Could stiff shift bushings lead to transaxle problems?

[Rorke]

Is it possible for stiff shift bushings to lead to transaxle problems?

I have been struggling with these gowesty shift bushings for a couple of years now. Since I have been unable to replace the bushings with a different brand, I lubricate them regularly, every couple of weeks I suppose.
In the past six weeks, my shifting has been getting worse and worse.
When I lubricate the bushings, the gears glide through OK when the car is off.
However, now the shifting makes a grinding noise in first and second when I am driving.
I have had my trans at Rancho twice in the last two years. I have replaced all of my shifter equipment (I thought I was upgrading).
New clutch plate. New fly wheel. New slave. New shifter cup. New everything.

Today, before I lubricated the bushings, the only way for me to get into second gear was to pull out of first, wiggle the stick back-and-forth in neutral, a little, and then enter second. It was impossible to go directly from 1st to 2nd. What could this signify?

Of course, I intend to swap out the shifter bushings to any other brand. However, I am extremely short on cash and time right now.

I will be extremely frustrated if shit bushings could have caused expensive trans damage.

Any thoughts?

[Sodo]

A shifter that's not operating properly is a condition must be repaired and has definite potential to damage the gearbox.
Driven in a "halfway engaged state" can allow the trans to jump in/out of gear and that's no good at all.
I suspect that would cause it to jump out of gear, a problem which you did not report.

So, if you have stiff shifting, you MUST lube or repair. Improper behavior of the shifting mechanism will very likely cause at least some degradation of your gearbox, so you GOTTA deal with the shifter and make it right.

Another thing to note is that a stiff shifter can cause the shift fork to rub in its groove on the operating sleeve. The operating sleeve should always be 'in a neutral condition" except while you are 'actively changing gears".
I don't know what problem that might cause, as it's well-lubricated.
But it's kind of like the problem of the feller who drives all the time with his hand hanging on the shifter. Over the miles, it adds up.

OK with regards to your 1st/2nd problem, first of all I say "bleed your clutch".
It's strange but sometimes a bubble collects over a couple years.
You can do the "one-spurt" method where you block the pedal down to the floor (with a stick or??), then crawl under and release the pressure (with a rag over the bleeder). Do this once. Maybe twice for good measure, re-lube the bushings, go drive it while it slides nice & report back.

If it's still hard to shift, something is likely wrong with the synchronizer.
I have been hearing of broken synchronizers lately.
Suggesting there was a bad batch of (defective) synchros shipped out to the rebuilders. They 'break' into peices. The pieces don't fall out, but they don't engage well either. This sucks. The rebuilder cannot tell if the parts are defective, but I bet they are looking closely at synchronizer rings these days looking for a clue!!
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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

[Pchill2]

I had similar issues with the Gowesty bushings. I was lubricating them about every 2 weeks so I switched to silicone bushing grease and that helped tremendously. I haven't had to lubricate them in about 6 months now.
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87 Syncro Westy
Honda K24 swap

[ALIKA T3]

Input shaft pilot bearing is shot.
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Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[Howesight]

If the transmission shifts easily with the engine not running, but "grinds" when the engine is running, the problem is, with 100% certainty, a clutch problem. For whatever reason, the clutch is not fully releasing. (I consider that a sticking pilot bearing also falls under this general heading of "clutch").

In order of most likely cause of the dragging, I suggest:

1. Most likely, the clutch slave cylinder or master cylinder or both is failing or needs bleeding. As a result, the pressure plate is not fully backing off and causing drag on the clutch disk;

2. There may be a problem with the pressure plate that prevents it from releasing;

3. The pilot bearing may be worn to the point that even with the clutch disengaged, it causes the input shaft to turn with the flywheel and cause the "grinding" when shifting;

4. The clutch disk can, rarely, fail in a way that causes drag.

5. The clutch release bearing may be failed or failing such that the clutch will not fully release;

6. The arms on the clutch release bearing may be worn as shown in the GoWesty link here: https://gowesty.com/en-ca/blogs/article-library/va...full-story

Item 1 above will not require separating the transmission from the engine. Items 2 through 6 require the transmission and engine to be separated to do the repair.
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'86 Syncro Westy SVX

[MarkWard]

I reached out to GW when I determined there was a problem with their boot bushing kits. I had installed two kits on the syncro I was building. They emailed me back and acknowledged they had a production run problem. They thought they had the bad batch removed. Out of necessity, I ordered “soft” ones from BD to get this problem out of my hair. GW apologized and gave me a refund with GW bucks. These were likely a year from purchase. Seemed fair.

