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the other day my mk3 suddenly decided it didnt want to go into reverse and i havnt been able to engage reverse since. i tried forcing it and it feels as if it goes into reverse gear (sort of, but not quite) but when i lift the clucth the car moves forward!

i have the car up on ramps now so has anybody experienced this before? what should i be looking for?

sorry, it's a mk4 not mk3. my bad.

Check under the gear selector - sometimes coins fall in and jam the lever.

Otherwise, its most likely that your linkage needs adjustment, but this is a precise task and requires special tools and jigs to get right

checked under the selector, no sign of any coins or any other foreign bodies, however, i can visibly see the slector going into first and reverse yet the car still goes forward in the reverse position.

any other ideas as to what could be the problem? before i take it to the garage? funds are a little short at the moment to be unnecessarily paying mechanics.

/facepalm

OK, so we're not talking a "proper" mk3, but does it still have rod-linkage rather than cable?

If so, the bit of the linkage that's probably to blame is a metal pole fitting into a metal tube some way forward of the gearshift, and it's exposed on the underside of the car. There's a simple, small bolt that holds the two in a chosen alignment.

Grab a torch, jack and chock the car, put it in neutral. Get a compadre to sit in the driver's seat. Wiggle under, find the join, slacken the bolt (or find that it's gone missing and organise an emergency scouring of the driveway/immediate road area/garage/halfords). Get the associate to jiggle the stick side to side then hold it in what feels like a good position for the neutral spot between 3rd & 4th (it may be quite close to their left leg!). Tighten up the bolt. Check that you can now get all gears correctly - so long as you're no longer underneath it'll be acceptably safe to fire up and lightly engage the clutch at idle to see which way the wheels start to turn. If it's not quite there, kill the ignition, get back under, and try positions slightly to the left and right of the first one. There may be a bit of trial and error, but it's not rocket surgery. Remember to use threadlock on the bolt and do it up reasonably tight but not so much that you shear it...

(Had to do this 2 or 3 times on my own mk3 for various reasons - misaligned and gradually worse after buying it, then the bolt came free completely because I didn't threadlock it and left me stuck in 3rd+4th - somehow the bolt doesn't affect forward/back motions like in some other cars - then finally, changing the entire box and having to align it. It's reasonably easy with a 4 speed, a bit more delicate on a 5 because you have to also try to avoid making it knock you in the knee when going for top gear. It's not the nicest job ever, but the concept is simple and the only tool you need is a 10mm spanner)

If it's cable, then... sorry, no clues.

If your problem instead turns out to be the interlock (push down & across thing), pull off the gaiter round the bottom of the stick and look for a mangled plastic clippy thing on the left which a tab on the stick slides past when in the down position, try to de-mangle it, swap it, or just discard and trust your own judgement of where the gears are (and the fact that reverse isn't synchronised). I mean, you get 3rd and 5th alright, yeah?

I'm having the same problem can any body help. Gears are selecting fine on my box but can get reverse in at all? Its going up on a ramp tomorrow can anybody help me

It could be due to a broken linkage. You'll need to check the shift levers out where the cables attach to