I recently returned from a 4,100 mile trip from Wisconsin to, and through,
much of the Appalachian Mountains. It was a great trip and my Westy ran well
except that downshifting became increasingly difficult after driving for a few
hours. I would reach a stop sign and found that shifting into first was very
difficult. The gearshift felt like it was hitting an obstruction. I could resolve
the problem by shifting into reverse or second, engaging the clutch only
slightly and then moving the gearshift into the firstgear position.

This usually worked although a few angry drivers behind me might disagree. I
talked to a mechanic today who suggested greasing the linkage points. However,
I crawled under the van and found these points seemed to be well-greased and
I could easily move the gear shaft. I will give the linkage points some grease
tomorrow but ask for your comments.

By the way, thanks to those who provided some excellent and intelligent
comments a couple weeks ago regarding my question about oil usage. I have switched
to Mobil 15 - 50 as a result of those comments. Oil usage remains the same so
far, I qt per 1,400 miles,but I feel better.   :)

Again, I ask for your comments about this shifting problem. Thank you

Dan Roberts
89 Westy manual 4 speed