I have had sitff (or you could call it lumpy) gears for a while, since I got the car 6 months ago. I'm looking to repair it and bring it back to its once former smooth action but I've hit a wall with what it could be..

I recently changed the clutch with a new clutch kit and this has given the clutch pedal a lovely light feel, and I hoped it would cure the jurky gear action but sadly not. Having had a play with the gear linkage slide settings I'm happy that its not that. I noticed when the clutch bell was off that the rods coming from the gear stick into the engine bay run nice and smooth without being attached to the gear box so I'm confident its not coming from that.

Thinking It could be a lubrication issue i got under the car and sprayed all the joints down and there is a very slight improvement but by no means fixed.

Knowing that a picture says a thousand words i got under the car and videoed the motion of moving the gear shaft in and out of the gear box. You can see that it takes a little effort to shift it back and forth and its quite jerky.. Obviously this isnt great, but i can live with it if the forum basically tell me that this is a knackered gearbox. Having just had the gearbox off I'm not looking to take it back off again just now, but if you have had this and had it fixed please share what you know so I know where to start..

By the way, it looks really oily because id sprayed it all down with lube, it was dry to begin with.

video is here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERiFulWM4To

It's a bit difficult to comment on what you are showing us, it probably depends more on how it feels than how it looks. I am a bit surprised that the selector moves as easily as it does though, considering that you are doing this by hand, with no mechanical advantage from the gear lever.

Are you sure that the clutch is correctly adjusted? Just because it feels lighter with the new clutch, doesn't mean that it is correctly adjusted. If the clutch isn't 'clearing' propperly, this alone will give you problems with gear selection.

My method of checking the adjustment is not the same as Mr Haynes, as I feel that my method is more positive. Try the following:

Grasp the clutch release lever where it joins onto the cable at the gearbox end.

Move it back and forth to check on the 'free play' ( the distance that it will move without putting any pressure on the release bearing.)

The adjustment is correct if this 'free play' is about 6 mm.

If it is much more than 6 mm, your clutch may not be fully disengaging, thereby making gear changing more difficult.

Adjust the cable if required BUT do not leave it with much less than the 6 mm free play, of you may be encouraging your brand new clutch to slip.

Regards.

I shall check that out mate, thanks for the tip!!

caretakerplus,

Riddle me this.. As you suggested I approached my clutch cable. I took hold of it where the cable joins the leaver arm and moved it. It didnt move by very much at all (making me think it was too tight) so i played around with the settings until the movement was about 6mm as suggested.

There is now an improvement in gear change - but not an amazing change, clearly i had wound my clutch cable in too tight. I'm just wondering if i should adjust it some more. Before this alteration i had the biting point at around half way up the clutch pedals travel and now its lower towards the floor. Should it be right down at the floor, just as you come off the floor should it start to bite?

caretakerplus,

Riddle me this.. As you suggested I approached my clutch cable. I took hold of it where the cable joins the leaver arm and moved it. It didnt move by very much at all (making me think it was too tight) so i played around with the settings until the movement was about 6mm as suggested.

There is now an improvement in gear change - but not an amazing change, clearly i had wound my clutch cable in too tight. I'm just wondering if i should adjust it some more. Before this alteration i had the biting point at around half way up the clutch pedals travel and now its lower towards the floor. Should it be right down at the floor, just as you come off the floor should it start to bite?

Hey dude I'm having very similar problem to yours and cant figure it out, check my post out. when i put the clutch to the floor sometimes i cant get it in gear, i have to release the clutch to bite point about half way up then it slips in fine.

I also saw a gti in the scappies and it was up high so i had a little look at the box and that gear shaft in your vid moves the exact same as yours.

this could mean its fine OR the reason it was in the scrappies in the first place.

Hey Watson

Cheers for getting involved. I'm gonna have a further tamper with the clutch and linkage this weekend and see if I can finally negate these as the cause before I go to the gearbox as the problem. If it turns out to be the gearbox I will run it to the ground before changing it!

I've read your post and suggest you do the same as me and we can compare notes.

To be more specific about my problem.. Neutral is sometimes hard to find, once past neutral and into say first gear it seems like I'm pushing against something before it pops into gear. There are no nasty noises, although sometimes it crunches when put into reverse (unless I let the revs settle right down to idle). I have changed the clutch with a new kit and before hand the gears were the same. But I know that whoever had the car apart before me fitted a duff pressure plate which didn't fit properly, so the only thing I seem to have cured is the stiff clutch pedal.

Hey Watson

Cheers for getting involved. I'm gonna have a further tamper with the clutch and linkage this weekend and see if I can finally negate these as the cause before I go to the gearbox as the problem. If it turns out to be the gearbox I will run it to the ground before changing it!

I've read your post and suggest you do the same as me and we can compare notes.

