The brief
Jeffrey assumed his Touran had a gearbox problem, he was having difficulty engaging gear, and a gearbox repair is the expensive thing he was bracing for. He brought it in. A good workshop checks before reaching for the big job, and here it wasn't the gearbox at all. The gear lever connects to the gearbox through the lever mechanism and a linkage, and that lever assembly has its own bushings, springs and detents that wear. When the lever mechanism wears, the shift goes vague, the gates lose definition, and a gear can be hard to select, even though the gearbox itself is perfectly fine. A worn lever mechanism doesn't tighten back up, so it needs replacing, then adjusted so the gates line up, far cheaper than a gearbox.
The diagnosis
A check confirmed it, the gear lever mechanism had worn bushings and a tired detent, the lever not selecting cleanly, which is exactly the difficulty engaging gear. The gearbox itself, the clutch and the linkage to it checked out, it was the lever assembly at fault, not the gearbox. That's a gear lever replacement, the worn assembly renewed, then adjusted so the gates line up cleanly.
The work
The centre console trim was accessed, the worn gear lever mechanism removed, and a new genuine VW-spec gear lever assembly fitted, the linkage connected and adjusted so the lever sat right and the gates lined up cleanly, and the trim refitted. The shift action was checked through every gear. A road test confirmed easy, clean gear engagement, well-defined gates, and no difficulty selecting any gear, the gearbox untouched.
The outcome
Easy, clean gear engagement, well-defined gates, no difficulty selecting, and the gearbox left alone because it was never the problem. The Touran went home shifting properly again, at the cheap end of the job. What looked like a gearbox fault was a worn gear lever, so changing the lever assembly and adjusting it put the shift action right without an expensive gearbox repair.
