bushing from maintenance too.
But its just “easy” to slide thje tube rearward, to lube the bushing
- but ya gotta actually do it.

It was kinda eye-opening how nice it shifted afterwards.
And eye-opening how easy it was to lube it.
Its like 10 minutes.

I bet 10 minutes of lube, 5 times over the last 17 years would have been worthwhile.
And I bet my gear lever wouldn’t have cracked.
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'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[4Gears4Tires]

That's a nice repair!
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'87 Syncro
Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition

[Ahwahnee]