I used to drive a Squareback that popped out of fourth on a regular basis.
Made it last for a while longer by wrapping a bungee cord around the shift
lever and attaching it under the back seat.  Made it difficult to shift into
first and third, but I rarely stayed in either for long anyway.

Anyway, you might try the same.  Probably will last a few months anyway.

Karl Wolz

----- Original Message -----
From: Tim King <tking_ms@MSN.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 1999 3:02 PM
Subject: Syncro tranny pops out of fourth gear

> Hi Listers --
>
> I can't find anything about this in the archives... I'm not sure if this
> means there's so much info Gerry times out before retrieving the info, or
> that it mean once the owner finds out how much sycnro tranny rebuild cost,
> they don't get around to posting any info because they kill themselves!
>
> Anyway, about 1000 miles ago, my friendly yellow lab, Buddy, popped the
gear
> shift lever out of fourth -- this happened while the tranny was under a
load
> (up hill), and it happened a couple times on one trip. It might not even
be
> related, but the THUNK was the same
>
> For a month or so after that, things were fine.  Then a week ago, I was
> driving a long, and, thunk, it pops out of gear. Weird, I thought, must
not
> have been all the way in gear. I shifted back into fourth and all was
fine.
> Next day, thunk again, but it wouldn't stay unless I kept some pressure on
> it. After about 15 minutes in fourth, it stayed fine. Well, it's gotten
> progressively worse. I have to keep light pressure on the lever to keep
the
> tranny in fourth all the time.
>
> First question: Could this be linkage related? I'm holding out hope, but I
> personally doubt it. The van shifts into all gears just fine. I'm using
> Redline MT-90 fluid and it was changed about 800 miles ago. There weren't
> significant amounts of metal filings on the plug. Any other ideas. Motor
> mounts? Tranny mounts? Sigh.... My guess is that it's some nasty internal
> problem.
>
> That brings me to question 2:
>
> I have plans to have the tranny rebuilt as part of an engine swap this
> summer. Will holding the lever in place while I drive damage the tranny to
> the point where a rebuild can't be done? I don't drive gobs of miles --
> maybe I'll do 3k between now and summer.
>
> BTW, it's not like I have to "Hold" the lever in fourth like a squareback
I
> once drove. That thing took actual muscles to keep in gear. For the
vanagon,
> it's more like moderate pressure to keep it from popping out of gear. I'll
> appreciate any feedback/information.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tim King
> Seattle, WA
> 87 Syncro Westy
> 89 Audi 200tqw with snapped clutch pedal -- is it tranny week or what?
>