My 5th gear won't engage on my ALH what could it be

[John Wesley Hardin]

My 2000 jetta daly driver decided not to give me 5th gear anymore, Jetta has .658 taller 5th gear installed like 3 years ago,, issue started out about 3 weeks ago when 5th gear was getting hard to shift into,,but today it gave up,, is it the tower on top of the tranny that needs adjustment? or need to check my taller 5th gear syncro???no grinding noise or nothing on the tranny, this car does not see any racing at all, and easy smooth shifting has been perfomed every time is being driven by me, , for some reason I do not know if it is me that i feel that the travel (play) in neutral goes more toward the reverse now than 5th gear side,,and I am just guessing that is why I am not getting enough play towards my 5th gear side,,maybe it is just my feeling that is deciving me.

any comments and advice would help me a great deal cause I have a long trip in 2 days and hopefully it is something to do with the shifter cable, tower on the tranny or any other quick fix .. Planning to get on it first thing in the morning,,,,txs ahead for your replies.

I had the same problem with mine reverse and fifth I believe. All those nylon parts at the shifter lever wear out and disintegrate. Ordered the Diesel Geek shifter kit and problem solved in my situation

 

[Gothmolly]

I had the same problem with mine reverse and fifth I believe. All those nylon parts at the shifter lever wear out and disintegrate. Ordered the Diesel Geek shifter kit and problem solved in my situation

Is that a short shifter as well?

 

[terrydtdi]

I finally got a chance to pull the cover off the side of trans that covers the 5th gear. After inspecting I noticed the fork that pushes the vertical rod (excuse my lack of the proper names of the internal shift linkage parts) was bound up like it had been pushed too far causing it to bind up.

You can see the pics showing the fork lined up properly with the vertical rod (top and bottom pic), that was after I pried the vertical rod slightly to realign the fork and all was good after that (See middle pic showing it in a bind), it goes into fifth gear now like it used to. I believe I'll need to swap out the vertical rod at some point it does look a little worn.

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• terrydtdi
• Mar 19, 2023

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• terrydtdi
• Mar 19, 2023

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• terrydtdi
• Mar 19, 2023