Transmission will not shift out of reverse

OWNEROFVW

MEMBER
1997 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA

The car listed above has a manual transmission and it won't reverse. Just grinds. The other gears are currently working. Diagnoses?

Saturday, February 5th, 2011 AT 3:02 PM

2 Replies

JWASHINGTON

MEMBER
6 POSTS

GOOD NEWS! Only your reverse gear will need replacing. Our 1996 Jetta had the same problem. The reverse gear housing in these modelswas made out of plastic which over timewore the gear teeth down which accounted for slippage and breakage. The reverse gear linkage is housed on the outside of the transmission, and therefore is a fairly easy fix. We are currently going through this and have just taken our car down to get it fixed. We have had a couple bids. $300-$500 Max.

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Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 AT 3:15 AM

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

That is great info. Thanks, JWashington.

Not only the housing issue but this could just be a failing clutch as well.

We have found on these smaller vehicles with manual transmissions that reverse is used far less than other gears but when it is, they are hard to engage and then start grinding.

Basically, this can be the beginning signs of a failing clutch.

Here are some guides that will help with this:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/clutch-doesnt-work-sometimes-or-not-at-all

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/clutch-symptoms

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/throw-out-bearing-replacement

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-replace-a-clutch

Also, one other thing this could be is a shifter adjustment issue. This is going to be less likely, but it is on the list of things we need to check so I am attaching the info below on how to check and adjust the shifter.

Please run through this info and let us know what you find.

Thanks

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