I have a 73 914 2.0L. over the past week or so i have noticed that it became more difficult to find the correct gear. Especially trying to find 1st and going into 3rd instead and 2nd but really going into 4th.
Now all of the sudden, first gear is just gone. everytime i try to shift into first it just goes into 4th. so now im starting from a dead stop in 2nd.
whats up with that?
how hard is this to fix and what do i actually need to fix?

on a side note, my idle speed just increased today. it was around 1200 RPM but now its jumped to between 1600 and 1800 RPM. i doubt they are related, but any ideas?

thx for the help. please feel free to email me dirctly. joshbsilvey@yahoo.com.

Check the set-screw on the shift linkage coupler. It's right behind the firewall.

If you still have the rubber boot around the coupler, the screw may have fallen into the boot.
Andy

I agree. Start with the set screws and then proceed to the firewall bushing and the two shift coupler bushings. Finally the crown and cup bushings under the rear shift plastic oval cover. An easy fix!!!!!! Most of the usual suspects have all of the parts you may need READILY available

Thank you...I will check this saturday when i do an oil change....
Ill let you know what I find.
thx again

Holy crap Batman.....get on the hotline and put in a call to Dr. Evil.......

Check the nose cone of your tranny... that's where one of mine ended up once (you'd kinda notice that though)

Are you sure you are getting 4th, then you try to get 1st?

If it is shift linkage related, you would likely get 3rd or 5th, trying for 1st, NEVER 4th.

Getting 4th when you go for 1st says something internal to the transmission like shift forks, or the like.

I think you can understand my logic. second and forth are a push on the shift rod, first, third and fifth are a pull.

If you are getting a push gear when you want a pull gear, it is not in the linkage (side shift only).

I hope that helps.

Many years ago I lost first gear in my car. the main shaft broke and first gear went with it.

But, you could still SHIFT into 1st, it just wasnt there

yes, yes....i dont know why i wrote 4th...when i try to go into 1st i get third...
about to go to the garage and raise it up and see whats up.

I had a similar problem one day trying to get up the driveway. I tried to put it in first but it would go into 3rd. I pulled the boot off the shift bushing at the firewall and it just poured out like cereal. I bought a shift bushing rebuild kit from pelican and it fixed everything, finding gears are a lot easier now too!

Wile your under there, and it sounds like your doing bushings, check the tranny mounts. While it may not cause 1st to go away, it sure made my car shift better. And what I figured out the hard way, when the mounts were as bad as mine were, it seems to wear out the bushings even faster. I get to do mine again, although I think i'm gonna go bronze this time.

Actually, all it was was a simple readjustment to gear shift lever. I pulled off the plate, undid the bolt connecting the lever to the shift rod, repositioned it, retightened the bolt and voila! I found the procedure in the Haynes manual and thought I'd try that first because it seemed so simple.
Thx for the suggestions everyone!!!

I was having this problem, too. I checked all the usual suspects, and found, as suggested by SirAndy, that the cone screw in the coupler just behind the firewall had backed out about halfway, leaving a bunch of slop in the linkage.

Shifts better than ever now!