Hi all,

I have a 90 Carat 4spd. with a VW rebuilt transmission (supposedly) that was
put in by the D.P.O.  (I have the receipt showing they replaced it, but it
was done at one of THOSE dealerships and appears to be a spray-paint
rebuild).  I have had synthetic GL-5 in it for 6 months now, and for the
longest time it worked fairly well, and the only problem was the "grind into
second when cold" syndrome.  (Yes, I have since learned that I should have
used GL-4, and GL-5 will dissolve something in 60,000 miles).

Anyway, it is now getting hard to get into first gear when sitting at
stoplights, even with double-clutching from neutral.  I don't see any
obvious leaks with the clutch master or slave cylinder, and the other gears
seem to go in fine -- even though you do have to push the clutch ALL the way
down to do it.  I remember a previous thread where there is an adjustment on
the shifter to make, and that if you slightly push straight down on the
shifter it goes into first easier.  This trick  allowed me to finish my trip
in the rush hour traffic, but it was very tiring.  I could actually hear Ken
saying "I told you so!" in my head as I was recalling the latest auto vs.
manual debate -- and I was wondering if a tiptronic would be a decent
compromise!

I tried searching the archives for the thread on how to adjust the shifter
when it is hard to get into first.  The archives worked great, but I
couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.  Does anybody remember the
fix?  I am of course assuming that it is not the transmission itself!

Thanks,
Michael Townsend
Durham NC