Hello,

A spongy feeling shift/gear engagement is somewhat
typical on the Vanagons.  What some people have used with
success is Gene Berg's shift throw shortening kit.  Its fairly
inexpensive (for a Gene Berg part!) and most people can
do it themselves.  The whine up through the shift lever can
be caused by loose or worn parts in the shift lever/rod.  I
don't remember what we did exactly but a listee had this
problem on his Westy.  (Wes Neuenschwander you still here?)
I believe that it is a vibration caused noise vs. a worn trans
part whine due to the fact Jim stated the noise is there on both
acceleration and deceleration but goes away whenever the
engine is not under load.  If it was a failing part it would tend to
make the whine noise only on one or the other.  That's not to
say it isn't an internal transaxle problem but that it would indicate
that its external.   While Jim's mechanic isn't well versed in Vans
he should be able to isolate the cause of the whine and take
whatever steps are necessary.

As far as the shift pattern misalignment goes, that's also fairly
typical of Vanagons.  When the GB short throw kit is installed
correctly you may not notice this as much.    I think that VW
did something to the shift linkage on the later models as another
listee (John Rodgers) also noticed this when he traded his '85
in on an '88 (?)

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Todd Hill
VolksWerks Transaxles
Olympia, WA