914 stuck in 5th gear

[Ericcothern]

I am thinking about buying a 1976 914 but the owner says that he was driving it and it got stuck in fifth gear. Does anyone have any insight on what might be the problem???

[HMeeder]

Eric:

It has happened that the shift lever (thing with the ball end that goes into the tranny) can 'slip' out of the groove on the shift rod for 4th/5th gear. (Stranger things have happened.)

To check it you will have to drain the transmission, remove the shift lever console and lever (tricky wobbling to get it out.) You will see that the shift lever has three tongues that correspond to three shift rods inside the tranny. If you feel inside the transmission you can find the rods and the grooves in each one that mate up to the 'tongues' on the shift lever. The furthest most in rod is the one for 4th/5th. With a long, heavy screwdriver or 3/8 extension you should be able to slide the rod into neutral. To be in neutral, all 3 grooves should be lined up.

Good luck!



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Herb
'72 1.7 Tangerine 'Teen
'74 2.0 Red Rustmobile