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Video: VW Stock Shifter Installation with Shift Coupler, Rod Bushing, and Clip
Video Overview:
If your VW is not shifting properly or the shifter has gotten sloppy it might be time to replace the shift coupler and shift rod bushing. It isn't an easy job but the pay off is well worth it. Follow along with our tech as he shows you how to install the pieces necessary to make your shifter work smoothly.
Remove the rear seat bottom.
Remove the screw for the shift coupler access plate and remove the plate (Philips screwdriver).
Remove shift coupler grub screw (8mm wrench).
Remove shift coupler through bolt (Pair of pliers and 8mm wrench).
Remove the shift coupler from the transmission.
Remove the 2 bolts holding the shifter from tunnel and then remove the shifter (13mm wrench).
In the front trunk, remove access plate on backside of spare tire well (Philips screwdriver). Then remove the front apron plug (8mm wrench/socket).
Underneath the front end, in between the torsion tubes of the front suspension, remove the 2 bolts holding the frame head access plate and remove the plate (10mm socket).
Starting at the shift coupler access plate, push the shift rod forward as far as you can.
Use a pair of pliers to push the shift rod forward through the shifter hole in the tunnel. Continue pushing the rod all the way forward to the front of the frame head.
From underneath the front end, reach inside the front frame head and pull the shift rod out.
Guide the shift rod through both of the holes in the front apron to remove it. Pull off the shift rod bushing clip and any remnants of the old bushing and clean wipe any excess grease and debris off the shaft.
Insert the bushing and clip into the hanger inside the tunnel. (The hanger is accessed through the hole for the shifter.)
With the shift rod clean and lightly greased, slide it through the access holes in the front apron and into the access hole in the frame head.
From underneath the car, guide the shift rod into place in the shift rod bushing and hanger and push it back as far as you can.
Use a pair of pliers to pull the shift rod all back through the shifter hole in the tunnel. Pull the shift rod back until the shift rod cup is in place at the shifter hole in the tunnel.
At the shift coupler access hole, slide new shift coupler on transmission, install grub screw and tighten (8mm wrench). Use Loctite or safety wire to ensure grub screw does not loosen.
Install bushing on one side of the shift coupler and pull the shift rod up into place.
Insert through bolt through the remaining bushing, then through the shift coupler, shift rod and opposite bushing.
Tighten shift coupler through bolt (pair of pliers and 8mm wrench).
Install shifter making sure the reverse lockout plate is installed correctly (long side ramp is on the right and pointing towards the front) and tighten the two 13mm bolts.
Put the rear seat bottom back in place.
In the front trunk, install access plate on backside of spare tire well (Philips screwdriver). Then install the front apron plug (8mm wrench/socket).
Underneath the front end, in between the torsion tubes of the front suspension, install the frame head access plate and install the 2 bolts (10mm socket). Installation is now complete.
Video Transcript:
For this video we're gonna go ahead and replace the shift coupler, the shift rod bushing and clip and the shifter itself. These have become pretty sloppy through the years here, specially worn out I can hear it rattling around when this thing is driving. The shifter itself is very very sloppy. We get to shift coupler underneath the rear seat so that has to be removed Shift Coupler Removal At which point you can pull out the screw for the shifter access plate and then go ahead and remove the shift coupler. We do that today with an eight-millimeter wrench for our grub screw which holds the shift coupler to the shift rod. There's a bushing and a rod that go through the shift rod itself as well as the grub screw that goes to the shift coupler. That's just an eight millimeter we pull that out, save that for later unless of course you've already gotten a new one. Then with a pair of pliers go ahead and hold the through rod. Then the same 8 millimeter wrench to loosen up the bolt that holds it through the rod and coupler Now as we can see these bushings are completely worn through. To the point where it's not even attached to itself. At this point we can drop the shift rod itself down and pull off the cage for the shift coupler. Take out the stock shifter 2 13 millimeter bolts here Shifter Removal I've already gotten them loosened slightly, so i'll just use my fingers. As always save your hardware until you have new replacement hardware. Just like that stock shifter comes out which in this case is actually missing you the reverse lock out plate. We'll get into that when we put the new shifter in place. To get access to two access plates that are used when pulling out the shift rod. Shift Rod Removal We're gonna have to open up the hood and remove the spare tire. Once the spare tires out there's a small Phillips head screw that you can remove to pull off the access plate on the back side of the apron. On later model cars there's going to be an eight millimeter nut holding around cover plate that going to allow you to pull the shift rod through the front apron of the car. Once those two plates are out we can get underneath the car, and in between the two torsion tubes, pull off the two 10 millimeter bolts and the oval cover plate there. At which point the shift rod can be pulled out. Alright then you reach up underneath through the access plate that we just took out. Go ahead pull out the shift rod and feed through the front of the car. That's why the holes are here. We can see the remnants of the original shift rod bushing and the clip which is still there and in relatively good shape. Note that we are note that we already clip on the bushing before we install it into the hanger. Shift Coupler Bushing Installation Heck of a lot easier to do it beforehand than after hand. One of the least favorite part of this job is actually sticking this bushing into the hanger down below here. I've dropped more of these things in my lifetime than I care to count. I've done this a time or two and I got lucky it popped in first time. All right now the shift rod bushing clip is in place along with the shift rod bushing. Shift Rod Installation We're going to go ahead and feed the shift rod back into the tunnel through the access plate. Back underneath the car and give the thing a good shove. Alright now to got the fun part of the actual shift rod aligned with the clip. We come back up to the front of the car and you need to push that rod back all the way in. Alright the last fun bit after we've got the shift rod put in place from the front, pushed back slightly. We'll grab it as we see here pair pliers or otherwise and pull it back until you see shift rod cup lined up with the shift hole. Installing the shift coupler put the cage in first Shift Coupler Installation and screw in the grub screw. 8 millimeter wrench to tighten it in place. There is a hole for safety wire. The reason we do saftey wire here is because at the transmission there's a lot of vibration. These screws are very prone to becoming loose. At which point your shifter is no longer attached your transmission. With the sleeve installed in one half of the bushing were going to attempt using a magnet to get this guy in place. Push the sleeve all the way through and into the bushing on the other side. At which point we can start to screw our screw in. With the shift rod pushed back in place. We can install the 2 10 millimeter bolts holding the access plate to the tunnel. We can install the phillips screw holding the inner plate in place and the 8 millimeter nut holding the outset cover plate in place as well. With the shift rod reverse lockout plate in place. Shifter Installation You know its correctly inside because the long side is on the right hand side pointing forward. Well go ahead set the spring in place. Put the shift rod in place pushing down to make certain it's fully seated in the cup. We'll line up the 2 13 millimeter bolts. With those loosely in place just want to find a happy medium between left and right movement on the plate, and for and aft and then tighten the bolt out completely. Install the boot stretch it over and put in place. Now that everything is reassembled, we can see that our shifter as much more positive feeling. There's very little play side to side and everything is from relatively firm and precise like you'd expect it should be.
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