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beetle jumping out of reverse
donovan - May 25th, 2010 at 05:32 PM

I was talking to a young bloke with a 1974 s. said his beetle jumps out of reverse. all forward gears are ok. I told him i would ask the experts. any ideas???

13bwagon - May 25th, 2010 at 06:20 PM

reverse is stuffed lol how that for an idea
reverse in vw boxes is weak could be mounts or bushes

greedy53 - May 25th, 2010 at 06:24 PM

i mite be just a bit of ajustemnt under the stick loosen the 2 bolts on the base of the stick and put it into 2 nd gear and retighten it all up again
good luck

dangerous - May 25th, 2010 at 08:18 PM

most VWs after 73 had a very weak reverse idler gear.
It is shagged and needs total dissassembly to replace,
very common.

beetleboyjeff - May 25th, 2010 at 11:12 PM

Mine is doing that too. Dave, can you re-build the box with an early reverse or something to strengthen it up? It is the 2nd one I have had go.

dangerous - May 26th, 2010 at 05:48 AM

There are aftermarket reverse gears available now that are much stronger.
Genuine VW ones are soft.
The early reverse does not fit in the late box without modification.
I have done a few, but you have to counterbore the gear which weakens it in a different way.
Been reversing a trailer up a hill!?

Rebuilding a box can be a can of worms cost-wise,
so you may want to exhaust your "used gear box" options first.

donovan - May 26th, 2010 at 06:31 AM

thanks for the help. looks like i will be posting an ad for a second hand gearbox in the not too distant future. what other year boxes go into a 74 s, now with a 1500 motor, not the original 1300?

beetleboyjeff - May 26th, 2010 at 10:59 PM

Dave, good guess about reversing the trailer :)

Sounds like I will have to start saving.

68AutoBug - May 26th, 2010 at 11:53 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by donovan
thanks for the help.
looks like i will be posting an ad for a second hand gearbox in the not too distant future.
what other year boxes go into a 74s, now with a 1500 motor, not the original 1300?


Hi

so He has a 1974 NON Super beetle with a 1500 engine..

any 12 volt swing axle gearbox from 1968 to 1974..
will do the job...

diff ratio will probably be the same...

and from an earlier model may be better... aka 1968-69-70..

cheers

LEE

..

68AutoBug - May 26th, 2010 at 11:58 PM

the other reason beetles jump out of reverse is a badly worn or misaligned lock out plate under the bottom of the gearshifter...

there is supposed to be Moly grease in the bottom to lubricate when changing gears...
but they are a bit like tow balls...
no one greases them... lol

LEE

donovan - May 27th, 2010 at 06:05 PM

I mean i will be posting an ad on his behalf(it really isnt mine) haha

Joel - May 27th, 2010 at 07:03 PM

might wanna find out what model bug it actually is, super or standard cos they use totally different boxes

if it was a 1300 originally then it would be a swing axle

if you use a 68-72 the nose cone will need swapping over.

vlad01 - June 8th, 2010 at 08:41 AM

I had the same thing happen to an old square but it was first that jumped. changed the box then took apart the blown one.
total destruction! main pinion bearing failed and the rollers ground though the side of first gear and just about cut the outer part of the gears off the center hub bit.
also bits of metal was everywhere and broke off teeth on all the gears.

cause>> damaged flange cup seal, leaked all the oil out which blew the bearing.

sigh! some times you get the fail after it was set to go off by the previous owner.