1,2,3, NO 4TH GEAR!

[dstar5000]

KINDA PISSED AT THE MOMENT....
IS 4TH GEAR PINNED AND CAN SPIN ON THE SHAFT!!??

DON

[davidt]

Maybe your political comment at the bottom of your post is turning people off from helping you, especially considering the past 4 years. VW's and politics don't mix.

Anyhow,I hope someone answers your question as the same thing happened to my 1972 Superbug. 1915cc with 13PSI boost puts a lot of extra torque into a transmission that was not designed for it.

[Dougy Dee]

Earlier were keyed. Later splined.
Ditto for the 3-4 selector or slider hubs.
The 4th gear synchro cone could be spinning. Always tig them for more than stock applications.

[Casting Timmy]

Assuming you are talking about problems in the car while driving, here are some I have found that result in no fourth gear. One time I had a box that just had 4-5 minor problems versions of each and it couldn't get 4th gear.

Broken or bent back thrust washer between 4th and the big mainshaft bearing
Loose gear carrier and pounded out nose cone allowing shaft to move to far for 4th to engage
bad fork, can be worn or from bad adjustment or holding hand on shifter into 4th while on highway
gear carrier in bad need of rebushing
091 3-4 keys broken or smashed
Mainshaft end clip gone and allows movement of components on shaft, usually pounds off 3-4 hub and spacer on earlier boxes.
Worn nose cone bushings
Broken shuttle in bus boxes
One guy put the pin in upside down and pin fell out and couldn't get gears very well.

If you can shift into reverse, 2nd, and 3rd okay, you should have the shifter done right. The thrust will push 3rd into mating, which means that 4th is getting thrusted away from mating and worn stuff will not let it catch to engage.

[davidt]

Hi guys,

I was accelerating up a hill in 4th gear under boost, there was a bang and grinding noise and I lost drive. Put the clutch in and the noise went away. Let the clutch out and grinding noise no drive.Changed down to 3rd, no problems, same for 1st, 2nd and reverse. 1972 dual side-plate IRS transmission in a 1302 Superbug. Removed the transmission and replaced it with one from a 1303 superbug, 4 forward gears again but reverse is noisy and jumps out of gears - possible reverse idler bearing worn?
Drained the synthetic transmission oil but no debris or metal. So would 4th gear in the 1972 transmission be splined or keyed?

Thanks
David

[Casting Timmy]

Probably a fine toothed gear in the stripped out 4th trans, it does take a little while for the gears chunks to make it to diff area. So if you changed it reasonably quick (not tanks of gas later) I would assume that the broken pieces are still in the carrier area.

The bad reverse is probably the sliding gear gear itself and possibly the 1-2 slider.

Both should have splined 4th gears. If the reverse stripped trans is later it could have the 002 gear style instead of 113 style gears like the 72 could have. They've all be gone through at least once and the factory even used up old parts as well, so you never know what you have until you open them up.

[davidt]

Thanks for the info CT.
Yes I drove the car home in 3rd gear, drained the oil (no metal came out) and then removed the transmission. The replacement trans is from a 73 1303 Superbug.

[dstar5000]

Maybe your political comment at the bottom of your post is turning people off from helping you, especially considering the past 4 years. VW's and politics don't mix.

Anyhow,I hope someone answers your question as the same thing happened to my 1972 Superbug. 1915cc with 13PSI boost puts a lot of extra torque into a transmission that was not designed for it.

IT HAS BEEN THERE FOR 11 YEARS...MOST VW FOLKS THAT DONT AGREE WITH IT JUST IGNORE IT.... WE ARE COOL LIKE THAT! <3
AND THE PAST 4 YEARS HAVE BEEN AWWESOME!

DON