Replacing Gearshift Balls

So armed with Mats' bushes, my OEMs, and after a TPS/VW Commercial non-communication bollock, a pair of 015311544 balls. I also had a pair of 282711279A bellows, which I got because they were available.

So, onto the actual task. I read Madras' blog entry on Herman, and could not find much else other than Haynes to work from.

Madra rightly says that in the list of things you are going to have trouble accessing, the clamp on the gearshift end of the shaft is going to be near the top. Too bloody right.

The clamp and nut are clearly visible, if you are in the right place at the right angle, and thus a right royal pain to get to with both hands. The nyloc nut is on a plain bolt which means you need both hands at arms length. I found that lying with my feet sticking out under the grille meant my left hand could hold the spanner on the bolt head while my right could manipulate the nut. Jamming a large screwdriver into the gap allows an amount of slackness which I thought would allow the easy removal of the clamp. HA!  

I ended up having to remove the grille to get a two feet long rod onto the end of the gearshift shaft to hammer it out of the clamp. At this point the clamp and the tube you cannot see fell to the ground. Clunk.

I found no ball to replace, only a pile of rust, not even the remnants of a ball. Naturally the boot which should have been protecting the non-existent ball, was only half there too. Where the ball should have been was bare too, just a rusty peg with some shiny marks where it had attempted to do its' job until the end.

I did not like the idea of putting a nice clean new ball in a manky, rusty old socket like that, so I looked at the ins and outs of cleaning the bore, and possibly sleeving it since it was badly ridged and pitted. The new ball was a polyurethane moulding, quite hard to a fingernail but squashable by a couple of millimetres on its' diameter.

The Ins and outs amounted to turning a big chunk of plastic to hold the socket for boring some of the crud out, since a wire brush had no effect. I did manage to get some of the lumpiness out, but taking too much would mean having to sleeve it too. I decided that this was too much effort at the time and so resolved to measure the part for future replacing/repair.

Back outside I cleaned the long rod at the bushes to have a proper look and measure.

Apart from being mucky due to the lack of protection, they were a maximum of 1mm down on their diameters. The wear is clearly visible and again I went for the clean and regrease for speed, having checked the ball on the gearbox, and found that to be in good condition, again inspite of the lack of protection. A good dollop of grease and the ball pressed onto the finger quite easily.

The two bellows I had were pressed into service since their proper situations were still in excellent condition, and I could not get the nuts undone anyway.

Everything back together, and getting the clamp/socket back in place was, again, a right royal pain. Just getting it to stick on the end of the long rod sufficiently to get out from underneath and the tap it on properly with two feet long rod and a hammer.

It seems I knocked on a bit too far, but when I tried the shift in the cab all gears were easily found. Clear the area below, and the first thing to do is to select reverse to get off the ramps. Fingers crossed, …..no problemo. Straight down the ramps and into the street. Into second and off around the block.

The difference was immense, no exaggeration people. All gears, up and down. A little notchy, but no stirring the pot in the vague hope of finding what you are looking for. All for the sake of a £4 plastic ball. The notchiness may be the position of the clamp/socket, being a bit too far towards the rear.

Now I have done it, and know what made what feel so bad, Mats' bushes are still to be fitted when I need to, and the 015311544 balls are T4 parts too, so should be available for a while yet.

Todays drive was super, clicking through the gears with little effort.

Now to see what can be used for protection of the new balls.

Edit:  I did not mention that I undid the gearbox end first, but this makes it very difficult to remove the clamping bolt, too much movement in the long rod. So after putting the back end back together, the clamp bolt was relatively easy to remove.

The notchy feel has all but gone now, Sunday,