VW Golf MKVI 2.0TDI - Shifting Issues
Discussion
Family member has an issue with their gear changes in their 5speed manual 2009 Golf TDI.
I'm not familiar with how a VW shifter should feel but I'll give my best description of the issue:
The shifter seems to lack any side to side spring, it centres but feels lazy/weak. The big problem is that gear selection between 1st and 3rd is really vague and it quite often won't go into 3rd without coercion. Seems to get worse when driving but problem is evident with engine off so I'm hesitant to blame clutch.
I've been through the shifter adjustment and it helped slightly but it's still a massive problem. I've done some reading and it most topics end up without solution and people just throw random suggestions into the mix like "new clutch needed", "fit a short shifter" and "synchro is gone". There's a lot of talk about bushing kits and that seems a good place to start but the only source I can find for such kits seems to be "dieselgeeks" which is US based so aside from the usual shipping issues I could end up with something not suitable for my UK model.
Does anyone have experience with this kind of issue or suggestions on a bushing kit?
I'm not familiar with how a VW shifter should feel but I'll give my best description of the issue:
The shifter seems to lack any side to side spring, it centres but feels lazy/weak. The big problem is that gear selection between 1st and 3rd is really vague and it quite often won't go into 3rd without coercion. Seems to get worse when driving but problem is evident with engine off so I'm hesitant to blame clutch.
I've been through the shifter adjustment and it helped slightly but it's still a massive problem. I've done some reading and it most topics end up without solution and people just throw random suggestions into the mix like "new clutch needed", "fit a short shifter" and "synchro is gone". There's a lot of talk about bushing kits and that seems a good place to start but the only source I can find for such kits seems to be "dieselgeeks" which is US based so aside from the usual shipping issues I could end up with something not suitable for my UK model.
Does anyone have experience with this kind of issue or suggestions on a bushing kit?
randomeddy said:
Sounds very much like a cable issue.
I had an fault where it would 'miss' the gear if changed too quickly. Not a golf but same set up.
A new forward/back cable cured it. (Compared to the side to side cable.)
1st to 2nd forward to back.
2nd to 3rd side to side.
Hope that makes sense.
Thanks for the suggestion, makes sense. I've already played a bit with the cables so I get what you mean about the side to side cable.I had an fault where it would 'miss' the gear if changed too quickly. Not a golf but same set up.
A new forward/back cable cured it. (Compared to the side to side cable.)
1st to 2nd forward to back.
2nd to 3rd side to side.
Hope that makes sense.
I'm going to strip the car down and try narrow it down more tomorrow. I've been reading up on engine mounts and it seems the issue could be related to that too given the issue seems more evident when driving. So I'll either be ordering new cable ends and bushings for the shifter or a couple of engine mounts. It's a hard call as the car is 12 years old now and it's had a hard life.
I'm accustomed to BMWs and DIY work is a lot easier due to the sheer amount of resources out there. I can find multiple forum threads about diagnosing and replacing engine mounts and even several full well produced youtube videos of the process for my 335i but there's absolutely nothing for a MK6 Golf TDI even through there's probably 100x more of them on the road.
I had a good play around and the engine mounts seem fine. The problem is completely centred around the side to side movement.
It's a combination of play in one bushing on the side of the shifter and the pin that holds the side to side bracket in place. I've ordered a "Super Pin" kit from a site called dieselgeek that includes both these pieces as there's no other way of fixing this short of buying a brand new complete shifter from VW for a large percentage of the cars value. The kit isn't cheap and has to be shipped from the US so not ideal.
I'll update after fitting this kit, I know there's nothing worse than finding a forum topic on a problem without a resolution.
It's a combination of play in one bushing on the side of the shifter and the pin that holds the side to side bracket in place. I've ordered a "Super Pin" kit from a site called dieselgeek that includes both these pieces as there's no other way of fixing this short of buying a brand new complete shifter from VW for a large percentage of the cars value. The kit isn't cheap and has to be shipped from the US so not ideal.
I'll update after fitting this kit, I know there's nothing worse than finding a forum topic on a problem without a resolution.
As promised, a quick update on the fix:
I fitted the "Super Pin" and replacement bushing from Diesel Geek. It didn't solve the problem but really improved the accuracy of shifting, removed about 95% of the slop from the side-to-side movement.
The problem turned out to be at the gearbox end of the shift cables:
This is the shifter mechanism on top of the gearbox. Pretty easy to access, just remove the airbox.
The circled part is the pivot for the bracket that the side-to-side cables attaches to. This is supposed to move freely but was gunked up with corrosion and other assorted grime. I removed the shift cable from the bracket as seen in the photo and removed the white clip that secures it into the pivot then I had to hammer it out as it was pretty well stuck.
I rolled some sandpaper up and fed it through the hole in the bit that I circled above to clear out the corrosion and chucked a bit of lithium grease in and it's perfect now.
I fitted the "Super Pin" and replacement bushing from Diesel Geek. It didn't solve the problem but really improved the accuracy of shifting, removed about 95% of the slop from the side-to-side movement.
The problem turned out to be at the gearbox end of the shift cables:
This is the shifter mechanism on top of the gearbox. Pretty easy to access, just remove the airbox.
The circled part is the pivot for the bracket that the side-to-side cables attaches to. This is supposed to move freely but was gunked up with corrosion and other assorted grime. I removed the shift cable from the bracket as seen in the photo and removed the white clip that secures it into the pivot then I had to hammer it out as it was pretty well stuck.
I rolled some sandpaper up and fed it through the hole in the bit that I circled above to clear out the corrosion and chucked a bit of lithium grease in and it's perfect now.
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