90 awd tsi shifting issues, no 1st 3rd 5th gear

[ISTROKEPOLE]

hey guys,

i just recently bout a 1g after being out of the game for a few years. i got it dirt cheap and plan to do a little work to it, overall its not bad but im trying to sort out a few issues.

the clutch hydraulics have all been replace recently (prior to purchase) but the pedal pressure is terribly soft. almost non existent. now i plan to fully bleed the entire system and check the master cylinder adjustment later this week.

as for my main question, i've been having issues w/ the trans, im not sure if its internal or if im just missing the boat here, please help. the car shifts 2nd 4th and rev very well, but when trying to shift 1st 3rd or 5th i get nothing, it wont go into gear, and the shifter cables felt a little spongy as if they were flexing. so i removed the shifter cables made sure my bushings were greased and moving freely, pulled the shift lever on the trans, greased that and its moving freely, but w/ the cables removed from the shift linkage i still cannot get it to pop into gear in 1st 3rd or 5th. whats next, could it be b/c of the hydraulics, even w/ the vehicle off it makes no difference, if i try to shift into those gears while driving, i get a lot of deflection/resistance on the shifter trying to get them into gear, it'll move slightly in gear but as soon as i release the clutch ever so much, it'll pop back out and give off a slight grind and not go into gears.

please gimme a hand here, any insight is greatly appreciated.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Ok after reading all that since you dont know the history on the car i would say the transmission is or has gone out. Sounds like the symptoms, with three gears a bit of grinding, popping out of gear, might be time to pull that thing out and have it inspected to rule that out, it could be simple as that a bad tranny. ADjust the cables keep bleeding it, just keep at it. I had lots of trannys, lots of shifting problems over the years, could be anything tranny related or in the drivetrain, check the clutch, tob, clutch fork.

 

[ISTROKEPOLE]

ok i just went out and checked again, i can move the select linkages on the trans. by hand, but the odd thing is, w/ the trans shift linkage pushed all the way back, towards the rear of the car, it will go further back w/ the shift cable unhooked, than with it hooked up. could i have a bad cable? the driver side cable that mounts vertical moves the linkage up and down, and in all up and down positions i can click 2 or 3 different gears on the other lever that is not easily removable from trans. Am i correct in thinking that maybe the trans is internally fine?

 

[92AWDHX40]

With a used car anything you think is fine could be or not, in that case i would pull it apart and start from scracth, i hate guessing especially with a car dont know any history about, thats just me, think it of maintenace, clutch, linkage, tob, etc everything you could think of and go from there, been there with a used tranny oh its good, not it was bad cost me money to rebuild but im glad i did thats over and everything in the drivetrain is replaced and shifting the way it should, hope this helps.

 

[ISTROKEPOLE]

i understand where you're coming from, i plan to go over the car rather well, i'd just like to see if theres any other options or "easy" fix or things to check tranny wise before yanking it out. im wondering if it has the right cables, mounts, lever etc. i dont even know if its a 90' trans in the vehicle either.

 

[ISTROKEPOLE]

Hey guys - just an update - went to the junk yard yesterday after work, found a set of shift cables and bracket out of a 90 dsm. Went home and started removing the old cables from the car, and I noticed that this car currently has the 91-94 shiftcable bracket installed on the trans itself. The trans itself has a vin that of a 1990, and the shifter in the vehicle is the 90' style shifter. Could this bracket be the root of all my problems? I'm gonna swap in the new cables and correct bracket. But hopefully this will fix the no 1,3,5condition I've been experiencing.

 

[Junfan]

The bracket could easily be the problem. I have a car that had a 90 drivetrain including shifter base. I then installed my new TRE stage 3 over the spring and the car would not shift really at all. Then we noticed how much slop and play was in the system. I hit up the boneyard got the later bracket, base and cables. I installed those adjusted the pedal and base and the car is happy.

I you look the newer cables seemed short and the bracket is angled different like it kinda points the cables down instead of being so flat. Hard to explain sorry.

 

[mchustle]

That could very well be the only problem. Any time I have ever had a shifter problem where either all up gears or all down gears were gone, it was always the cables. That is my experience and Ive had it happen to 3 of my cars and 4 friends.

 

[ISTROKEPOLE]

update - switched out the cables for new ones and installed the correct 1990 cable bracket on the trans and it fixed all my problems. got the clutch bled as well - it shifts like butter!! also went ahead and cut down he factory shifter an inch and welded it back up w/ a slight angle on it.

 

[Tyeler18]

Glad you figured it out, make sure you have those cables adjusted properly now too. I was going to say that's probably the problem, not the tranny (I own a few 90's so I've been through it all with them).