HOW-TO: fix your side to side motion on your Tip, a.k.a Floppy Shifter Repair

1BadWGN · Jul 20, 2005

Well, it happened to me at only 55K and I'm sure it'll happen to you. The side to side motion in your Tip just seems to stop working and your shift handle just flops back and forth out of Auto & Tip. The dealer wants hundreds of dollars to fix or upwards of a grand to replace the shifter mechanism. Well I performed this repair in little over an hour and it actually took more time to take the pictures than it did to repair.

I wrote this in MSWord and converted it in a little free program called "Paperless Printer" to JPEGs. Check out the program as it also saves them to PDF, HTML, and a few others. I did this so you could save the individual pictures, print them on whole sheets and use them as a guide. I can convert them to most formats, and I'm sure Imageshack will won't host these forever, so if someone can host, say a PDF file, I can provide that as well. If the pictures come out as the dreaded "red X", then try refreshing or it may be time for me to rehost and your out of luck.

Feel free to ask questions or criticize. All I know is that mine now works and the parts came from 1stvwparts.com and I paid minimal amounts of funds ($11.00). Have fun.

swcrow17 · Jul 20, 2005

Nice Effin' write up!
:thumbup:

turbomonkey@ · Jul 20, 2005

Great write up - thanks for the heads up on the repair as well as the program you used. I'll be downloading it today as well as saving your write up.

Rusty · Jul 20, 2005

Totally, completely, wonderfully awesome writeup. It will go into the Info Forum after some discussion.

I have done this repair, and after a long time of trying to figure out how to get the effing broken spring out, stumbled upon the way you did it - great description!

I modified the spring to keep it from breaking again. I'll try to draw up a diagram.

1BadWGN · Jul 21, 2005

Coming from Rusty ^^^^, I feel honored. Just trying to save some people the headache. I searched and searched and came up with some good info, but nothing really, really detailed. Just doing my part. Maybe I'll make it to the "Info" Hall of Fame...

peppy · Jul 21, 2005

Another great writeup:thumbup:

V6er · Jul 22, 2005

Well done, I am almost looking forwards to my tip lever spring snapping.

V-Dub Duluth · Jul 22, 2005

Great job man!

1BadWGN · Jul 22, 2005

V6er said:
Well done, I am almost looking forwards to my tip lever spring snapping.

Now that's funny!!! :biglaugh:

1BadWGN · Jul 27, 2005

Don't let it die....

atomicalex · Jul 27, 2005

Awesome!!!

Rusty · Jul 27, 2005

I apologize - I was supposed to provide a diagram of my spring support. I'll try and get it done today...

1BadWGN · Aug 4, 2005

Someone will need this someday, I guarantee it! Bump back, awaiting input from Rusty =)

JWJR404 · Aug 5, 2005

Great write up:bowdown: :bowdown:

Thanks for sharing the knowledge:beer:

veedubyo · Aug 5, 2005

I love this FORUM !

flipb5 · Aug 5, 2005

:thumbup: 'Nuff said!

DaddyMatt · Aug 7, 2005

Wow! Excellent writeup...I need to do this on my B5!

I haven't been poking around the B5 Garage forum lately, but I'm glad I took a look today. My spring broke recently and having the Tip lever flop back and forth whenever I take a turn at speed sure has really started getting old!

I hereby nominate this post for the Info forum!

Salaryman · Aug 7, 2005

Tip magnets

Rusty said:
Totally, completely, wonderfully awesome writeup. It will go into the Info Forum after some discussion.

I have done this repair, and after a long time of trying to figure out how to get the effing broken spring out, stumbled upon the way you did it - great description!

I modified the spring to keep it from breaking again. I'll try to draw up a diagram.

Hi Rusty -

Sorry to hijack...

I read a reference to a repair you made in a separate thread about Tip shifting problems - when the magnets used to sense the movement of the shift lever go bad. I've got the same Tip mode behavior as described in that thread (sudden downshift, no response when trying to upshift). Which part in the above illustration holds the magnets?

Thanks,
Loren

1BadWGN · Aug 10, 2005

Salaryman said:
Hi Rusty -

Sorry to hijack...

I read a reference to a repair you made in a separate thread about Tip shifting problems - when the magnets used to sense the movement of the shift lever go bad. I've got the same Tip mode behavior as described in that thread (sudden downshift, no response when trying to upshift). Which part in the above illustration holds the magnets?

Thanks,
Loren

If I recall correctly, it's part #8.

Yup, #8, VWOA Part # 4B0713187C (for a 98 that is), $32.99 from 1stvwparts.com :thumbup:

Rusty · Aug 10, 2005

I start Visio now...

Rusty · Aug 10, 2005

Finally, here it is:

A. Cross-section diagram of spring and mount:

B. What happens when the spring flexes - the load is concentrated at one point.
This is where the spring always breaks:

C. Affix a small piece of scrap aluminum or other suitable material behind the spring.
This distributes the load over the radius of the bend:

S_Klass · Aug 10, 2005

FANTASTIC! sent to printer

1BadWGN · Aug 10, 2005

Rusty said:
Finally, here it is:

A. Cross-section diagram of spring and mount:

B. What happens when the spring flexes - the load is concentrated at one point.
This is where the spring always breaks:

C. Affix a small piece of scrap aluminum or other suitable material behind the spring.
This distributes the load over the radius of the bend:

VISIO ROCKS! How are you mounting that Rusty, Glue?

Rusty · Aug 10, 2005

Honestly, I don't recall. I don't think I used any - I had an oversized L-shaped piece of scrap that, with a teeny bit of trimming, slipped right in and held itself in place. I think I might have used a spot of Permatex Black (silicone) for insurance.

Salaryman · Aug 10, 2005

1BadWGN said:
If I recall correctly, it's part #8.

Yup, #8, VWOA Part # 4B0713187C (for a 98 that is), $32.99 from 1stvwparts.com :thumbup:

Awesome!:thumbup:

Thanks 1BadWGN...you bad!

DaddyMatt · Aug 10, 2005

Rusty said:
Finally, here it is:

A. Cross-section diagram of spring and mount:

B. What happens when the spring flexes - the load is concentrated at one point.
This is where the spring always breaks:

C. Affix a small piece of scrap aluminum or other suitable material behind the spring.
This distributes the load over the radius of the bend:

Nice job, Rusty! Now I see how I can really use that Visio training they made me take at work. :biglaugh:

I have to chuckle, though...the first thing I thought of when I saw your diagrams was Xiao Xiao!

HOW-TO: fix your side to side motion on your Tip, a.k.a Floppy Shifter Repair

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