Been a long time since the last time I posted ... I guess I had not done anything stupid to my Mk3

contours said:

Hmmm. As in the plunger is not sliding easily enough? It was noticeably smoother than the original housing bolt.

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I don't know what the problem is but tightening the plunger housing shouldn't be locking the camplate.

L.A.B. said:

I don't know what the problem is but tightening the plunger housing shouldn't be locking the camplate.

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Got ya. I really appreciate the advice. Should the bolt be fully seated normally? I mean there is little chance of leaking there.

contours said:

I still don't have a neutral light, but I can slip into neutral if I tap the shift lever very slightly. Not a simple task, mind you.

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You could try unscrewing the neutral switch to see if that improves the neutral selection.

contours said:

Should the bolt be fully seated normally?

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Yes.

My Mk3's housing for comparison (the black and yellow item to the right is the cap on a breather catch bottle):

L.A.B. said:

My Mk3's housing for comparison (the black and yellow item to the right is the cap on a breather catch bottle):

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Wow! Your bolt is fully seated. Can't even see the o-ring! Well, I am at a loss as far as understanding what could be blocking the plunger. Unfortunately, I don't recall how well seated the original was before I removed it. I do remember it was a bit tough to unscrew.

I suppose I could drain the oil and open up the case to have a look. I could also do a short test ride first to see how badly it might shift.

contours said:

Wow! Your bolt is fully seated. Can't even see the o-ring!

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I'm not sure I've ever removed the plunger housing so I couldn't say if the O-ring is actually there or not but gear selection works normally with the plunger housing screwed in that far.

I'll test drive it tomorrow to see if there's a problem staying in gear, etc. Got other tasks scheduled for today.

contours said:

Wow! Your bolt is fully seated. Can't even see the o-ring! Well, I am at a loss as far as understanding what could be blocking the plunger. Unfortunately, I don't recall how well seated the original was before I removed it. I do remember it was a bit tough to unscrew.

I suppose I could drain the oil and open up the case to have a look. I could also do a short test ride first to see how badly it might shift.

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Can't think of great way to say this so please don't take offense. Taking the outer gearbox cover off for a look won't tell you anything and getting them back on is slightly tricky. If you take the inner cover off you can fully investigate, but with your apparent skill level you might find it quite challenging to get it back together and working. It is certainly doable and there is a pretty good helper here: https://www.oldbritts.com/gearbox_a.html But, nothing you've told use requires taking the gearbox apart to fix.

marshg246 said:

Can't think of great way to say this so please don't take offense. Taking the outer gearbox cover off for a look won't tell you anything and getting them back on is slightly tricky. If you take the inner cover off you can fully investigate, but with your apparent skill level you might find it quite challenging to get it back together and working. It is certainly doable and there is a pretty good helper here: https://www.oldbritts.com/gearbox_a.html But, nothing you've told use requires taking the gearbox apart to fix.

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Believe me, no offense was taken. This whole ordeal was just a mistake. All I wanted to do was refresh the 10 year old gearbox oil.

Regarding the o-ring, none are engineered to sit where yours is visible in the picture. Typically, they sit in a chamfer or counter bore, compressed somewhat. (Like LAB's image shows.)

The plunger must be able to almost completely retract into the housing. The only thing that makes sense to me is that something is preventing that. I would take it back out and see how well it slides in the housing without the spring. Unless it moves freely and all the way in, buy new. Then put the spring in and ensure that it will go almost as far while still outside of the gearbox. I bet you'll find that it is getting stuck - besides bad threads, there's nothing else to prevent it from screwing all the way in and doing its job. Pictures of each of the three pieces might help us help you. You might also get a flashlight and mirror and look in the hole to make sure there's nothing in there except the edge of the cam plate.