Goof first gear for pulling fishing boat out of water up the boat ramp

Velma 82 1.9L AAZ td westy
On Oct 22, 2013 7:50 PM, "Don Hanson" <dhanson928@gmail.com> wrote:

> That's not the case with my 5sp.   At first I was thinking that was the way
> I was 'supposed to' shift into first "down, then back"...I was also
> 'feeding or guiding' the lever to the right, as I shifted up from first to
> second....after a little driving with this van I discovered there is no
> "Down" into the first gear at all...and going 1st to second, if I do it
> with just a flat hand and push the lever forward, it goes right into second
> without any 'guiding' at all....bump the stick forward and you are there.
> Mine shifts slick as any vehicle I have driven...but I do have to lube the
> linkage regularly to keep things smooth....there are a lot of levers,
> u-joints, bushings and twists and turns between the front shift knob and
> the shifting forks inside the tranny..
>
>    I find my 1st gear is so low it's pretty much a waste of time, starting
> out in normal circumstances.   I am going for second before I get across an
> intersection.     I run a standard diesel van clutch, the tiny one, and I
> have no problems using mostly second gear for starts...within reason, of
> course....On hills I start in first.
>
>    Only bad thing I have found is the front transmission mount suck..The
> 'normal' ones get soft quickly and allow metal to metal contact between the
> hanger bolt and the mounting cage.   There are urethane after market ones
> made, but I'm waiting for them to become available again...This again is on
> my 2.0 liter ABA Jetta hybrid motor...the motor mounts may have some
> bearing on the nose tranny mount's quick decline.  I understand the
> urethane ones actually last and work...just back ordered right now.
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 22, 2013 at 4:04 PM, Stacy Schneider <vwcrewman@gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> >           The five speed shares the lock out with reverse . It is the
> same
> > push over hard to get it in to 1st as reverse . Except you press down for
> > reverse.  Still a pain in the butt in my opinion .
> >
> >
> >                          Stacy
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > > On Oct 22, 2013, at 1:02 PM, mark drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET> wrote:
> > >
> > > There is no way to make 4 gears as useful as 5 for a non-tdi diesel.
> > > Spreading out 4 gears to cover the same range as 5 leaves gaps that the
> > > weaker engine can't deal with.
> > >
> > > You don't need to go down before left if you have the original 5 speed
> > > shifter. If you use the 4 speed shifter then the reverse lockout guide
> > > blocks 1st so you have to go down before you go left and back.
> > >
> > > Mark
> > >
> > > Stacy Schneider wrote:
> > >>       First is like going in to reverse on a classic beetle every time
> > you come away from a stop sign .
> > >>       Of course this is my opinion . Some people may just shift around
> > it  and put the wear on their clutch instead .
> > >>         Sure it may give you a spread in shifting . But so will a well
> > built. 4 speed and none of the dreaded down and left every time you stop
> .
> > >>         My. 914/6 had the same set up ,except you didn't have to push
> > down to get in gear and I didn't 't care for it either. .
> > >>          I grew up driving and stick and have never owned any thing
> > else . In my opinion  1st gear belongs up and left  . Add as many gears
> on
> > the end , I am fine as well . But left and down for 1 st ,no thanks .
> > >>
> > >>                                Stacy
> > >>                           Vanagonsplus.com
> >
>