915 transmission reverse goes to 4th, 914/915 transmission issue Options

[colinva914]

Hello,

I have a 915 transmission with side shifter on my 914 ... transmission grinded a couple of times when going to fourth and then a day later when I put the stick in reverse it actually engages 4th gear - anyone see this before? Thanks in advance.

-Colin

[ChrisFoley]

We had the car here for a while. There was nothing wrong with the shifter at the time, so we never even looked under the boot on the shift lever.
We changed the gear oil but never pulled the plastic cover off the transmission console.
I also never drove the car very far because it was unregistered at the time.
Colin has driven the car further in 2 weeks than it went in the last 5 years or more.
The car was built by Renegade in the '90s.

I suspect one of the shift rod bushings has failed.
(Colin, when I answered your email I didn't remember all the details of a 915 conversion linkage. Its a little different than I described.)
There is a bushing in the tunnel, accessed by lifting out the flat plate in the console under the shift boot. The bushing is mounted in a bracket that hangs down into the tunnel at the back of the shifter base.
The other bushing is on the firewall, accessed from under the car.
These are both prone to disintegrating unexpectedly when old.

A simple way to look for free play in the linkage (without doing any disassembly) is to have one person hold onto the shift rod under the car while another person operates the shifter inside the car.

[colinva914]

We had the car here for a while. There was nothing wrong with the shifter at the time, so we never even looked under the boot on the shift lever.
We changed the gear oil but never pulled the plastic cover off the transmission console.
I also never drove the car very far because it was unregistered at the time.
Colin has driven the car further in 2 weeks than it went in the last 5 years or more.
The car was built by Renegade in the '90s.

I suspect one of the shift rod bushings has failed.
(Colin, when I answered your email I didn't remember all the details of a 915 conversion linkage. Its a little different than I described.)
There is a bushing in the tunnel, accessed by lifting out the flat plate in the console under the shift boot. The bushing is mounted in a bracket that hangs down into the tunnel at the back of the shifter base.
The other bushing is on the firewall, accessed from under the car.
These are both prone to disintegrating unexpectedly when old.

A simple way to look for free play in the linkage (without doing any disassembly) is to have one person hold onto the shift rod under the car while another person operates the shifter inside the car.

thanks Chris! ... I didn't realize it was you on the original reply - appreciate all your help - I will keep you posted on progress