BANG..Goes ma gearbox

[tona955]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a 1997 2.0CL petrol Sharan, its been great the 3 weeks that I have had it and I have covered alot of miles recentely with no oil or water loss..but
2 days ago i had to drive to Manchester and back from Edinburgh, the journey down it was great apart from the mega rain, as i parked at Manchester airport...no reverse gear the stick was very stiff, i turned the car off and managed to get reverse so i left it at that, on my return, i started and reversed the car out the parking spot AND found that I only had 3rd, 4th and 5th gear...checked fluid level it was ok...so I decided to take a chance and drive back, 10 miles down i stopped to check fluid level again, all levels were ok but this time I only had 5th gear.
And so teh journey home was made entirely in 5th gear and it got me home, WHAT a car I still love it.

Yesterday, I removed the gear lever linkages from the gearbax and the gearstick had move free movement...so I think it is the gearbox unless someone tells me otherwise.

Since the car came with no history, I decided to remove the engine and gear box from the car and simply check it all over BUT i can not find a Haynes manual anywhwre, I have got a Ford Galaxy but it does not show my engine nor does a VW passat book.
Can anyone tell me where i could get one? I dont really fancy the electronic ebay ones but if thats all i have then so be it.

PS.. I am not a machanic by any means but I do enjoy working on cars, so some usefull hints would great.
Many thanks in advance.
Regards

[graemerh]

hi, i have had this happen on two of my galaxy/ sharans.. i manged to fix it for nothing , other than the time involved... about 3 to 4 hours .
the selector shaft in the gearbox can get rusty and jam up, sometimes caused by overflow from expansion tank or water driping down from the bulkhead.you will need to take of the battery and undo and move the radiator expansion bottle and poss the fuel filter . undo the clips that hold in the reverse light switch and then undo selector cables. then there are 6 bolts holding the selectors in place . remove these and very carefully withdraw the whole mechanism from the gear box ,try and get the gear box in neutral before you staert though. ya gonna graze ya knuckles and swear a lot and you have to remove the battery tray as well , that will mean supporting the engine from underneath as you will prob have to undo one of the mounting bolts as well.
once its all out you want 6 million gallons of wd40 ( or at least a can ) and obsevring that that gates line up gently smother everything with the wd40 and gently tap the shaft up and down with a mallet until it frees up . make sure that the "H " lines up with everything or you may damage one of the selector positions. also cover the openig of the gear box with a cloth to stop anything from dropping in .
use plenty of oil and grease when you reasemble and be careful not to drop anything inside the gearbox.
hope that helps.

[tona955]

Hi Mate,

Many thanks for your response...BUT

Since the car came with no history, I decided to take out the engine and gearbox and replace all gaskets, rings etc etc.

on the gear selector mec the top bearing was completely gone and had scratched the shaft also, got one at teh scrappy from a Galaxy though the chap wanted £50 quid for it..never mind I thought at leat the car got me back from Manchester to Edinburgh in 5th gear alone...good engineering or what.

Thinking that this may have strained the clutch plate, i have also replaced the clutch an dpressure plate, new balljoints and track rods...EVEN cleaned the engine block and my lovely girlfriend painted it for me in red....

So project for thsi weekend...put it all back togther and into the car...i cant wait.

Thanks once again tho, you were correct in yoru diagnoctics.
Regards