Moving entire shifting mechanism from one car to another?

[Diesel Fumes]

I have a parts Jetta that shifts like butter. And I have a daily driver Jetta that shifts like garbage. How big an undertaking would it be to switch everything over? Or what specifically should I be taking off the parts car and moving to the good one? I think the main issues are the shaft going into the gear box. It has some side to side play in it. Also inside on the gear selector while it neutral it doesn't spring nicely back to the center when you wiggle it side to side. As I said parts car feels like a brand new car in comparison.

 

[Diesel Fumes]

And I have watched some videos about diagnosing. Dieselgeek has good ones on YouTube but I'm still stumped. For example the daily driver Jetta doesn't seem to want to lock into the home position. It will go in but any small movement in the shift mechanism and it pops back out. Whereas the parts car will lock in and stay locked solid

 

[Diesel Fumes]

I'm a bit of a retarded mechanic. I managed to realign the shifter as per video instructions and it shifts better now. But shifter still has a bit of slop and doesn't spring back to center. No trouble finding 3rd gear now. Was simpler than I thought . Perhaps better to live with this until I order a bushing kit.

Still has the play in the rod going into the gear box. Is that concerning? I haven't found a video for any part I can replace there. When realigning the shifter, I locked the gear selector, but couldn't get the shifter all the way to slide in a pin but got it close enough (this car is a auto to manual swap so I don't expect perfection). However the gear selector cables fell out of the ends by the transmission if that makes sense. I had to slide them back in and released the spring and now they seem tight.

Hopefully I did all that right and don't end up stranded due to a cable falling out or something.

Hopefully someone who has a problem shifter will see this and just realign the shifter. It makes it shift so much nicer despite still feeling like a clapped out gearbox

 

[Nero Morg]

Diesel geek makes a Kit to replace the bushings in the shifter, plus then you can adjust the shifter linkage, and it'll be like new.

 

[Diesel Fumes]

Diesel geek makes a Kit to replace the bushings in the shifter, plus then you can adjust the shifter linkage, and it'll be like new.

Yea I saw the kit. I'd end up paying 132usd for parts and shipping to Canada. VW's are money pits and was a trying to save a few bucks is all

 

[Zak99b5]

Let me know if you figure out the gear selector issue. Mine also does not “spring” to the middle in neutral. It shifts fine and all, but I find it annoying.

 

[ghohouston]

The good news is with some trial and error, the shifter adjustment can be done without centering the shifter handle (locking it in place) it's a major pain though, should you ever find yourself on the side of the road not being able to grab a gear or 3.

 

[tgray]

If the shifter handle doesn't spring back to the right in neutral then you probably have something binding up. Many of my cars got stiff sitting around and I had to spray lubricant down into the shift handle joints. The handle should want to move to the right when in the neutral position. Then you can check the alignment. The car should shift from 2 to 3 by just moving the handle forward. I have always got them working fine with a little trial and error. The biggest hassle I think with moving everything over is dealing with pulling the exhaust down pipe out. The rest is pretty easy.

 

[Hyde7278]

I would check the bushingin the shift tower on the trans. My shifter wouldn’t spring back to the middle also and I changed the bushing and the problem was resolved.

Here’s what I used:

Shifter Tower Bushing Repair Kit (A4)

For 2000+ A4 chassis MkIV Jetta TDI, Golf TDI and New Beetle TDI with 5-speed manual transmissions. Worn bushings in the shift tower in the transmission results in degraded shifting - harder shifts...

www.idparts.com

 

[Diesel Fumes]

I would check the bushingin the shift tower on the trans. My shifter wouldn’t spring back to the middle also and I changed the bushing and the problem was resolved.

Here’s what I used:

Shifter Tower Bushing Repair Kit (A4)

For 2000+ A4 chassis MkIV Jetta TDI, Golf TDI and New Beetle TDI with 5-speed manual transmissions. Worn bushings in the shift tower in the transmission results in degraded shifting - harder shifts...

www.idparts.com

Thanks. This might be what Im looking for. I'll add it to my cart for the next idparts purchase I make. For now the gear shifter does spring back to neutral, but no where near as nicely as the parts car does. Not sure if I can just remove that part and swap it over. I'm doubting any of the main parts are needing to be swapped.

 

[Hyde7278]

Thanks. This might be what Im looking for. I'll add it to my cart for the next idparts purchase I make. For now the gear shifter does spring back to neutral, but no where near as nicely as the parts car does. Not sure if I can just remove that part and swap it over. I'm doubting any of the main parts are needing to be swapped.

You should be able to swap the whole shifter tower from the parts car pretty easy. You would probably ruin the bushing if you try to swap just it from the parts car.

 

[turbodieseldyke]

I would check the bushingin the shift tower on the trans. My shifter wouldn’t spring back to the middle also and I changed the bushing and the problem was resolved.

When my 98 shift tower took a shiit, i replaced it with a 99 (or 2000) and it was a whole new driving experience. I never knew how bad the old tower had been all along. Thought it was just normal for that model.