Dieselgeek replacement MK4 shifter bushings!

Dieselgeek

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Location
Golden, CO
TDI
2016 Golf TDI
Hey Y'all,

Jim from Dieselgeek here. I wanted to make a formal announcement about our new line of replacement shifter bushings created for the MK4 Golf, Jetta and New Beetle. As you know, the cars are getting on up there in age and the soft plastic bushings on the cabin-side of the manual shifter mechanism are starting to fail due to heat, age and wear and tear. I found out this the hard way last summer when I was on a trip in New Mexico. I had a bushing go bad which made it hard to get into first and second gears. After fiddling with my shifter for a few minutes I found that my relay lever bushing had cracked which kept my side to side bell crank from extending enough to get 1st and 2nd gears. Here are a couple pictures(bear with me, I am switching servers Dec, 2017):





Here's a picture of an intact bushing:



Here is the bushing after is pulled it off of the shift lever:



My machinist and I came up with a replacement, the First Gear Getter, that fits into the socket of the side to side bell crank:



The First Gear Getter installs from the topside, inside the cabin in about 15 minutes. The alternative to the FGG is to buy a new $100 shift lever from a VW dealer which requires you to drop the exhaust, heat shield and shifter box to install it.

So, if you are having to push harder and harder to get 1st and second gears then you should check your cabin side bushing for cracks like the first picture above.
 
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Dieselgeek

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Location
Golden, CO
TDI
2016 Golf TDI
The second major problem we have solved involves 2000 and newer MK4 shift cables. The shift cables have soft rubber/plastic bushings that fit into the ends on the cabin side. When they go bad, shifting quality suffers greatly. Here is a YouTube video to diagnose a bad cable end bushing. In general, there will be a lot of slack in the shift lever where it seems like you aren't doing anything. Keep moving the stick and eventually you can get the cable to move into gear--usually. I've been hearing of people replacing transmissions thinking that something internal to the transmission is bad when it was only a shift cable bushing. And if you figure out that you have a bad cable end bushing then until now you would have been faced with a complete cable replacement since VW chose not to make the end bushings available as replacement parts. SO, instead of replacing $400 worth of shift cables we came up with our Cable Saver Replacement VW Cable End Bushing Set.



Here is a YouTube video on installing the side to side shift cable bushing. I figured out how to do this job from the topside which is a big time saver if only the side to side bushing is bad.

Here is the YouTube video for the front to back bushing replacement.

If you want to replace the front to back cable bushing from inside the car take a look at this video: https://youtu.be/kPII13ZUBZE

All of the Dieselgeek YouTube How-to shifter videos are here.
 
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chudzikb

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 28, 1999
Location
Lancaster, PA, USA
TDI
05.5 Jetta 03 Golf 2 door
Would these be applicable to an 02M shifter? I have one for my 6 speed swap, and since the shifter is currently out of the car, would be a fine time to do these bushings?
 

runonbeer

Maintenance EnthusiastVendor
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Austin, TX/Chapel Hill, NC
TDI
'00 Golf 02M, '10 Golf 02E, '02 UTE 02M
Would these be applicable to an 02M shifter? I have one for my 6 speed swap, and since the shifter is currently out of the car, would be a fine time to do these bushings?
Yes. I can see no difference between an 02J shift box and an 02m. In fact I'm using my original 02j box with the 02m I installed a few years ago.

You'll still need to determine which type of cable end you have
 

Dieselgeek

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Location
Golden, CO
TDI
2016 Golf TDI
The Cable Saver set is now universal for any MK4 car built from 2000-2006. You don't need to know which type of cables your car came with. We provide bushings for both types.
 
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FL/COtdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2009
Location
Aspen CO
TDI
2003 Jetta wagon
Can you please post a link for the video on how to install the mk4 first gear getter?
 

Dieselgeek

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Location
Golden, CO
TDI
2016 Golf TDI
This video shows you all you need to know about installing the First Gear Getter. There's not much to it really.
 
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UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
Would either of these fixes (one or both?) correct a case where, with my 02m car (MKIV), shifting into first gear will occasionally feel like it's binding against plastic? I'll have this issue mostly when the car is cold. It's kind of like something is blocking full travel; a couple of pokes and it'll manage to engage first, though it still seems like it's not fully shifting. I do not believe any of the other gears are having difficulties.

I just got this car recently, so no idea whether this is a preexisting condition or something that just decided to make an appearance after I got it. Fguring that I'd look into what's going on before attempting to do any work- haven't attempted to adjust cables or anything.
 

runonbeer

Maintenance EnthusiastVendor
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Austin, TX/Chapel Hill, NC
TDI
'00 Golf 02M, '10 Golf 02E, '02 UTE 02M
Ugh, just wrote a long post about this and fat fingered some rapid-auto delete of the post.

Look at the metal tube on the front to back cable under the little rubber accordion boot of the shift cable on the transmission end. Take out the battery and airbox and get a really good look at it. SHould be straight as an arrow. any kinks will bind the cable end when it is pulling into 1st, 3rd, 5th and R.