So, don’t be penny wise and pound foolish. Get the correct bushings in there before you flip out about a heavy duty problem.

Can the external linkage cause an internal problem? Off hand I’d say no. You need to think about what is happening when you shift.

At the transmission it’s very straightforward. You grab the ball arm. Back and forth is 3 and 4. Push the ball arm in slightly and you are in the 1 and 2 shift fork. Forward and back you get 1 or 2. In neutral press the ball arm in to the stop and you are in the reverse shift fork. You can see it takes very little movement of the ball lever to engage all the gears.

Now come forward 12 feet. How to turn that ball lever movement into a shift lever movement. You can see the challenges. At rest, move the shift lever forwards and backwards. That is 3 and 4. No side movement is required. From neutral you move the shift lever to your leg. That action translates into moving the transmission ball lever in to the case. The adjustment must be spot on. Too much adjustment and you can be into the reverse shift fork. Too little and you could be partially in the 3/4 shifter.

So in conclusion a mediocre external shift system that spans 12 feet, must be adjusted spot on and any tightness or slop aggravates it. It’s a very simple system to adjust once you understand how it works.

My advice is to get an assistant in the van with the engine off clutch in and have them select gears while you are under the van watching the ball lever in the rear and under the front floor boards till you totally understand how it works.

As far as internal parts, all of the builders and parts sellers are at the mercy of the manufacturer. I completely built my syncro transaxle and had it installed and driving, only to get an email the 3/4 new outer sleeve was likely defective and needed to be returned for a refund. Luckily it was my van and I place little value on my time. The supplier did refund the money and quite a bit of my labor. Stand up way of doing business.

Good luck getting it sorted.
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[Rorke]

Thank you VERY MUCH Samba Crew. I am damn verklempt that you all took the time to write so thoughtfully.

[MarkWard]

Check Bus Depot, Van Cafe, and Vanagain. GW used to sell the softer silicone ones like the factory used with no boots. The aftermarket boots don’t seem to hold up either. Probably better with no boot type.
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[hardway]

I recently replaced front shifter support bushing on an 88 2WD. The shifter was very stiff after that. I used the "soft" type bushing. I had just replenished my stock of bushings. It turned out that the soft bushing was actually quite hard. Although I had ordered VW I received JP Classic Line. Looking through my stock I found one OE VW bushing to compare. Definitely a different material.

I looked for more OE bushings and could not find any. Not even at VW classic parts. So for now I think all we can get is JP.

I had to make the stiff bushing work. I wound up sanding down the ID quite a bit. After hand fitting it so that it moved smoothly on the rod I installed it with plenty of grease. After tightening the bolts that hold the two halves of the shell that retains the bushing it bound up again. The bracket was squeezing the bushing too much. I had to install washers to shim the two halves of the housing apart so as not to squeeze the bushing. That is an awful lot of effort to make a minor part function well. Hopefully someone will come up with a better solution. But I wouldn't count on it.

[Rorke]

[Rorke]

Thanks for the help everyone.
I got back on the road and made it to Dead and Company in Chicago, which was the end of an era for my crew.

Thursday I changed my gear oil to Swepco 210. The magnet was very clean.
I disassembled the shift rod and cleaned out the bushings as best as I could.
Since I did not have a spare roll pin, I didn’t have the confidence to remove the shift arm, which is necessary to remove the rear bushing.

By the time I got to Shakedown St, the shifting was disappointingly stiffening up again.
This morning was the first rainy day we have had in the weeks, and the bus shifted beautifully. So, I am pretty positive that the bushings are too tight and binding.

I intend to enlarge the bushing and wet sand it smooth. Just need to get a $3 pin.

[MarkWard]

I’m usually able to reuse the pin unless I drop it or misplace it. You are better off using a roll pin punch vs a standard punch.

I’ve seen in threads that the pin holes have become so wallowed that owners drill 90 degrees to the original hole and use a nut and bolt.
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[shagginwagon83]

I didn't have time to read any of this post but am responding just to the title of the thread.

I had shift issues getting into 2nd when cold. I sent transaxle off to be rebuilt. After install, same issue. I adjusted shift linkage numerous time, no dice. Replaced shifter with 511 shifter - no luck.

Back in 2018 I replaced my shift bushings with GoWesty Derlin (no longer sold - wonder why...). I often have to lubricate these. I ended up switching these out for OEM bushings and bellows - my shift issue is fixed! I didn't even have to adjust the linkage after putting the whole system back together.
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Brandon
"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram @joannthevan

[tjet]