Afternoon All Over the last 12 months (and not many miles) the van has developed a noise from the gear stick (presume this is a noise travelling up the linkage from the gearbox) This noise only happens in 3rd & 4th from what I can hear, and with the gear lever in a certain position. For instance, traveling in 4th and move the stick half an inch forward and the noise stops. What I’ve found so far.. The linkage from stick to box has got a bit tight over time, so I’ve managed to get some oil down the tube. This has freed it up a little but noise still present. And all visible bushes/connections are ok. (edit. Now the engine is out i will be removing everything to clean and inspect) Decided next step is to remove engine & box to investigate further. I’ve taken the nose cone off and found the hockey stick bush to be well worn, so I’m wondering if this is the cause of the noise (the hockey stick metal to metal on the next bit) Or do I go further into the box ?! which from what I read is quite a big job, I’ve watched some very helpful clips from @theBusmonkey and some others on youtube. 1600tp, 1977 Devon 21 Any advice (about the gearbox)welcome. Thanks BRB
You can't go any further into the box without the tools to do it. Did you change the hockey stick "pea ball"?
I will be. I see from a bit of googling OG plastic ones are available and so are metal upgrades, although a few comments on the metal ones causing more noise
If it's a lightweight dry vibrating sound could be linkage vibrating. If it's deeper or crunchy gearbox.
Just check everything from end to end. I fitted a nylon peaball, and it's been fine. It is a "wear" component. A worn hockeystick bush in the nosecone will just cause the usual oil dribble, rather than I noise, I'd think.
Difficult to say Steve but i'm guessing gearbox, before doing any reasearch i was thinking the nylon guides on the selector fork, (Due to the tight linkage) but they dont have them !
thats the plan. when i said hockey stick bush is worn i meant the peaball no oil leaking (thats the rocker covers )
I expect it's the worn ball, the gear change mechanism ends up metal to metal there. While you have things out, see if the big bearing up top behind the gearbox nose cone moves in and out at all if you put it in gear and turn both output driveshafts the same way. If it does then you probably need the gearbox to be refurbished. The big bearing isn't meant to move around, it vibrates and eats away at the gearbox casing until it is loose.
Check the mounts BRB and renew if they look tired. Not just the gbox, but also on the engine. It does sound like a resonance caused by vibration rather than box failure. See where the linkage falls under the van in 3rd and 4th and look for any tell tale witness marks on the chassis or rods etc. You may not see anything. Chips stick buzzes in 4th at 57mph. I drive at 56 or 58! It stops buzzing if I move it. Mounts are often overlooked but can cause a variety of odd issues. And don't do what Mike suggests regarding the main bearing coz I guarantee it'll move and then you've seen it! I'm only joking partly cox he's right. The bearings do move in the case and it's not a function of vibration, rather than physics where the 2 shafts that carry the gears are forcing themselves apart due to the helical cut of the gears ...the bearing moves with the main shaft and enlarges it's mount...anyway, go looking for trouble and you'll find it! MDJ was a 'special' case with bis box and all I'll say is that you ignore odd noises at your peril. They don't get better and failure happens really quickly. Whining on and off load is shaft movement and the gears not meshing happily causing odd frequency. Jumping out of gear is also shaft movement and worn gear engagement dogs. Tough selection is likely worn synchro rings and dodgy shifting between 3rd and 4th, like stiff slam it in shifting, is trouble. None of those then button it up with your new pea and fresh oil and change the rubbers and renew the linkage...step 1...
Thanks for the reply Guys. I'm planning on having a good look tonight with a mate who’s pretty knowledgeable with such things, so will report back and take a few pic's…. weather depending !
Has anyone purchased the shuttlecocks recently ? when I originally did the van I took it all out, cleaned and reused the original because they were far better quality than the replacements I ordered (which are still sat on the shelf) https://www.justkampers.com/vw-t2-b...od-support-bush-rear-vw-t2-bay-1967-1979.html
It's one of those rites of passage . You buy stuff when you first get the bus, and then it turns out to be worse than what's in there and also the shuttlecocks have very little effect on the functionality of gear changes. The @snotty list / ideas above are important, the rest just income for JK. [And you throw out the original German heat exchangers too in the same spirit because you can buy new ones ] Rule 1: Unless it comes off the bus as unrecognizable flakes of rust or shards, keep it as you will need to put it back on again in a year or two when the replacements become even worse.
Weather was shocking last night, so didnt manage to do anything, hopefully when i pull the connecting rod out they will be ok to reuse ive got a few things on the shelf like that mike !
Those are rubbish, they dont fit and break when they finally get close to the locating marks. Schofields sell Wolfsburg West ones which are a very close resemblance to the originals and fit really well. Still fine after three years on our westy.
Not seen this thread before - and there are time some far greater time served and knuckles bloodied people on it already than me - but I'm drawn back to your opening post - the noise is coming from the gearstick? Nowhere else - just the gearstick? So no discernible noise near the actual box itself? When you say the linkage is over tight - where do you mean? I'm curious as most linkages have John Inman type rigidity in the linkage - I'd be surprised if the source noise is the box and amplified by the gear-stick itself.
As @MorkC68 says WW ones from Schofield seem to have the best reputation. I've got some in my box of drive train goodies for the refurb on Chip but can't bring myself to remove the old ones just yet ..not changing for changing sake! JK 211 711 179 rear. Pics for comparison, but with what I'm not sure ... Some stuff is downright shonky They don't look exactly like tightly toleranced mouldings do they...but something's better than nothing maybe Wolfsburg West 211 711 185B front. Nicer by far...
to me the noise is travelling up the linkage to the gearstick from the box, bit difficult to tell anything else as it doesnt do it on axel stands in the shed. the whole linkage is over tight when changing gear, its got gradually tighter over time and ive not really noticed. im guessing in the tube, as putting oil down the tube freed it up. but now the engine & box are out i can pull the long shaft out. difficult one to explain
I will see what comes out of the tube. In this box of drive train goodies do you happen to have a nose cone gasket Sent from my SM-S901B using Tapatalk
