# 02M Steel Shift Fork Install Difficulty



## formerly silveratljetta (Feb 6, 2007)

For anyone who has installed the steel shift forks into an 02m how difficult is the install?

I have done engine swaps and stuff before but never taken apart a transmission. Anything special required to swap the forks?


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## Doooglasss (Aug 28, 2009)

It's easy, but has some steps. Just remember the transmission case is made of soft materials and is easy to strip due to over torquing bolts.

Drain fluid

02M/Haldex trans (your sig says you have a TT) - remove bevel box (rear wheel angle drive)
--You will need a long reach 6mm allen key there is a hex head bolt deep inside the passenger axle cup that needs to be removed. Slide axle cup assembly out. If you don't have a long reach 6mm just cut a key in half and JB weld it into a 6mm socket + long 1/4 drive extension.
--Remove four bolts that hold angle drive to trans case.

Remove the gear selector rod
--2x 13mm bolts on top of the trans case.
--Spin the cover you just loosened and CAREFULLY pry up on each corner until it pops off. There is a plastic bearing with rubber seal in this cap. When reassembling do not force this part on. You will break the bearing.
--Remove lower cap on front of transmission. This secures the lower half of the gear selector in place.
----There are 3x 13mm bolts on it. You need to remove the two short bolts on the outside. The middle bolt should be loosened then tapped with a hammer until the cap pops out of the transmission case.
--There is one T45 or so torx bolt towards the top of the shift tower to remove.
--You should now be able to pull the shift mechanism out you're going to have to spin it - try to remember what directions you went and when. Getting it back in requires proper use of four letter words and lots of :beer:/patience

Remove 13mm bolts to split the case.
--I would recommend removing the ones inside the bell housing first -- double check, some will hide under clutch dust/poor lighting.
--Flip the trans case with the bellhousing / input shaft down and remove the rest of the 13mm bolts
--The outside of the case should now cleanly lift off leaving the gears/shift forks/diff inside the bellhousing. See picture below.


Shift forks are bronze in color in this photo. My advice would be to bribe two friends to come over at this point with promise of alcohol and loose women. I've never just tried to pull a shift fork out but I get the feeling you're going to have to lift the gear stack up a little bit. This is most easily accomplished with four hands holding the gears/shift forks together and pulling straight up the minimal amount of distance you need to slide a shift fork out and back in. Wear gloves. Don't get **** in the case. If for some reason you're reading this and working on an R32 transmission be aware that they are slightly different and have shims/bearings that are removable on the inside. I would strongly consider replacing them at this point.

Before reassembly clean the surfaces of the case and use your oil resistant sealant of choice. RTV black seemed to work for me. I'm sure some $20 OEM sealant works just as well or if you're "631 corrado" then use Honda Bond and only Honda Bond.


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## formerly silveratljetta (Feb 6, 2007)

Thanks Doug. I will be doing it alone unless my girlfriend is willing to help slide the forks out.


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## woodywoods86 (Jul 29, 2008)

I have done it twice. Once when I did the rivet to 12.9 bolt fork upgrade; then because I did not correctly seat my shift tower bushing and also installed the steel forks.

Bentley's has the layout for removing the gear sets. Basically, you lift the far set in the picture (5th/6th set) to make rooms to remove the input shaft; Then remove the reverse gear; then you are left with 5/6 and 1/2/3/4 sets which pull out very easily. 

Put every back in the *REVERSE* order.

Side note: replace the input shaft seal which by virtue makes the input shaft reinstall easier to install because there will be more space.


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## ejg3855 (Sep 23, 2004)

Doooglasss said:


> Before reassembly clean the surfaces of the case and use your oil resistant sealant of choice. RTV black seemed to work for me. I'm sure some $20 OEM sealant works just as well or if you're "631 corrado" then use Honda Bond and only Honda Bond.



Everything you said is spot on except for this statement. 

The bearing float tolerances are dictated by the clamp/flex of the case at specific torques. You need to use a sealant designed for this purpose, there is some OEM stuff or Split aluminum engine block stuff works (think snowmobile or subaru). 

You just cant be gooping **** around or you'll change all your bearing floats distances which will then make them ride on different places on the races and wear prematurely. 


There is a fantastic manual for the 02m floating around for VW techs. It has all the documented steps you could even imagine. I used it when I made my 5spd 02m into a 6spd 02m.


Right Click Save As -> http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_205.pdf


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## All_Euro (Jul 20, 2008)

ejg3855 said:


> ...There is a fantastic manual for the 02m floating around for VW techs. It has all the documented steps you could even imagine. I used it when I made my 5spd 02m into a 6spd 02m.
> 
> 
> Right Click Save As -> http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_205.pdf



Awesome - thanks for posting :thumbup:


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## formerly silveratljetta (Feb 6, 2007)

All_Euro said:


> Awesome - thanks for posting :thumbup:


Thank you so much for posting that you are a lifesaver


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## l88m22vette (Mar 2, 2006)

Doug, awesome DIY overview, and Eric, that link is ****ing awesome :beer:


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## groggory (Apr 21, 2003)

FAQ'd under Transmissions


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## formerly silveratljetta (Feb 6, 2007)

I got my steel shift forks in the mail today. I have a question about the plastic pieces that are on the ends of the arms. Do these plastic pieces need to be pulled off before install?


