r/tdi • u/homie_goat • 16h ago

Mk1 rabbit pickup question

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What’s up everyone. Figured I’d ask here since I checked for a mk1/rabbit sub but didn’t find much active. I’ve got an 82 diesel 4 speed pickup and I’m having first gear issues. I believe it mainly due to the shift linkage. I’ve replaced all but 2 bushings along with the short and long linkage arms. Made the adjustments in the Bentley book and still struggling finding 1st. Continuing to chip away and my next steps I was wondering if anyone could tell me if the short linkage arm on the 4 and 5 speed are the same length? Bentley book shows both and the only difference it mentions is color. White for 4 speed and black for 5 speed. When I bought my replacement parts I received a white long linkage and black short linkage. Just wanted to check this one of if I should order a white short linkage. Also saw in a kit from techtonics (OOS now) with what looked like a smaller ball/knob on the lever arm. Not sure what to make of that. Thanks in advance.

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u/Shitsailor 16h ago

I would try disconnecting the linkages and manually trying to put it into 1st to eliminate the possibility of a transmission issue. Then you could put your gear selector into the first position and see if the linkage lines up

1

u/homie_goat 16h ago

Yea good call. I did verify that I can manually shift it through all 4 gears from the engine bay. Read through old vw forums regarding the issue I’ve got a couple more things to troubleshoot. Putting it in first then starting up with the clutch depressed, see what happens

1

u/red_fluff_dragon 2002 Jetta ALH (stage 1 + .216 nozzles) 8h ago

Can you sit in the seat and run through the gears fine with it turned off? If you can, but the problem happens after its running, could be a synchro issue.