Gear Carrier: Disassembly

Loosen nut on reverse lever support clamp sleeve (1st-reverse on 5-speed). Turn shaft far enough to remove reverse slider (1st-reverse slider on 5-speed), and shift fork. Slide shift forks off shift rods. Remove lock ring from end of mainshaft.
On 4-speed pinion shaft, remove circlip on end. Remove 1st-reverse synchro assembly, inner circlip and needle bearing. Remove reverse gear, spacer and needle bearing assembly.
On 5-speed pinion shaft, remove pinion bearing, shim, 1st gear, circlip, 1st-reverse synchro assembly, circlip, needle bearing, reverse gear, spacer, and needle bearing assembly.
On all models, press out mainshaft and drive pinion at the same time by applying pressure to end of mainshaft. Care must be taken not to damage any gear train components.
Remove selector link shaft and selector link. Remove 2 bolts and then remove link bracket. Remove drive pinion bearing lock bolt. See Fig 1 .

Fig 1: Exploded View of Gear Carrier Assembly
Courtesy of VOLKSWAGEN UNITED STATES, INC.
Using appropriate adapter, press out mainshaft bearing and pinion shaft bearing. Loosen clamp sleeve and remove with reverse (1st and reverse on 5-speed) lever support and union nut from carrier.
Remove (4 ) relay shaft bracket bolts, brackets and relay shaft. Detent plugs and shift rails should only be removed if necessary. To remove, drill out detent plugs and thread a self-tapping bolt into plug until plug is pulled out.
Remove circlips and pull shift rails out of carrier. Remove detent springs, balls and interlock, and intermediate pins.

NOTE: Removal of selector shafts and detents should not be necessary unless shifting is either too stiff or too easy.