Stuck in 2nd gear

Stuck in 2nd gear can anyone help???? I was on my way to work turned a corner and she would not come out of 2nd. Had to get towed back home. clutch disengages, but will not come out of 2nd gear??

Will it not come out of gear with the car off either?

not at all

check shift rod coupler under rear seat maybe something happened to it and came loose and is jamming or something... Start with easy

Any luck finding the problem yet?

I agree with Bryce on this one. First thing I would do is check the linkage. If I had to guess, I would think you've got a problem where the rod connects to the trany in the tunnel like he said. Also check where the shifter bolts to the floor. If those have come loose, you could be a 13mm away from shifting normal again.

the rod that comes out of the trans is stuck !!

Take the plug off the side of the transmission where you would put dope in.There is a round peice you will be able to see on the gear,Take a flat head scredriver about 18" long and pry it back toward the motor,while doing this rock the car back and forth and it will come out.Our drag car use to do this about 50% of the time until we changed shifters ,it was a scat shifter.This is a very common problem for a vw aircooled.

I had a simmilar problem with mine a couple of weeks ago except it kept popping out of first gear. I had to loosen the bolts on my Scatt shiffter and move it a little forward. That solved the problem for me. Not saying it will for you though.

If I can't git it out of gear my self Joey @ allaroundresto said he has a good used trans for $150 and $400 to put in !

Have you considered installing it yourself?

I've never taken a motor out

We have all been there. I remember when I pulled my first engine out. Scarry at first but in the end it wasn’t all that bad. After you pulled an engine once or twice you can pull one out in about 30 mins with just a floor jack.
Do you have a good place like a garage to work on it and leave it overnight if you don't finish? Do you have a friend to help you? Have John Muir's book - "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive?" Have another car you can drive while you are working on it?
For the price you pay for installation, you can purchase and own the tools you need for the job. Also, when pulling your engine and transmission out, you may run into additional parts that need replacing. Use the money you save on installation to pay for those parts. For example, you may find you need new transmission mounts. Since you you have to dismantle the rear brakes, you may find you need new parts there. You may also want to replace the clutch disk if you find it is warn while you have the engine out.
I'll give you a checklist here of what the job entails so you can think about whether you want to attempt it or not. I invite other forum members to revise this list for omissions, mistakes or better process.
1. Find yourself a clean and level place where you can work on the car and leave it overnight(s) if needed until the job is complete. If it is not well lit, you will want a portable light - something you can get under the car with if needed.
2. You will need at least a medium floor jack and 2 jack stands. If you don’t have an air impact wrench, you want to loosen the lug nuts before you take the wheels off of the ground. Also - if you can access your hub nut with the cotter pin through it, you want to loosen that first before taking the wheels off of the ground. You will need a 36mm socket, a 1/2" breaker bar and a cheater pipe - this is all outlined in the Muir book. Take the cotter pin out and use the cheater pipe as leverage to break the axle nut loose. I do all of this with an air impact wrench which makes quick work of this all.
3. Once you have these loose, jack up the car on each side and put the jack stand under the torsion tube on each side. Let the car down on the jack stands and remove the jack. Don't ever work under the car without the jack stands.
4. Purchase a box of quart size Ziploc freezer bags and a sharpie. Write left rear axle on one of the bags. Go to the left rear wheel. Remove the lug nuts and put them in the bag. Set the wheel aside in a safe place. Remove the axle nut and put it in the bag. Do the same on the right side with a bag labeled appropriately. You will come back to this once the engine is out.
5. Some people pull the engine without remove the fan shroud. However, I am going to give instructions on how to tear down the top end of the engine before you pull the engine. The reason I think this is important is that if you are not too familiar with the condition of your engine, it will give you a chance to inspect everything. You may need more than one bag for the engine – just remember to label the bags in a way that will help you identify where the parts go. Disconnect the throttle cable from the carb. Put the nut (if there is one) and the throttle cable tube (through the fan shroud) in a bag. Grab a pencil – disconnect the fuel before the fuel filter and stick the pencil in it so it doesn’t leak fuel everywhere. Remove the carburetor – take note of where everything goes so that you can put it back together. Take pictures if you have a digital camera. Take note of the condition of the gasket between the carb and the manifold. If it looks like it needs replacing, put it on your shopping list. Remove the generator belt. Remove the strap holding the generator to the stand. Remove the wires from the generator , coil and oil sensor. Label them if it helps remember where they go. Remove the spark plug wires and put them in a bag. Remove the coil and put it in a bag. Loosen the screws on both sides of the fan shroud – where the head manifolds are. From there – you should be able to lift the fan shroud up and out. Remove the firewall tin so that you can see the bolts.
6. Removing the engine – this is where you may want a friend. Get the jack stand under the engine in place centered under the oil drain plate. Jack it up just to where it is just starting to lift the engine. Remove the two bolts on the top of the engine and put them in the bag. Have your friend balance the engine from the top. Get under the car and remove the two bottom nuts and put them in the bag. Wiggle the engine loose from the bell housing – using the jack if need to clear the flywheel. Once it is loose, let the jack down slowly while balancing the engine. Get a piece of cardboard and with the help of your friend, work the engine off the jack and onto the card board. Drag the engine from under the car by the cardboard and place it out of the way. If you want, you can purchase a VW rolling engine stand that make this a lot easier.
7. Loosen the emergency brake cables on your emergency brake handle. Remove the emergency brake line to your rear brakes. Disconnect the brake hoses. Remove the bolts holding the brake plates on. Remove the brake plates complete with hardware and set them aside. Remove the three bolts on each side holding the axle to the spring plates. Don’t remove them from the cradle at this time.
8. Disconnect the shift coupler. It is under an access panel found under the back seat. This is how your shifter connects to the transmission. Remove the clutch cable from the lever. Get the jack under the transmission to hold it up when you remove the bolts. Have a friend balance the transmission while you crawl underneath. Remove the two nuts connecting the front of the transmission to the body. There are two 36mm bolts on the rear bottom cradle of the transmission. Remove these and then and with your friends help – work the transmission off of the front mounts and the spring plates. Let it down from the jack.
To put the new one back in, follow the same procedure in reverse order. You may want to replace the axle bearings, the throw-out bearing and the transmission mounts if the need to be when you put the replacement transmission.
If you decide to do this and get stuck and need advice – remember that is what this forum is for. Ask away – take pictures of your trouble areas and post them. The best advice I can give is to buy the Muir book and read through these procedures.

If I buy the trans I know who to ask for help!!

How long do you think it will be before you have it running again. Are you still going to join us for the Stone Mountain cruise?

I won't be able to make it saturday if I can't get it out of gear

she's back on the road!! thanks to all that helped.

That's Great! What did the problem turn out to be?

I think it was stuck in 2nd and 3rd ? I took out the plug on the side of the trans and poped it loose. The fluid was low also.It took most of the day to find the a 17 millameter hex bit , I got the tool at autozone for $10.

Glad you got it,not that hard huh?

Good to hear you got it fixed. Sorry you missed Sat. but at least you got to fix your Bug and it was nothin major. See ya at the next meet.