I managed to change this piece on my car with the shifter fitted, from inside the car. You'll have to shave a little of the flange off the fitted part to extract, and again off the new part to fit. I don't think it affects the operation of the part. It is a pain in the **** though. Take the seats out and put a cushion on the transmission tunnel to sit on, it'll save you some back pain!
hahha, okay, thanx, i read this also elsewhere. so the bushing 357 711 166 A, CAN be changed from the inside of the car, but it is a PITA. removing and reinstalling the exhaust (the cat only), takes approx, 30min. now its up to you.
well, im thinking or recomposing this thread. i wanted to treat this as a faq. repairing the 02a shifter became a necessity because of the huge slop and the uncomfortable feeling of the original mk3 16v gti shifter. mine was 100k miles old and could lose even to a normal 020, the side-to-side movement was ridiculous, about 10cm of parasitic movement while in gear. in this thread i will not focus too much in the process of repairing it, i think that any of you with very little mechanical experience, a little intuition, 10min of observation, and a little concentration, can tell very well how its done once it is opened, so i ill talk mainly about the parts used. i read many threads about it (there are one or two but not in cgti) and ordered some parts. i must say i hadnt a clue what i was ordering in fact. now the process goes like this, firstly remove the gear knob, By senndogg at 2011-11-27 By senndogg at 2011-11-27 the first surprise, the side to side spring was broken. stop here! now you have an idea of what to change. here's the list and a common judgement in percentage of the remaining life of the components. remember, we are talking about a mk3 GTI year 1993 with 100k miles on the clock. 357-711-164 the cap, totally worn, cut in two halves. 0% 357-711-145-B side to side spring, broken. 0% 357-711-590-B forward bushing, 80% 357-711-590-C middle bushing, 80% 357-711-124-A forward collar bushing, unworn, not necessary to change, 100% 535-711-055-D the guide, the main bit. mine was at about 90%, but for 5 its up to you 357-711-166-A the rear bushing, 30%. this is a MUST. 357-711-901-A damper, 50%. heres a general pic of the main bits By senndogg at 2011-11-27 well this job takes more efforts than money, so you decide. i must say im 90% satisfied with it, still the mk3 style shifter bug is present, you cant compare it to a mk4, its def another thing, so if you are close to a mk4 setup, go for it! i repaired mine cos at this time i couldnt afford one. at this point there are 2 ways, which are very different a) from the inside PROs: you dont remove the exhaust, takes a little less time. CONs: you have to remove the console, the handbrake, etc. the 357-711-166-A change is v hard. b) from the underside PROs: you have all the mechanism at your hands and can change easily all the bits, from the inside you remove just the gear knob. CONs: dropping the exhaust obviously the whole thing is about 357-711-166-A, the rear bushing which is a vital component and the culprit of the entire job. it is a PITA changing it from the inside, requires breaking the old one. it is very frustrating but from many feedbacks, i must say, it is possible. if you mind removing the exhaust this is the only way, but if you dont mind (like me) all the process is very easy. you have the convenience of changing ALL the bushes in perfect ease. good luck! here are some of the photos during the process. By senndogg at 2011-11-27 By senndogg at 2011-11-27 By senndogg at 2011-11-27 By senndogg at 2011-11-27 By senndogg at 2011-11-27 By senndogg at 2011-11-27 By senndogg at 2011-11-27
