Shift rod won't turn for adjusting

andreic · 08-01-2012, 10:20 AM

I am a new 914 owner, 1975 1.8L with a side shifter. When I got the car the owner told me the transmission had been rebuilt about 4 years ago, and he had some receipts to confirm this. However, the transmission did not want to go into 1st gear at all, and going into second gear I had to push the lever quite a bit to the left and then forward (instead of just forward). The PO told me that it was likely an adjustment problem.

Today I tried to follow the adjustment procedure in Haynes' book and got stuck on the step which says to turn the shift rod clockwise until it hits the stop. I understand what is supposed to happen, but the shift rod won't turn at all. Certainly not when I grab it through the inspection panel; but I even removed the whole shift lever and clamped the shift rod with vise grips and tried turning it this way, still no luck. I put quite a bit of pressure on it, to the point that I was worried about damaging something in the transmission, or the bushings.

Did anyone ever run into something like this?

In the end I got my transmission to shift quite OK by reclamping the shift bar about 1/2" before the stop in the shift lever. It now goes into all gears, but needs quite a bit of effort (sometimes I need to use two hands) to get past the springs for 1st and reverse. I guess it's alright like this, but I'd have liked to get things done right.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Is the transmission in neutral when you're doing the adjustment? It needs to be in order for the rod to rotate.

Is the 2nd/3rd gate just "outside" the spring? If so, that's pretty much where you want it.

--DD

andreic · 08-01-2012, 10:44 AM

How do I check if the gate is just outside the spring?

andreic · 08-01-2012, 11:04 AM

And yes, I think I was in neutral when I tried to rotate the rod...

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Move the gear shift lever left and right. At some point in moving it to the left, you'll feel the lever start to push against the spring-loaded lockout plate. You should have to push into that in order to get the transmission into 1st or reverse. The 2nd/3rd gate should be just before you start pushing against that lockout plate.

--DD