faulty gears

[Maestro Mad]

Just recently I have been experiencing problems with engaging 1st and 2nd gears.(reverse,3rd,4th and 5th gear have all been fine).This usually happens at junctions or traffic lights and is very frustrating,I set off in what I think is 1st and then find I have stalled because I am actually in 3rd.I am hoping that someone has come across this problem before and knows the remedy for this problem.Thanks in advance.

[maestro vans]

It sounds like your gear linkeage is out of adjustment. Worth checking that all the linkeages are secure. I have found the same problem in the past on one of the vans. The gear linkeage rod that comes from the gear stick has a splined end that attaches to the gearbox linkeages. I have found that in my case the locking bolt had loosened and allowed the shaft to turn on the splines, this meant that there was less separaion between 1st and 3rd gear. Its was easy to select 3rd gear thinking you was in first. There is a setup procedure in the haynes manual which describes the setup pretty good.
Hope this helps

maestro vans

[E_T_V]

Yes a non unknown problem with the VW gearbox. It is the gear linkage that is worn (or broken or mal adjusted)

[C191JOE]

I've had the same problem. The Haynes manual is very useful with this issue and I used it to the letter in order to get the linkage adjustment just right. It's not a technical job, just needs a bit of care. Good luck with it.

[Maestro Mad]

Many thanks for all contributions,I have looked in the Haynes Manual and it looks pretty straight forward although it does warn of not meddling with the splined shaft part as this could cause mis alignment.I also have access to a scrap Maestro so was wondering if I could use the linkages etc from this but it is a 4 speed box and mine is 5 speed.Would there be a conflict in using parts from the scrap car? Cheers Malcolm.

[E_T_V]

Yes I believe the linkage rods are different lengths.

[Nick Bradshaw]

I have the exact same problem, the book of lies says that the selector lever should be replaced when making any adjustment, (don't have the manual in front of me so can't quote directly,) is this the correct part?

Part Number: BAU 2561

Gear selector shaft, Maestro, 1300/1600, all, Montego, 1300/1600, all

(Taken from the spares page on here)

[Nick Bradshaw]

Urgent help needed with the centre console!!!!

According to the book of lies, it's a simple job of removing the 4 screws, taking the gearknob off, easing it over the handbrake gaitor and then taking it off, out the way. WRONG!!! I still have a handbreak handle in the way and due to the shape of the front of the centre console, I have to slide the centre console backwards, but the handbreak requires me to push it forwards. The centre console is already severely damaged because of someone removing it previously and buggering about with the gear selector, can someone please advise me how to remove the centre console successfully? If I have to mess around and remove the whole dash or remove the whole handbrake assembly, (nearly impossible with the centre console in the way, my Maestro will be rolling across the weighbridge in the morning and i'll be hunting down the previous owner.

[Russ]

It does come out ,but you have to remove the rubber grip off the handbrake and in worst case slacken the cable off by the nearside rear wheel

[Richard H]

If I have to mess around and remove the whole dash or remove the whole handbrake assembly, (nearly impossible with the centre console in the way, my Maestro will be rolling across the weighbridge in the morning and i'll be hunting down the previous owner.

Please don't lose faith, that car is very tidy. :( Can someone help Nick out with this please? I'd love to but too far away sadly :(

[E_T_V]

Slacken the handbrake cable near the nearside wheel arch. It'll make thing a LOT easier.

[Nick Bradshaw]

I'll try slackening off the cable, I'm just concerned as I've never had to adjust handbrake cables before and as it's so well adjusted at the moment, I don't want to mess it up.

Unfortunately Richard, the car's not as tidy as I'd like or was led to believe in the advert, but I'd like to persevere with all it's issues and end up with a car I can finally keep and maintain for years to come, (unless a Montego comes along with circumstances too good to resist).

[Mr_B]

Hey whats all this? If this Maestro ends up being weighed because the centre console is too much bother to remove, thats a poor state of affairs. I trust you will contact me Nick_B before publicly suggesting I have misled you in some way or other.