To be more specific about my problem.. Neutral is sometimes hard to find, once past neutral and into say first gear it seems like I'm pushing against something before it pops into gear. There are no nasty noises, although sometimes it crunches when put into reverse (unless I let the revs settle right down to idle). I have changed the clutch with a new kit and before hand the gears were the same. But I know that whoever had the car apart before me fitted a duff pressure plate which didn't fit properly, so the only thing I seem to have cured is the stiff clutch pedal.

Yeah i think most of these boxes crunch when going into reverse, as for pushing against something, that is the same point mine gets stuck and wont go into gear until i realease the clutch. Going to have a proper look this weekend must be the clutch. But I'm not going to change it until i know for sure. Will let you know what my findings are. In my post Dixy mentioned that it could be top/lower mounts, have you checked this? just a thought cos you mentioned the revs.

When I changed the clutch I had the gearbox off and away from the car and i moved the selector shaft back and forth and there was a bit of resistance, but because i thought the clutch kit would cure the problem i didnt pay as much attention as i should have to it.. schoolboy error of assumptions there!

I'm not sure that the resistance was massive enough to be the same as it is now, i cant remember properly. The mounts seem fine, I assume that Dixy is suggesting that there may be a slight twist in the position of the gearbox which could cause resistance i guess, but as it was like this before i took it off and its the same now I'm thinking its unlikely.

As I've said I've adjusted the clutch and it is better, and day by day letting the cable nut out a milometer to see where things improve or start to change to give me an idea of where the optimal position should be for the new clutch kit. I think the best case scenario for my car is a minimised amount of resistance compared to a full cure, but we shall see. Will keep you informed!

From the video that looks normal, but of course it's hard to tell how much force is on it.

I would take the relay mechanism off start with the 10mm bolt on the pat you were moving around, then above that on the box there are two 13mm bolts and then a 13mm bolt above that on the adjuster and a small metal clip. Then take the whole mechanism off and strip it down and clean it.

There is a tub part that is filled with grease and covered with a gaitor. Clean this out and check the plastic ball part that sits into it isn't broken or nisshaped and fill it with fresh grease same with the ball joints. There is a plastic link that can fracture and break, but I haven't seen one do this yet on a polo. Once it's all clean and lubed, then get back under the car and follow the cables to where they enter the outer tubing and there is a dust cap on it. Pull this back a bit and spray some silicone grease up there while moving it in and out. Then refit everything and give it a test. If it's not spot on then the 13mm bolt you removed to get the cable off is an adjuster, I usually put it in the middle then do slight adjustments then test.

There is also an adjuster on the box itself that varies the resistance on the selector shaft, bit I wouldn't mess with it at this stage. There is also an adjuster for neutral position inside the car on the gear stick.

Hth.

Dixy, great words as always!

I'm at the point now where I've adjusted the clutch cable and think i have it optimal. Literally half a turn away from reverse crunching into gear. The stiffness remains so I'm into the realms of what has just been suggested.

As i said previously i drenched the entire mechanism area with oil just before i made this video and there was no real improvement so I'm inclined to think its not any of the pivet areas. Though I will be looking a little closer. What does intrigue me is what you said towards the end there "an adjuster on the box itself which varies the resistance on the selector shaft.." Its resistance which I'm experiencing. From the neutral position its almost like arm wrestling a 15 year old until i get over a small area of about a centimeter then it goes in fine the rest of the way. Could this adjuster you mention be 'wound out' to relieve this feeling of tension?

You can yes, but it's factory setto a certain tension and doesn't really go out unless someone has messed with it.

I would try the adjuster on the mechanism first, as that can easily be out over time, especially when the clutch is changed as its removed sometimes.

The adjuster on the box is on the side wall of the box near the shaft, i think it's a 16mm. It basically pushes a ball bearing onto the shaft, so tightening it puts more pressure on it and vise versa.

so with not getting around to any tinkering due to the weather being rainy, i started noticing that the gears are spot on when i get in the car in the morning, then later when the car heats up the resistance begins.. i also noticed that when the car it hot reverse crunches when it goes in..

is this a badly adjusted clutch? If so, shall i wind the nut on the cable in towards the arm or out?? bear in mind my clutch has just been replaced so potentially linked!

Which nut is the adjuster nut? Is it this big one, about 20mm? And also why is there a space hole which looks like its missing a nut? Can anyone look at theirs and tell me if there is something connected to that hole. Could be related to my problems!!!

EThe adjuster is the bigger one in the middle, it doesn't look to have been messed with so I would leave ot, at least u til you have ruled everything else out.

Looking stthe picture I think I have found the problem . The lower mount looks wet, meaning it's got oil on it. They make them out of a rubber that does as soon as oil touches it.Take a bar and out it between the box and bulkhead and try to move the box. It should be almost solid.

The adjuster for the linkage is the 13mm nut above the rred bush it does actually have a sloted opening, but it's covered with crap. This is way I usually take the whole thong off and clean it as you can get an understanding of how it works and can check it properly.