Advice wanted: Gear shift cable lubrication

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VAG Fan
Lieutenant
Posts: 1440
Registered for: 8 years
Location: Pretoria

Advice wanted: Gear shift cable lubrication

Post by VAG Fan »

The gear shift on my Golf 4 is quite stiff, and with the engine off, I can hear and feel some squeaking from the area underneath the gear lever. I'd like to start by lubricating as much as possible of the gear shift mechanism, preferably including the ball, the cables, and all levers/eyes - and any "gates", if there are any in the Mk 4.

Can anyone give me advice on
... which lubricant to use for the ball, the cables and the levers/eyes
... whether I need to access the inner ends of the cables (I've read that this is only possible from below, so I would need to drop the exhaust for that)

Any other advice welcome.
Mark R.
- - - - - - - - - -
2004 VW Golf TDI, type 1J, AHF, 317k (2016-current) --- daily
1990 VW Fox, type 16, HM, 304k (2005-current) --- spare runaround
Previous:
1992 Audi 500 SE, type C4, AAR (2001-2020) --- nice while it lasted
1983 VW Golf GTS, type 17, FR (1992-2005) --- most fun car I've ever had
1978 Audi 100 GLS 5E, type 43, WC (1991-92) --- died in the side of a Rekord who cut me off
- - - - - - - - - -
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panic-mechanic
Panic's Place
Posts: 26715
Registered for: 21 years 7 months
Membership No: 79
Location: Benoni, putfontein.

Re: Advice wanted: Gear shift cable lubrication

Post by panic-mechanic »

Pull the gear lever boot off first and see what you can get hold of from the top. The ends of the cables on that side you literally can only get hold of by removing the entire mechanism. Much easier to try to do the cables themselves from the engine side.
lubricant really depends on what you can get hold of or want to lube. If you can get the lever off the pins they are on then some grease is the best. The cables itself you literally won't be able to get anything else than like Q20 or such inside.
Stephan van Tonder - Jhb - Putfontein Benoni
'05 Audi A6 3.0L TDI Avant
'09 Touareg 3l TDI
'13 VW CC 2l tdi (repair project)
'05 Touareg v10

Perfect Power dealer. I do dyno tuning.
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