Help- 1st day Touring France and have no 4th gear

[shiggi10]

Hi

Hope you can help a Brit couple in trouble

We are heading to Spain from England and have just completed 500 miles today/ yesterday and are 1/3 rd of the way through France on the 1st day
We have a 1976 091 transmission with a 2.0L- both were rebuilt 1000 miles ago- engine by me and box by a pro. 79k miles on the van

We had just completed a long motorway leg and on the off ramp 4to 3rd then back to 4th and she just jumped out of gear.
She then proceeded to keep doing the same for the next 3 miles
We pulled over and called the transmission guy.
He is stumped as its an all new 4th and full rebuild.
I have been checking:-
Engine/trans mount alignment - might have been a smidge out so corrected
Moved the shifter back and forward on the plate- no affect
Tomorrow (late here) going to pull the front cover and check shift travel
Getting to the shift coupler on the box isn’t easy as the vans slightly lowered


Any advice on these symptoms for tomorrow mornings task list would be really appreciated-
Currently sat having a beer in Noiremoutier while searching other people woes
Last question- we plan to go to spain on back roads in 3rd gear but worried about damage it may cause- any thoughts

Thanks
Scott n Vikk

[mikedjames]

Shift coupler, coming loose maybe, but jumping out of gear is not a usual symptom, unlikely if the rebuild was recent, unless something has come loose.

The classic bodge with a worn out box is a piece of elastic shock cord with a hook to hold it in gear.. or proceed at 45mph in 3rd gear..

But if a shift fork on the gearbox is loose internally then possible damage may occur if it ends up trying to effectively engage two gears at once.. Hope its just a loose shift coupler.

Either positively find an external cause or abandon the trip.

Do you have levelling wedges for camping?
If so you have a ramp that will give you another few inches of clearance to poke at the shift coupler. A phone with the flash on taking a video can be poked in under the bus while somebody moves the gearchange. You should feel the positive click of the box latching into gear if the linkage is good.
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1974 VW T2 : Devon Eurovette camper with 1641 DP T1 engine, Progressive carb, full flow oil cooler, EDIS crank timed ignition.
Engine 1: 40k miles (rocker shaft clip fell off), Engine 2: 30k miles (rebuild, dropped valve). Engine 3: a JK Preservation Parts "new" engine, aluminium case: 26k miles: new top end.
Gearbox rebuild 2021 by Bears.

1979 Westerly GK24 24 foot racer/cruiser yacht Forethought of Gosport.
1973 wooden Pacer sailing dinghy

[Nitramrebrab72]

My friend has a garage at Vaison la Romaine. He is very good on old school stuff aircooled VW's and Porsche's.
You can drive it in 3 rd as long as you rev it like you are in 4th.

Can you hold it in 4th?

Find a hill where you can start off in 4th on a slope
Select 4th gear in the cab engine running turn engine off with handbrake on and safety chock in front of a wheel. Then try and see if you can manually engage 4th gear further directly on the gearbox . Pull away in 4th using the hill to help. If it stays in 4th this way then it is likely to be an external linkage problem.

[aeromech]

Drive it up on a curb and slide under. Inspect the shift coupler while someone moves the gear shifter. Might be something like a loose grub screw. Other that all I can say is make an adult decision
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[Wildthings]

What year is your van? If you put an 091 into an earlier van the coupling can hit the frame crossmember keeping the tranny from going all the way into 4th gear. On later vans the crossmember was clearanced to give room for the shift couple to move fully.

[shiggi10]

Hi thanks for all the tips/ direction
Its a 2.0l 1976 with an 091 - all standard
Had the box rebuilt so I could rely on it!

Have inspected all aspects of the shifter and nothing is stopping full gear engagement that I can see. When I decided game over I disconnected the shifter and the box rod cannot move any future into engagement but the shifter mech could move further if needed. So to my mind its internal to the gearbox.

Have made the tough but right decision not to go any further for risk of destroying the gearbox or worse. So …Noire Moutiere for a week and home❌ 🇪🇸
Recovery cover is taking the van.
We make our own way back
Nerve racking leaving the van in other peoples hands and hoping it returns!

Thanks again for help
I will post on here what the outcome was to help any others in the future

Thanks

Scott

[Bulli Klinik]

I know more than one person who completed a road trip with a bungee cord holding the Bus in gear.

Sorry it happened on Holiday.
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[airschooled]

Hit the mountains in third, you'll enjoy it more. No problem going the distance that way unless you have a schedule to keep.

I hope your rebuilder has remachined 3-4 slider hubs, a worn 3-4 slider is usually the cause. The gears rarely go bad in stock aplicatios. Once in a while a loose bearing in the gear carrier can cause it too. Either way, you're in for transaxle work from someone that doesn't just replace parts.

Robbie
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[shiggi10]

Notes from the box build:
091
1976 to 1979



Ring and pinion 4.57:1

091 1976 to 1979
1/2/ std
3rd new synchro 1.26:1
4th Replace with new Weddle HD version,Floating dog ring
and new VAG synchros 0.82:1


EP80/90 GL4 - I changed as oer instructions- 400 odd miles


Rebuild notes- from previous owner and corrected where applicable
Diff and front mainshaft bearings,4th synchro ring [uncoated]have been replaced
Nose cone register good
Reverse sliding gear tooth damage
3-4 slider installed wrong way round and incorrect circlip fitted on 4th pinion gear
Pinion head bearing ok
clutch cross shaft ok
Remainder normal wear and tear

[shiggi10]

I can’t hold it in gear without a load of force I am not willing to apply
I did consider the long road to Spain- its not the 45mph that concerns me but secondary affects.

Noire Moutiere is stunning so - done awaiting a truck’

[64 ragtop volks]

friend had similiar problem, kept jumping out of 4th gear, sloppy shifting. the rear coupler was tight and could manually turn shift rod and get it in 4th gear. front bushing was shot and the pin in bottom of shifter was jumping around when trying to go into 4th gear.