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Thu Mar 30, 2017 6:00 pm

Hi Everyone,
I just bought a 1971 Super Beetle with auto stick, it will go into gear in 2 and L gear, but I can not get it in 1 or reverse. The guy I bought it from said everything went into gear before it was shipped. Am I doing something wrong, any input or things to check will be appreciated, thanks

Thu Mar 30, 2017 6:26 pm

Two easiest things to check first:

1. The shift lock plate under the gear shifter- may need to be loosened and adjusted a bit to allow the gear shifter to fully engage those two gears.

Simple to adjust--just pull the shift lever boot up and you will see the lock plate with two 13mm (I think, maybe 10mm) head bolts--just loosen these bolts and carefully adjust the plate forward a smidge, then retighten the bolts.

2. Contacts in the bottom of the gear shifter- these contacts are supposed to rub together whenever you select a gear, sending an electrical signal back to the control valve in the engine bay to allow the clutch servo to operate the clutch. if the contacts do not rub together, no signal sent and no clutch activation, so no shifting gears. It's possible they are rubbing together when you pull the shifter backward to select Low or Drive 2, but not when you push the shifter forward to select Reverse or Drive 1.

Contacts can be adjusted with the following steps: fold the shifter boot upward, find the upper contact sleeve locknut. Loosen the locknut and screw the upper sleeve downward until the contacts barely touch, then unscrew the sleeve upward until it allows the shift lever about .010-.016 inches of vertical travel. Then tighten the locknut.

If these two things check out, or adjusting one or both does not fix the problem, you may need to adjust the clutch arm a bit. Or you could have a small leak in your clutch servo diaphragm. Again not a big deal, a rebuild kit costs about $30.

Thu Mar 30, 2017 6:27 pm

shawn72 wrote: Hi Everyone,
I just bought a 1971 Super Beetle with auto stick, it will go into gear in 2 and L gear, but I can not get it in 1 or reverse. The guy I bought it from said everything went into gear before it was shipped. Am I doing something wrong, any input or things to check will be appreciated, thanks

Just curious, but have you driven a Beetle before? I know reverse is always complicated for first timers. I even remember my first time.

(edited to remove incorrect location of autostick) There might be a picture of it, although faint, in the front of the ashtray in your car.

Thu Mar 30, 2017 6:28 pm

sb001,

Is reverse in the same location for auto as it is in a manual?

Thu Mar 30, 2017 6:31 pm

kawfee wrote:
Just curious, but have you driven a Beetle before? I know reverse is always complicated for first timers. I even remember my first time.

If the autostick is in the same place as the standards then you have the push down on the stick and then over to the left and towards the rear of the car. This is the location of reverse. There might be a picture of it, although faint, in the front of the ashtray in your car.

On an autostick the reverse gear is toward the front of the car (still pull the gearstick to the left side and push down.)

Thu Mar 30, 2017 6:41 pm

Thanks everyone for the input, yes I have had a 1974 Beetle with manual trans I know about pushing down for reverse. With the auto stick 1 gear is forward right and reverse is push down and forward left. I can't get the two forward gears, I will try the adjustments under the boot. Thank you again everyone.

Thu Mar 30, 2017 6:45 pm

Good to hear. I saw you only had a few posts so thought I might throw that in.

The gentleman who helped you above is an autostick guru so you've come to the right place.

Thu Mar 30, 2017 7:49 pm

shawn72 wrote: Thanks everyone for the input, yes I have had a 1974 Beetle with manual trans I know about pushing down for reverse. With the auto stick 1 gear is forward right and reverse is push down and forward left. I can't get the two forward gears, I will try the adjustments under the boot. Thank you again everyone.

One more question- when the gearstick is in neutral, does it feel awfully loose if you wobble it left and right? or does it feel tight and always return to the more right side position when you release it?

Fri Mar 31, 2017 5:22 pm

Hi,sb001
In neutral it moves right to left easily, if I remember correctly my 74 was the same although it was a manual and that was 40 years ago. I went out today and after several attempts I was able to get it in 1. but I could not get it in Reverse, thank you so much for you help.

Fri Mar 31, 2017 6:12 pm

shawn72 wrote: Hi,sb001
In neutral it moves right to left easily, if I remember correctly my 74 was the same although it was a manual and that was 40 years ago. I went out today and after several attempts I was able to get it in 1. but I could not get it in Reverse, thank you so much for you help.

