Popping out of 4th is a common failure..Sorry, but not usually a bushing
issue though.
Usually sloppy stuff internal in the trans needing a rebuild to cure.
Holler if/when with questions about it..(might know a guy who knows a few
things 'bout them...)
Daryl of AA Transaxle
425-788-4070
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: Introductions

>  The vent cover on the rear pillar is easy to take off..four screws.  You
> can put a filter behind there and acces should be easy.  You can take the
> air from the filter to the intake with what is called brake cooling duct.
> Flexible hose with a wound spring inside to keep it from collapsing.
> Google
> for brake cooling duct or look at Pegassus Racing, for one source.   I
> have
> the intake of my inline gas 1.8liter motor plumbed like that .
>  Tell us more about your turbo or blower...
>  Don Hanson
>
> On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 11:54 AM, Matt Thyer <matt_thyer@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Howdy Folks,
>>
>> I wanted to take a moment to make your online acquaintances' as well as
>> introduce myself and my new Vanagon (as yet unnamed).  Last weekend I
>> made
>> my way down to southern California to pick-up a 1983 L Diesel.  I took
>> delivery after looking the vehicle over and then drove it about 2000
>> miles
>> back up to central Washington State.  For the most part the vehicle is in
>> pretty good shape.  It's been through about 50% of a Westfakia conversion
>> and my plans are to strip it down and then complete a custom camper
>> conversion.
>>
>> Presently I have three persistent problems that I need to address:
>>
>> Minor Diesel leak from near the fuel pump:  There appears to be a slight
>> leak somewhere near the fuel pump/injector unit.  Right now this means
>> that
>> a small amount of fuel is being spilled on the engine.  For obvious
>> reasons
>> I'm going to take care of this one pretty soon.
>>
>> Shift box and bushing are crappy: The biggest and most annoying problem
>> here
>> is that you have to hold the stick in 4th gear when traveling at speed.
>> Otherwise the stick shift pops out of 4th.  I'm pretty certain this is
>> caused by wear on the bushing, but feel free to offer up advice as you
>> feel
>> necessary.  Additionally, reverse is a pain in the rear end to find.
>> This
>> is most likely the result of worn shift box parts as there's some play in
>> the stick, but once you find it the gear works great.
>>
>> Poorly designed air intake for the added diesel turbo:  The last owner
>> installed a turbo blower on the engine.  It's really nice, it turned a
>> diesel slug into something with a little more oomph behind it.  That said
>> the aspiration requirements of the turbo exceed those of the engine
>> before
>> the turbo.  With the turbo he installed a large cone filter right above,
>> drum roll please, the exhaust.  The solution here is going to require
>> customization.  I figure I can take one of three options:
>>        1) Figure out a way to cover/protect the cone and get it to draw
>> from the air channel up the left side of the bus.
>>        2) Run a snorkel channel up the left side of the bus and put the
>> filter at the end of it.
>>        3) Replace the 1.6 L diesel turbo with a 1.9 L diesel.
>>
>> The last is the most expensive and while it has certain advantages, I'm
>> not
>> convinced I want to incur the downtime or cost of the conversion.  No
>> strike
>> that, all things considered that's a lot of money and time.  I'm pretty
>> sure
>> I don't want to do it that way.  The first and second solutions are nice
>> but
>> will probably require me to figure out a customized solution for
>> aspiration.
>> I'm a can do kind of guy, and if you have any suggestions please feel
>> free
>> to offer them up.
>>
>> Rough calculation on the way up from SoCal is that I was getting around
>> 31
>> MPG.  That's freakin amazing in my book.  Tuned and running without a
>> fuel
>> leak who knows what I'll get on the highway?  I don't think I've been
>> this
>> excited about a vehicle for a very long time.  Once I've got the
>> mechanical
>> under control I'm going to spend some time in the garage carving out a
>> light
>> weight pad of comfort and organization.  I'm still looking for a good
>> name
>> for it too.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Matt Thyer
>> Ellensburg, WA
>>