Jim actually has a box of mine in his hands right now with this problem and is looking into a solution.
 

UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
Wouldn't a condition like this cause the shifting to be pretty consistently mucked up?

Issue I'm having is really, seemingly, only here and there and, I think, only when it's cold. If I were the only one to drive this car I wouldn't really fret over it; but, wife may drive it and I don't want her to run into a situation in which she's struggling to get it into first: of course; if one just goes for second and then goes for revs then this can be gotten around. With the known issues with the 02m (shifting forks) I'm hesitant, though, to let it just ride.

Jim's on my list for another Panzer plate: this same car is in need of one.:D
 

runonbeer

Maintenance EnthusiastVendor
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Location
Austin, TX/Chapel Hill, NC
TDI
'00 Golf 02M, '10 Golf 02E, '02 UTE 02M
I was assuming you have already addressed the more common issues with the shift box that are discussed in this thread.

I think you should focus on getting that fixed. You are right that the 02M fork is delicate. Particularly that 1-2 riveted dealie. I've seen 3 failed. One took out a couple of gears. Doesn't sound like a lot, but consider that we never got that trans here in the US and that any one that I would see fail would have to have been brought over and swapped in.

Pick up a First Gear Getter and some cable saver bushings from Jim and try that stuff first.
 

UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
Yeah, as noted I had not plunged into anything yet. As shifting is really good, except this occasional first gear issue, I'm thinking that the cables are adjusted well: the car came from a fairly highly respected member on this forum- he did this swap, as he has on numerous other cars (his own). This is why I started to think this might be a first-gear-getter issue brewing: I've never experienced it before, so I have no reference. I don't think that this is a sign of early fork problems (fingers crossed!); as long the son doesn't drive this car I think I'm OK:D

I'll look to check the plastic-y bits on either end of the shifting apparatus and then go from there.
 

UhOh

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Location
PNW
TDI
2000 & 2003 Golf GLS (2005 Mercedes E320 CDI)
Well, it took TEN seconds!:D (my issue is more about the time taken to task switch- busier than a one-armed paper hanger!)

Bushings looked good. Greased and moving smoothly. I'll poke around the other end of the cables at a later date (juggling a bunch of crap!).
 

WildChild80

Veteran Member
Joined
May 30, 2016
Location
Nashville, AR
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI 2000 Jetta TDI 2000 New Beetle TDI ALL 5 speeds
WOW the first gear getter and shaft bushings made all of the difference. I thought I had shift fork issues when all along it was that gimpy side to side bushing. Thank you for great the great products y'all make!
 

dmule3

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2014
Location
South Jersey
TDI
2015 Passat, 2 BRM's, 1 ALH
Yea Jim makes some great products and even more importantly provides some of the best customer service I have ever experienced - really over the top helpful and accommodating.
 

Dieselgeek

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Location
Golden, CO
TDI
2016 Golf TDI
That's also a pre-production part above^^^. The finished parts will be closed at the top so no dirt gets into the bushing. Lifetime part.
 

pedroYUL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Location
MI, USA
TDI
2015 Passat CVCA; 2015 GSW CRUA; 2012 wagon CJAA; 2004 wagon BEW
Hey gents. I'm having some difficulty to engage 1st on my new-to-me 2015 Passat 6spd, but not a problem with 2nd.

I asked the dealership about it, perhaps shift cables needed adjustment...they were Clueless! The guy actually said there was no adjustment to the shift cables at all.

How do I go about determining if I need to get to the shift linkages on top of the trans, or devote more time in the cabin? Perhaps what I need is that first gear getter?
 

Dieselgeek

TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor , w/Business number
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Location
Golden, CO
TDI
2016 Golf TDI
Hey gents. I'm having some difficulty to engage 1st on my new-to-me 2015 Passat 6spd, but not a problem with 2nd.

I asked the dealership about it, perhaps shift cables needed adjustment...they were Clueless! The guy actually said there was no adjustment to the shift cables at all.

How do I go about determining if I need to get to the shift linkages on top of the trans, or devote more time in the cabin? Perhaps what I need is that first gear getter?
If you are having issues engaging first when at a stop it might be clutch related. It is very unlikely that you have worn parts on such a new car. I could send you my shifter adjustment video but you should contact me directly through Dieselgeek and perhaps a quick phone call can point you in the right direction from a troubleshooting standpoint.
 

pedroYUL

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Location
MI, USA
TDI
2015 Passat CVCA; 2015 GSW CRUA; 2012 wagon CJAA; 2004 wagon BEW
Thank you for your time on the phone Jim, you are really an expert on all things shifter related.

Finally (I should've done this long ago) removed the air filter box, and my problem was as simple as the nut on top of the shift tower was dancing around. That much play didn't allow the shifter to make the proper movements, hence I had to lean left every time I needed 1st.

This was a problem even with the engine off, so I knew it wasn't a weak clutch.
 
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