The poor shifting sounds to me like the shift plate (where the lever goes
through the floor) may not be alligned correctly.
You reminded me of a problem I had that resulted in a broken shift lever and
a learning: the shift lever for a 2WD is not interchangeable with the
Syncro.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pollard, Matthew [SMTP:Matthew.Pollard@OREADCA.COM]
> Sent: Monday, June 14, 1999 8:21 AM
> To:   vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject:      poor shifting; Help
>
> My bus is getting harder and harder to shift.  This morning I was not able
> to find first, but had to settle for second :-(  When I got into the first
> position, it was third!  ugh.  I know that my bus is not drivable as it
> is.
> I think the problem is with the linkage, specifically the rear end of the
> linkage where the final ball and socket assemble is.  Has anybody replaced
> the pin that holds the socket to the end of the rod, and will this help
> fix
> the problem?  Will the pin-hole be out-of-around? Can I drill the hole
> bigger and put a 1/4" bolt through it?  Or will just replacing the pin do
> the trick?
>
> Recent work that may be relevant: replaced all of the parts where the
> shift
> lever goes through the floor.
>
> Thanks for the help.
> Matthew
> 84 weekender