Sloppy gears

[Skiba]

Appologies if this has been covered, coudnt find the results in the search.

My B5 1.8t A4 has sloppy gears, I get side to side wobble when in any gear. Are these just mounts, or the actual ball that needs replacing?

I dont suppose anyone has any part numbers or tutorials at hand?

Many thanks!

 

[Jason.s]

Mine does it also. All the mounts have been changed but still does it. Either the linkage is pretty worn or its naturally like that. Havent seen any other posts about the issue to be honest. It also jolts forwards/backwards when accelerating/letting off. Pressumed it was due to the engine being the other way compared to other cars i`ve owned.

 

[aragorn]

The jolting around coming on and off the throttle is the mounts.

The slop will be either wear in the ball, or in the UJ down by the tranny.

 

[Jason.s]

Well all the mounts are changed inc gearbox and snub for new genuine mounts so cant be that. Also had it checked at work before by a few of the techs and no sign of anything dodgey in the mounts and had no idea why it was doing it.

 

[aragorn]

well it can

The standard mounts are just too soft.

Theres a link rod that connects the engine to the shifter base. So if the engine moves, the whole shifter moves with it, to ensure gears dont "move" when pressing on. As a result, when the engines jumping around on its standard mounts the shifter moves with it.

I have (used) S4 engine mounts, Tigerseal filled tranny mounts and an RS4 snub, and i get movement in the stick, though nothing like the movement in the missus car (the avant) which is on standard 10year old ming.

 

[jcb]

you need a full set of 034 engine and gearbox mounts....and I know just the guy who has a set for sale......

if you get my drift!

 

[HEKTOR]

i would second the fact that the oem mounts are just to soft. The 034 products are great, i have alot of them on my rs. You could also try using a short shift kit, this will help tighten the shift and also make it shorter, very good mod imo.

 

[Jason.s]

Did think about a short shift kit. Reports on Audizine of the cheap ebay ones say that it tightens it up a fair bit so may give it ago in the furture.

 

[aragorn]

Problem with the ebay ones is they usually retain all the plastic tat in the shifter housing, and its that plastic tat that wears out.

So you end up with just as much slop (which is caused by the pivot ball moving around in the housing) but less movement between the gears, which could end up with shifting actually being more difficult.

 

[Jason.s]

True but theres no way im paying over 200 for the Neuspeed one lol!

 

[HEKTOR]

JHM do a short shifter, im not sure if 034 do one. The short shifters come up for sale from time to time, i may be getting a new one for my rs4 so could have a tonoga one for sale at some point. As said before, the ebay one will not replace the parts that cause the slop so no point throwing money away.

 

[Jason.s]

I`ll just live with it than spend crazy money lol. When i had my Yaris i had a TWM kit and that was great quality but looking they only do the transverse Audi`s

 

[HEKTOR]

some of the parts are a bit expensive, but with jhm's short shifter you do get what you pay for. I have brought a good few kits over in the past and it looks great and really does transform the gear change. I know when i fitted my tanoga shifter i was delighted and started to enjoy spirited driving and going through the box.

 

[Jason.s]

Would mainly be to tighten it up really. not worried about the shorter throw as tbh the A4 has a fairly short throw as standard compared to a lot of other cars i`ve driven and the gearstick is fairly short to begin with. Might just replace some of the mountings and bushes and so on in the linkage and see if it refreshes it.

 

[Oranoco]

Id the UJ in the linkage a service item? Any idea on costs, part numbers and how much bad language is involved in changing it out

 

[Skiba]

Thanks for the reply's. Yeah I dont really want to spend over £100 to have a smoother shift, if I had a RS4 then yes its worth it but not on a 150 bhp car haha.

So go on then, what is a UJ ?

 

[aragorn]

Universal Joint.

The RS4/S4 shifter doesnt have one.

I'm also not sure if prefacelifts have it either.

JHM do a steel upgrade for the UJ on Facelift A4's as well as their shifter upgrade.

Jason: If i'm not mistaken, the plastic cage etc that wears out is available new from the dealer on pre-facelift cars. On facelifts you have to buy the whole assembly, they dont sell the individual bits.

 

[Jason.s]

Mine is pre-facelift push down reverse so yeah should be seperate then.

 

[Oranoco]

Mine is pre facelift push down reverse but I converted it to non push down revers while fitting my quick shift kit (£15 bargain lol)