George,
My first course of action would be to lay under the bus and observe the
action of the selector rod at the transmission as someone else goes
through the gears. He should be able to tell if the linkage is working
i.e.  the selector should move in and out, forward and backwards.
Ken

On Sun, July 20, 2008 9:25 am, George Thorburn wrote:
> I received a call yesterday from a fellow with a broken down vanagon.  He
> is on his way from Whitehorse to Ontario and is currently in Whitewood
> Saskatchewan.  He can only find 4th gear.  Is this the notorious 3 to 4
> slider problem or are there other possibilities?  He is having the van
> towed to Regina.  What should we check for before the repair shops open
> tomorrow?  If it is the slider is the best bet to replace the
> transmission?
>
> George
> '85 Westfalia
>
>