A friend of a friend just drove their '84 Westy from Quebec to BC, and it
began having shifting problems in the Rockies, trouble getting into gear
without grinding. I spoke to the them on the phone and it sounds like it is
common to all gears. I drove it today, and couldn't get it to *not* shift, but it
was cold, and I could detect slightly more difficult shifting after only 5
minutes of driving. I noticed it appears to be leaking gear oil, so I suspect
low gear oil causing overheating. Master and slave cylinders are new, and
operate fine, no sign of air in the system. Clutch is definitely worn, but not
slipping. No tranny noises, but I didn't get it to highway speed, only about
40mph on backroads, and engine had bad lifter noise, so hard to hear
anything else.
I'm advising they get the oil drained & measure the amount which comes
out, check for metal in the oil and on the plug, and refill. Depending on the
amount/size of metal, either investigate further or just drive it. I would do it
myself, but am simply swamped trying to get ready for a trip in 3 days, so
gave them the name of the only local guy I would recommend. Any further
insights would be appreciated. I've heard of the 3/4 slider problem of
course, but does it affect all gears? Does it come and go?

It's an '84 4 speed, with 170k miles, originally from Vermont. They believe
it to be original clutch and tranny.

Thanks.Shawn Wright
http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
'85 Jetta D
'88 Westy 1.6TD 5 speed
 (see progress at http://members.shaw.ca/vwdiesels)
'82 Diesel Westy