[Nick Bradshaw]

Well, handbrake was slackened, (when I eventually got the adjuster to move, not a lot of room for any grips, is there,) the centre console sits in the boot now with the handbrake readjusted to it's original position. The gear selector is in quite a bad way with lots of grease thrown about, but bolts not tightened up and so on, I think I need to find a suitable place to get it off the road and on axle stands before divulging any further.

Welcome Richard, you should have came here whilst the car was still in your posession, credit where credit's due, you did put the car back on the road instead of leaving it sitting somewhere to rot. However, no mention was ever made of any difficulty with selecting gears and whilst you wasn't there for the actual sale so can take no blame for that, I was forced to sign a receipt saying sold as seen, when all I'd actually seen was some pics on the net and a v5 at that point. Had I known about the gear problem, I'd have been more reserved about buying, simply because I don't have much mechanical knowledge and I don't have anywhere at all where I can work on the car. The handbrake today was done simply by wriggling under the car from the back whilst it was parked on the road, getting it up on axle stands where i am is next to impossible.

[Mr_B]

You were 'forced' to sign something were you? If my Dad bullied you I'll have a word with him. :censored:

It is totally preposterous to suggest me or my dad 'forced' you to do anything.

You were perfectly entitled to check the car over before buying it - if you did not do that, don't blame me. Why did you not ask to see it and/or test drive it before handing over the dough if thats what you wanted?

The maestro was driven by me, my dad and the MOT shop geezer and none of us had any issues with it.

Anyway if you can drive it down to Wisbech one evening (with the console out) I'll take a look at it for you as i'm sure it will be easily fixable. However I strongly suggest you stop bleating about being ripped off, "its not as tidy as I was led to believe, I was forced to do this that and the other" sounds distinctly like you think I am some sort of rip off merchant :censored:

[Nick Bradshaw]

Well, once again, my car has "healed" itself, with just a little bit of input from me.

With the centre console off, I had a look around, the most immediate thing being that two of the black blanking plate bolts were nowhere close to being tight, the top right hand one, (from the driver's seat,) barely screwed in at all. I took all the bolts out to gain access below, having also removed the two nuts holding the gear lever to the blanking plate, and had a look underneath. There was masses of grease everywhere which looked pretty clean, so had obviously been put in when the plate was last off as opposed to being original from when the car was built. I couldn't see anything that was obviously damaged or broken, so knowing that a new gear selector lever was at least required, I simply bolted everything back together, slipped the gear gaitor over the top of the stick to prevent any dirt getting into the ball at the base and left it as it was very hot and my neice was visiting, (she ended up staying until this morning).

I found myself in a bit of a bind yesterday and needed to use the car though and decided that I'd have to struggle with the gears for the relatively short trip. Can anyone guess what I'm going to say next?






Yep, all gears are back to normal, or at least as normal as I suspect they were from the factory. I have no idea why some previous owner took apart the gear lever mechanism or managed to smash the centre console in the process when it seems that there was nothing wrong with it in the first place, but if anyone has a clue, answers on a postcard please.

Richard R, in response to your post, you've taken things more seriously than they were originally intended. I do find it hard to believe that none of you noticed the problem when it took me 7 attempts to find 1st when I left your dad's lockup, but in the big picture, that's largely irrelevant. If I had not trusted yourself or your dad at that time, I would have insisted on a test drive and checking the car fully before signing anything or handing over the cash. However, I did trust you based on what I knew about you from your osts and interaction with others over on retro rides. I found the process of the sale strange, but I chose to go through with it as I wanted the car and as far as I'm concerned, the matter is closed. The reason I never originally contacted you directly is simply because I didn't view the matter as serious enough. The car wasn't sold as concours condition and I never expected it to be as such. I was simply surprised that no mention had been made of this when you'd told me of everything else and even took the time to sort most of the issues before the sale.