Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2003 09:43:59 -0500
Reply-To: Derek Drew <derekdrew@RCN.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Derek Drew <derekdrew@RCN.COM>
Subject: Warning About Bad Ring And Pinion Sets
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This email is to warn list members that there has been a mistake in
Germany in VAG or its supplier in which the syncro rear ring and pinion
sets 4.86 (standard in North America) were subjected to a sorting
operation in which apparently an employee did not realize that the number
on the ring gear and the number on the pinion shaft have to be the same.
In the process of putting the ring and pinion sets into boxes, the ring
gears and the pinion shafts were all mixed up. <br><br>
Accordingly, the factory's stockpiles of 4.86 ring and pinion sets are
polluted by potentially hundreds or thousands of mismatched 4.86 gearsets
which should not be installed in any vehicle, for any reason. <br><br>
You can tell if your ring and pinion set is correct because both will
have a number on it like 2786 and the number will be the same. You can
tell that you got a bad mismatched set if the number is different on the
ring gear from the pinion shaft: for example, one has 2786 and the other
has 7786. <br><br>
This is important because many within VAG and within the VW dealer
network WILL NOT CHECK this and WILL NOT KNOW how critical it is that the
two numbers should match. Accordingly, if I were for any reason getting a
new ring and pinion set from the factory or any source in the ratio 4.86,
I would insist on inspecting the ring and pinion set personally to make
sure the numbers match, and return them if they do not. <br><br>
If you have 4.86 ring and pinion sets in inventory, you may also wish to
check your sets to make sure you did not get one from the mismatched
group. <br><br>
The factory at first said it was OK to have them mismatched, but now
admits that mismatched ring and pinion sets cannot be installed in any
vehicle. So we are going to keep ordering over and over until we find a
correct ratio set. Of *six* 4.86 rear ring and pinion sets so far
obtained by me, ALL of them are mismatched and all of them have been
returned. Any astute VW transmission shop will likely catch this, but I
would not count on any VW dealer to do so. <br><br>
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<font size=3>________________________________________________________<br>
Derek
Drew
Washington, DC (& NYC)<br>
derekdrew@rcn.com<x-tab> </x-tab>
Phone 202-966-7907<br>
Email me for viscous coupling s (Cell 703-408-1532)<br>
'90 Syncro Westfalia... <br>
...seen off-road at <br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/Syncro_Madness_Area.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/Syncro_Madness_Area.htm</a><br>
Note: most valuable Vanagon sites on the planet (for owners) are:<br>
<a href="http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S1=vanagon" eudora="autourl">http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi-bin/wa.exe?S1=vanagon</a><br>
<a href="http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/" eudora="autourl">http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/</a><br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro</a>
<br>
<a href="http://www.vanagon.com/" eudora="autourl">http://www.vanagon.com</a> <br>
<a href="http://www.syncro.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.syncro.org</a> <br>
Many of my Syncro list postings consolidated<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=212-580-6486" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=212-580-6486</a><br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=202-966-7907" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/messagesearch?query=202-966-7907</a> <br>
My refrigerator article: <br>
<a href="http://www.vanagon.com/info/articles/Refrigerator/Reefer_Madness.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.vanagon.com/info/articles/Refrigerator/Reefer_Madness.htm</a><br>
All About 16" Wheels And The CV-900.htm<br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/All_About_16-Wheels_And_The_CV_900.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/All_About_16-Wheels_And_The_CV_900.htm</a><br>
All About Viscous Couplings<br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/viscous_couplings_vanagon_syncro.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/vanagon/viscous_couplings_vanagon_syncro.htm</a><br>
How To Live With Heavy List Volume--Mail Filters<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7403" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7403</a><br>
My article that shows how to deal with insurance companies: <br>
<a href="http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/auto-insurance-madness.html" eudora="autourl">http://gerry.vanagon.com/files/auto-insurance-madness.html</a><br>
To read some material about how to add a front differential lock to your syncro<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/13105" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/13105</a><br>
To view Wolfgang's incredibly informative wheel article<br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/fitbigtiresonvanagon.htm" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/fitbigtiresonvanagon.htm</a> <br>
To view Tim Smith's incredibly useful gearing calculator<br>
<a href="http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/syncrotireandgearratios.xls" eudora="autourl">http://users.rcn.com/derekdrew/syncrotireandgearratios.xls</a> <br>
To view two articles about how to think about improving your gears at transmission rebuild time<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7207" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7207</a><br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7221" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/7221</a><br>
To view an overview article about choices in larger sized tires see<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/11535" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/11535</a> <br>
To view some 16" Trailing Arms that enable much larger tires see<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syncrolist/files/Wheels,%20Tires%20%26%20Gearing/Wheel%20%26%20Tire%20Photos/16_Inch_Trailing_Arm.jpg" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/syncrolist/files/Wheels%2C%20Tires%20%26%20Gearing/Wheel%20%26%20Tire%20Photos/16_Inch_Trailing_Arm.jpg</a><br>
My article about belt protectors and CV joint protectors<br>
<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/6112" eudora="autourl">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Syncro/message/6112</a><br>
SYNCRO OWNERS WHO DRIVE OFF THE ROAD:<br>
You only get to change your ring and pinions once every 10 years <br>
because that's how long the average syncro transmission goes before <br>
its next rebuild. If you want bigger tires and more ground clearance<br>
start planning your higher number ring and pinion sets right now so you <br>
can take advantage of your next trans rebuild. <br>
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