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## Gulfstream (Jul 28, 2010)

I left mine in place:


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## dannybarone (Oct 16, 2006)

I also left mine In place. The install wasn't bad at all. But definitely need a second set of handles to pull the gear stacks out and put them back in 


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## formerly silveratljetta (Feb 6, 2007)

dannybarone said:


> I also left mine In place. The install wasn't bad at all. But definitely need a second set of handles to pull the gear stacks out and put them back in
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Do you think my girlfriend could handle swapping the forks if I pulled on the gear stacks?


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## dannybarone (Oct 16, 2006)

Probably. It's more adjusting the stacks around moving them to mesh together than physical work haha. 


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## 04 GLI Luva (May 30, 2007)

formerly silveratljetta said:


> Do you think my girlfriend could handle swapping the forks if I pulled on the gear stacks?


Yea, its not that hard, pull the stacks up all together and she can pull out the old forks and slide in the new.

I'm guessing you didnt get them from USP since they still have the part numbers on them? :laugh:


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## formerly silveratljetta (Feb 6, 2007)

04 GLI Luva said:


> Yea, its not that hard, pull the stacks up all together and she can pull out the old forks and slide in the new.
> 
> I'm guessing you didnt get them from USP since they still have the part numbers on them? :laugh:


No I got them from Atlantic Audi dealership in NJ. They had the best prices $110 each fork can't beat that!


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## mk4321 (Nov 14, 2010)

Will these forks fit a MK4 GLI's 02m?

As I'm pulling mine apart to build it I'd prefer saving some money over aftermarket and still upgrading to steel forks.


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## formerly silveratljetta (Feb 6, 2007)

mk4321 said:


> Will these forks fit a MK4 GLI's 02m?
> 
> As I'm pulling mine apart to build it I'd prefer saving some money over aftermarket and still upgrading to steel forks.


Yes


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## Matt1023 (Oct 1, 2007)

Has anyone noticed it difficult to quickly change gears at hight rpm after the steel shift fork install? I had a shop install a peloquin and the steel shift forks and can no longer bang gears. I need to apply the clutch, throw her in neutral, clutch again then into gear. It kills trying to stay in powerband.


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## elRey (May 15, 2001)

Matt1023 said:


> Has anyone noticed it difficult to quickly change gears at hight rpm after the steel shift fork install? I had a shop install a peloquin and the steel shift forks and can no longer bang gears. I need to apply the clutch, throw her in neutral, clutch again then into gear. It kills trying to stay in powerband.


Vin approved :thumbup:


maybe worn syncros?


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## groggory (Apr 21, 2003)

I had a friend with an 02m who had a similar problem. Ended up being that some of the case had worn out. They reamed the hole and put a sleeve in it's place to bring the case back to original spec


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## formerly silveratljetta (Feb 6, 2007)

I did the install of these forks last weekend. It wasn't as scary as I thought and I ended up doing the whole process by myself. It would have been a little easier to navigate the gear stacks in and out of the tranny with a second set of hands but I couldn't wait for my girlfriend to get home from work to use her.

Because of the way the gear stacks all work together it is pretty hard to mess the process up. Just keep track of the order that you pull out each part and it will go back together. I followed the directions that others have posted in this thread.

My biggest issue was getting the shift tower back into place correctly. One of the new lower shift forks kept sliding out of position while installing the shift tower. I had to keep an eye on it and carefully look through the opening in the side of the case to make sure they didn't shift while sliding in the tower.


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## Twopnt016v (Jul 5, 2009)

Nice:thumbup:


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## vr6fanatic (Apr 5, 2003)

Bringing this one back. Was this a hard install of the shift forks? Is there a DIY?


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## BrewDude (Nov 3, 2000)

vr6fanatic said:


> Bringing this one back. Was this a hard install of the shift forks? Is there a DIY?


I think the second post explains it all...


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## vr6fanatic (Apr 5, 2003)

BrewDude said:


> I think the second post explains it all...



Thanks Brewdude.:thumbup: I was hoping for more photos.


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## BrewDude (Nov 3, 2000)

vr6fanatic said:


> Thanks Brewdude.:thumbup: I was hoping for more photos.


I wish I had photos of my dissection from last year putting in the forks. Nothing on Google or YouTube for it?


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## vr6fanatic (Apr 5, 2003)

BrewDude said:


> I wish I had photos of my dissection from last year putting in the forks. Nothing on Google or YouTube for it?



I have searched. Over and over but I come up with a big fat goose egg!


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

vr6fanatic said:


> I have searched. Over and over but I come up with a big fat goose egg!


Didn't look hard enough. 


http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=310279


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## vr6fanatic (Apr 5, 2003)

20v master said:


> Didn't look hard enough.
> 
> 
> http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=310279



Nice find 20v. But I truly don't see where it gets in debth regarding the removal of the forks?


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## 20v master (May 7, 2009)

vr6fanatic said:


> Nice find 20v. But I truly don't see where it gets in debth regarding the removal of the forks?


They're just "sandwiched" between the two case halves. If you separate the case, it's pretty self explanatory at that point.


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## formerly silveratljetta (Feb 6, 2007)

20v master said:


> They're just "sandwiched" between the two case halves. If you separate the case, it's pretty self explanatory at that point.


I installed the steel forks for the first time last year after never taking apart a transmission before. Just pay attention to how the gear stacks are orientated when you pull them out and putting in new forks is easy. :thumbup:


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