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Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:59 am

Hi guys I am new to all this vw stuff and I just gotten a 1974 autostick and I am having problems with it.

Every time when I switch gears it has a 5 second delay then it goes into gear any idea why?

I just recently replaced all the vacuum lines and adjusted the shifter

Thanks, Nick

Wed Nov 19, 2014 11:36 am

Welcome, I bought a 69 autostick a couple of months ago, had never driven one. I just put it in second and leave it there around town, don't shift. I will also add that I have no clue as to that being the proper way to drive an autostick.

Wed Nov 19, 2014 11:39 am

Welcome, do a search using the term autostick and you are sure to generate tons of reading material. I owned three of them myself but my opinion is biased towards the negative concerning autostick because of the control and drivability issues not to mention most performance upgrades lost to the slush box. However there is a faithful following that keep these cars rolling and they may be formulating a response right now :D

74 is a great year to have because if the owner wanted to convert to 4 speed the tube is already in place. Have fun with your VW that's the bottom line.

Wed Nov 19, 2014 6:28 pm

it could be alot of things, who replaced your vacuum lines and are you sure they replaced all of them and correctly? the control valve in the top left corner of your engine compartment has a screw in the top of it, it is for adjusting shift speed, try giving that a few turns. I also have a 1974 super beetle with an autostick, i have been driving it every day for the past 2 years. These are awesome really unique transmissions, very durable and easy to work on. Anyone intimidated by this simple design so much that they feel the need to waste time and money converting it to a manual in my opinion probably shouldnt have a wrench in their hand in the first place. I'll try to answer as many questions you have as i can, it helps to have pictures of the engine compartment for placement of vacuum lines. Make sure your shifter isnt adjusted too tightly at the contacts.

Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:59 pm

you need to adjust the control valve in the engine compartment.

the adjustment screw is on top of the funny looking thing on the left with all the big vacuum lines going to it.

turn it 1/4 to 1/2 CW then road test.

downshift from 1 to L at about 25-30mph and the gear engagement delay should be a solid one-one-thousand count.

Wed Nov 19, 2014 9:11 pm

irvanm wrote: I will also add that I have no clue as to that being the proper way to drive an autostick.

Have a read of the manual, yours being 69 wont have Park.

Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:07 pm

Actually Joel, he said he has a 74 so it should have a park position.

The system is designed so that you should get an immediate clutch engagement when shifting up (D1 to D2 for example) and a 1 second delay when shifting down (D2 to D1 for example). This makes for good engine response when accelerating, and smoother (no-snatch) gear changing when selecting a lower gear.

74 superbuggy, driving technique is important with the semi-auto.

1. Never drive with your hand on the gear lever - use it to change gears and immediately remove your hand from the stick. There is a switch in the stick (where it bends) which activates the manual clutch so leaving your hand on the stick might prevent the clutch from re-engaging.

2. Always change gear with your foot OFF the accelerator (both up and down shifting). This is important because the control valve (upper left side of engine bay) uses vacuum signals from the carb to determine the clutch engagement speed (immediate for up shifting, 1 second progressive for down shifting). If you have some throttle on when changing gears, it will give the wrong vacuum signal to the control valve. So all gear shifts should happen like this - foot off throttle, move gear stick, take hand off gear stick, use throttle.

It's important to note that the semi-auto uses the small 180mm clutch plate out of the 1200 engines. This works OK because the torque converter takes most of the "slip" and the clutch plate is big enough to take the power of a 1600 when fully engaged. So using throttle when changing gears will increase the clutch slip (and slow the engagement time) and wear out the clutch friction plate sooner than necessary.

borninabus wrote:
turn it 1/4 to 1/2 CW then road test.

Actually, since he said it was slow to shift, it's the other way around.

Quote from my manual: "If the clutch engages too quickly, remove the nylon cap and rotate the adjusting screw 1/4 to 1/2 turn clockwise. If the clutch engages too slowly - remove the nylon cap and turn the adjusting screw 1/4 to 1/2 turn anti-clockwise."

Around town it can be used as a one-gear car, use D1. That gives good acceleration and can be used up to 53mph. D2 is the only gear which should be used when travelling at more than 53mph, but you can select D2 at any speed above about 20mph (as indicated in Joel's pic above). L should only be used when starting off with a heavy load, making a hill start, or for crawl speeds.

Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:16 pm

Aussiebug wrote: Actually Joel, he said he has a 74 so it should have a park position.

I wasnt talking to the OP, instead this guy with the 69.

irvanm wrote: I bought a 69 autostick a couple of months ago, had never driven one.

Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:22 pm

Joel wrote: Aussiebug wrote: Actually Joel, he said he has a 74 so it should have a park position.

I wasnt talking to the OP, instead this guy with the 69.

irvanm wrote: I bought a 69 autostick a couple of months ago, had never driven one.

So you did - my bad.

Hopefully he will read your pic/post and my following description and drive it well now :-)

Wed Nov 19, 2014 10:32 pm

All good Rob, they take a little bit of getting used to but are a godsend in stop/start traffic.

Just a shame they are so slow off the mark.

Thu Nov 20, 2014 5:38 am

I read both posts, thanks guys, turned out I was doing it right. The first time I drove it I pushed in the foot clutch (brake pedal) to shift and about put my head through the windshield.

Thu Nov 20, 2014 6:15 pm

[quote="VW Man 53"] Anyone intimidated by this simple design so much that they feel the need to waste time and money converting it to a manual in my opinion probably shouldnt have a wrench in their hand in the first place[/

I don't know about intimidated but there was a time when you could buy used autostick cars way cheaper than the 4 speeds, this is fact as they were never accepted by the public to a great extent. Don't believe me check the old NADA books they deducted several hundred dollars from the price.

When I worked at the VW shop customers were willing to pay us to make them 4speeds. This was a money making oppurtunity and if you turn wrenches for living working for someone else youll do it or hit the road. It was simply a matter of customer preference and in all my years not one person wanted to go from 4 speed to automatic. As I said in my post my opinion was biased and as the proud owner of three autostick cars I can speak from experience, ive earned it . If you like your autostick car more power to ya I am happy for you.

If you really a fan of the automatic transmission in a VW check out the type 3 fully automatic, it's much better design and the bigger engine has the power to pull the car. Cheers :D