Dieselgeek
TDIClub Enthusiast, Vendor , w/Business number
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.
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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