Grinding in Reverse?????

[AUGSX]

Ever since I did the 5spd swap to the Jetta I get a grind when engaging reverse sometimes. Sometimes nothing some as silk, sometimes a little bump and then there are times when it sounds like I completely missed a shift. Could this be signs of a bad synchro or something else?

Any help would be great...

 

[Milage King]

Some 5 speeds like my 03 are nice "loose" and smooth and go into gear even when rolling. The 5 sp i had in my 99.5 was pretty stiff, i had to be at a complete stop to push it in, they all very a bit. I also bought it with some extra thick fluid and that was even worse until i changed it to G70.

Are you using G70 or stiffer fluid? Did you do the linkage alignmnet according to the diesel geek procedure?

 

[AUGSX]

How do you do the alignment?

 

[Milage King]

There is a install procedure for the diesel geek short shifter, in there it explians how to do it wether you have a ss or stock shifter, here is a video from him too. http://www.youtube.com/user/dieselgeekdotcom#p/a/u/1/tp9ggefOjAE

 

[OlyTDI]

Get in the habit of shifting into 2nd gear and then directly into reverse. Second gear is close to reverse and synchs the trans prior to shifting into reverse. Old trick.

 

[danielhf]

This also sounds like a possible issue with the synchros.

 

[Ski in NC]

At a dead stop with clutch pushed to floor, wait a few sec and put in reverse. If gear clash, clutch is not disengaging all the way. Not a syncro or shifter issue.

 

[40X40]

Get in the habit of shifting into 2nd gear and then directly into reverse. Second gear is close to reverse and synchs the trans prior to shifting into reverse. Old trick.

^ Do This.

Use a forward gear that has synchronizers (second is a good one) to stop the transmission from spinning, then put the shift lever into reverse.

Old trick, works every time.

Bill

 

[AUGSX]

Yes the 2nd gear thing works like a charm. And I do think I have some sort of a clutch issue as it feels really low on the pedal, like the top half of the clutch pedal does nothing.

 

[Ski in NC]

May need to bleed the clutch. Plenty of fluid in brake reservoir?

 

[AUGSX]

Yes plenty of fluid in the reservoir.

 

[Whitbread]

You have to remember that reverse gear in a 5 speed is actually a sliding gear, not just unsynchronized. When you engage reverse, a small idler gear is raised up to engage the input shaft to the 1-2 synchronizer sleeve (it has teeth on the outside of it). I usually have to change 1 out of 3 reverse idler gears when I do LSD installs because they're so chewed up. You MUST either wait for the trans to stop or put it in a gear to stop it as others have said. Never engage it while the car is rolling.

 

[Pat Dolan]

um correct me if i'm wrong but no manual trans has syncros in reverse...

The ZF 6 speed in my F450 has syncro reverse. Sorry...you asked.

Otherwise, the OP's problem is either clutch dragging (likely due to his report of low pedal) or pilot bearing starting to tighten up (rare, but happens).

 

[TDICADDGUY]

Otherwise, the OP's problem is either clutch dragging (likely due to his report of low pedal) or pilot bearing starting to tighten up (rare, but happens).

No pilot bearing in an A4 car.

If waiting a couple seconds for the input shaft to slow down doesn't eliminate it, then yes the clutch could be dragging. But this behavior is normal if you don't wait for it to slow down or don't shift into another gear first.