Gearshift

[insanekiwi]

Hi,

I don't know if it's just me, but my GTI...
sometimes the shift feels smooth, and slots into gear nicely...

and some days, it just feels like I need to work against it. It doesn't grind, but and not baulking, but just don't get that 'slot in' feel...

this varies from day to day, even within days... ie. stop the engine, and restart after shopping, and it feels great.... / but park at home, restart and go somewhere, and feel the gear shift is not as smooth...

I don't know if I need to readjust the cable shift mechanism or what...

I am running Redline MT90 gearbox oil, changed about 3000km ago. I believe at correct level obviously.

This is intermittent, so I just can't figure it out!

Wish I could get a smooth shift feel like Integra Type R!!! (or Civic Type R for that matter)

*the gear shift never crunches regardless of RPM / which gears*

[Catfish]

I had much the same problem. Changed back to Redline MTL (slightly lighter than MT90) on JMac's advice as I recall. This cured it. Also, on other advice, I slightly overfilled the gearbox by about 200ml - you can do this by running the passenger side front wheel up a ramp a bit to raise the gearbox filler hole slightly above dead level.

[break]

I found my APR dog bone insert has done wonders for my gearshift as well.

Next service I'm moving to redline oil in the box as well, so a combination of both may well be what you need.

[Catfish]

Insanekiwi appears to already have the dogbone insert ...............

[insanekiwi]

Catfish, very observant. Yes I do have APR mount, it made a difference in terms of shift.

I will try if I could overfill... I still have 2 bottles of MT90 so I want to use that up!

I wonder why this happens intermittently though... unless it's the cable??

[Catfish]

Unless your oil is well below the 'normal' level, you may have to go to MTL to notice any improvement - the slight overfill is more as insurance against leakage/evaporation over time.

[insanekiwi]

Catfish,

I used MTL before as well, as well as different VW oils. VW oil actually feels ok in terms of shift.

I will see if I can get it filled a bit more....

We need Jmac here!

[break]

In terms of gearbox oils, there are only two I've had good experiences with (and I've tried LOTS)

Castrol VMX80 fixed the synchro issues I have having in my 6spd Mazda Mx5 10AE, where as Redline was the only thing that removed the 'notchiness' of my 5spd box in my MY05 WRX WRP10.