1st Gear Jamming

[Gauche1968]

Read a lot of threads on this, but still have some questions. The shift linkage is adjusted to specs as per the Bentley, but I still have jamming in 1st gear and a slight bit of resistance going into 2nd about 50 percent of the time.

Looking underneath the van, its clear that the shift finger is jamming against the reverse lock-out going into first. What's the fix for this? Is it as simple as moving the top plate over to the left in order to get it away from the lock-out in first? It really doesn't look like there is much room to go over to the left before the shift finger is hitting the left wall of the shift housing. Is it possible the reverse lock-out is damaged somehow--bent over to the left too far?

One other question, what is the function of the U-Joint in the shift linkage? Looking under the van, while someone else shifts, it doesn't appear that the u-joint moves at all. Is this normal?
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1984 Vanagon GL
1984 Vanagon Westy

[MarkWard]

Yes, it can be a simple as moving the floor plate side to side. The actual adjustment is made at the clamp at the last section of shiftrod near the transmission. Since you have looked at it. One of two things is happening. Either you are too close to the lock plate and when you move the shift lever towards your leg, you are not getting enough side movement and missing 1st/2nd or you have too much side movement and are actually getting up against reverse.

So, try moving the base, if that does not work, then you need to try and adjust at the clamp. In order to select 3rd and 4th, there should be no side movement of the shift lever, it is just forward and backwards. If you have a bungee cord and a quarter, you can attach the bungee cord between the shift rod and the inner door grab. That will pull the shift lever against the opposite side of the shift box where reverse lock out is located. Slip the quarter between the tang of the base of the shift rod and the box. That should hold the quarter in place, now you can loosen the clamp at the rear and then retighten. Then test. There is a meaurement in Bentley, but on an older vehicle it is a little more hit and miss than a specific measurement. It makes more sense when you start to do it.