I think my absolute first thing to check would be the contacts in the base of the shifter. whenever it is difficult to get one or two gears, but not ALL gears, IMO it points to something that affects or is affected by the movement of the gearstick. The contacts make sense because it is possible for them to be out of adjustment to where they rub together when you pull the shifter backward but not forward.

The reason I asked about the gearstick feeling sloppy in neutral is because there is supposed to be a spring attached to the shift coupling in the tunnel under the rear seat, to hold some tension on the gearstick (#18 in this diagram):

if this spring is missing or detached it could affect finding certain gears as well, but it is less likely. I would focus my attention on the contacts in the base of the shifter first.

Fri Mar 31, 2017 6:15 pm

Also Shawn, if you can PM me your email address I can send you a PDF of the autostick section of the Bentley manual, that goes over some troubleshooting tips and how to adjust autostick-related items.

Fri Mar 31, 2017 7:54 pm

Thank you so much for the information, I will do what you said tomorrow and I will let you know how it goes, I will PM you my email. Thank you again for all your help, Shawn

Sat Apr 01, 2017 8:57 pm

I also have 74 super with a autostick I have a problem with the autostick gears I have reverse and low no first but do have second I have replaced the contacts in shifter.i have adjusted the clutch and put in a new diaphragm and still I have no first gear. everything works good but first any body have any ideas please let me know.

Sat Apr 01, 2017 10:48 pm

Eric Lundin wrote: I also have 74 super with a autostick I have a problem with the autostick gears I have reverse and low no first but do have second I have replaced the contacts in shifter.i have adjusted the clutch and put in a new diaphragm and still I have no first gear. everything works good but first any body have any ideas please let me know.

I assume you mean you adjusted the clutch arm, coming out of the clutch servo?
When you replaced the contacts in the shifter how did you adjust them? Please see my adjustment explanation above- see if that coincides with your adjustment procedure.

Since you have every other gear except first, it's hard to think it's clutch servo related. I still think your contacts are out of adjustment OR your shift lock plate is keeping the gear shifter from selecting first.

Try lifting up the boot, undoing the two bolts holding the shift lock plate in place and SLIGHTLY adjusting it to the right and maybe forward just a bit. You can try this procedure first since it's so easy, and see if it solves the issue. However my money is on the contacts still not rubbing against each other during the gearstick's movement trying to select first. You can view my previous post for how to correctly adjust the contacts.

Wed May 03, 2017 6:38 pm

SB.. Thank you for your assistance in everyones different auto stick issues.
Im currently working on one that seems to have a hard time finding the gear. it clunks when I find it but sometimes slips back out. This is every gear.

Customer shoves it in second and drives around like that. If he rest his hand on shifter it slips out of gear..

Possible to email me that file on the transmission?

Any suggestions on where to start?

Sorry for the hijack. :oops:

Wed May 03, 2017 9:35 pm

NoBudgetVWGarage wrote:
Customer shoves it in second and drives around like that. If he rest his hand on shifter it slips out of gear..
Resting your hand on the shifter disengages the clutch. #-o

Thu May 04, 2017 12:10 am

NoBudgetVWGarage,
What SBD said X 2. Affix his stray hand to the roof....
2nd? Sure? The gears are L, R1 & R2. Equivalent to 2nd, 3rd & 4th in a manual. Sound like you may have a real PO car, whose current owner has been listening to bad driving tips . Start a separate topic with a pic of the engine bay please.

Volkenstein

Thu May 04, 2017 8:35 am

LOL. ok. No hand on the shifter. I have never dealt with one of these before and I don't think the owner has either.

He picked up the car last night. I'll be getting it back on Tuesday to deal with different stuff. I'll start another thread then. Ill read up more on adjusting the contacts at the shifter.

Thanks Guys

Thu May 04, 2017 4:18 pm

Yes if you rest your hand on the shifter it will cause the contacts in the base of the shifter to come together causing the clutch to disengage. i know it's enticing to rest your hand on the shifter but you can't do it on an autostick. :D

If it clunks into gear or there is slop in the shifter you may be looking at a bad shift rod bushing or perhaps the spring that keeps tension on the back end of the shifter rod at the coupler has come loose or is missing altogether (#18 in the diagram here):

Thu May 04, 2017 4:21 pm

NoBudgetVWGarage wrote:

Possible to email me that file on the transmission?

Sure I can send you the pdf file of the Bentley autostick section, PM me your email address and I will get it to you.