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Date:         Thu, 20 Jul 2006 22:26:09 -0400
Reply-To:     Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Dennis Haynes <dhaynes@OPTONLINE.NET>
Subject:      Re: AT Fluid Burping out of ATF Dip Stick Tube? Causes Trans
              Malfunction, 88 Auto
Comments: To: robertmstewart <robertmstewart@MAC.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <C0E5ABB1.9B13%robertmstewart@mac.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

The first thing to check is the breather on top. There are two of them. One is for the differential and the other for the auto section. They tend to get blocked with road dirt. As the van is driven, the fluid in the torque converter heats up and expands rapidly. If air can’t escape out the breather, fluid will be pushed out of the dipstick as it is connected at the bottom of the pan.

Auto transmissions often fail suddenly. Get an internal seal leak so there is not sufficient pressure for the clutches to lock and they start to slip and things can burn up quickly.

Dennis

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of robertmstewart Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 9:53 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: AT Fluid Burping out of ATF Dip Stick Tube? Causes Trans Malfunction, 88 Auto

Hello everyone,

I have a question for you, my 88 Auto with a used good condition Tranny all of a sudden today started to fail and I am at a loss and need your feedback...

(The short version is this: ATF burping and how does a perfectly working AT go to a non-functioning AT?)

Hereıs the background:

The vanıs past owner before the person I purchased it from was a VW Mechanic and the prior owner and he installed another auto trans from another good working vanıs tranny several years ago.

I have had the van since January 06. Since then the transmission has been shifting normally, and for the last month I have been traveling 3-4 hour trips from Long Island to Upstate NY and doing some serious highway driving and mountain driving. Usually I put in at least 8 hours of solid driving per weekend for 4 weekends. All in all the van has performed great..

Hereıs where the story starts.. Just before my first long trip (4 weeks ago) I check all fluids, stupidly I did it when the van was cold, and in doing so thought the ATF was low so I added just a little bit to what was in there, now after about 3hrs of driving, I pull into the driveway at my destination and park the van, well I see ATF fluid burping out of the Dip Stick tube! Not much just a little 1/4 cup. I figure itıs just the overflow kicking out. I check it in 10 minutes and the level is fine.

Well 4 weeks pass and I drive it pretty hard to and from the LI to Upstate NY, 8 hrs per weekend (3x) all is good. Today I start the van up and drive 1 mile away from the house in Long Island to the grocery, on the way I can see smoke from the back of the van, it smells like the ATF burping and leaking onto the exhaust. I park at the grocery and see it burping out, about 1/4 ­ 1/2 cup. I do some shopping come back 15 min. later, and drive the 1 mile home, all seems fine. No smoke. After it cools down a bit I check the ATF fluid and it appears a bit low, so I top it off with Dexron III and accidentally over fill it but not by much.

About 4 hours later I get in the van and drive back the same direction about 1 mile to go to the post office and immediately I can detect something is not right. At the stop light with the brake on I can see the rpmıs go from about 875 and revs to about 1,000, then levels off again, normally at idle it stays right at 875. I thought the surging was strange. I then continue to drive and again I see the smoke occurring again from the back of the van, smells again like ATF on the exhaust, now I decide to head right to me local standard mechanic not my VW guy cause he was closed.

The local guy tells me the burping is normal if there is to much ATF in the case. So he checks the fluid and he says the level is good. He tells me to bring it by in the morning as I wanted them to check the brakes since I just had all the brakes replaced (the original ones were too rusty). I then decide to take a little drive just a mile down the road along beach to let the fluid cycle through and burn off the stuff was sitting on the exhaust and I thought that maybe taking it up to highway speed would be good, to get the fluid really circulating. Bad idea...

As I drive this simple little straight route I notice the transmission is not engaging right, when I take my foot off the brake it usually goes forward on its own, this time nothing.. I have to gas it. Then it gets progressively worse. It goes into 1st, then second, then it revıs and then goes to 3rd, and then I thought, oh crap! I have problems. Time to get it back to the mechanic!

Well To late, I turn it around to go back the mile I came and now at the stop light I give it gas and it goes now where!

I am stuck during rush hour and everyone is honking, my flasher are on, but people donıt pay attention. I signal for them to go around me. People are screaming, others understand..

I call the mechanic and see if they can come by and push me the 4 blocks to the garage, he says he canıt. I then call AAA to haul my van back, but right after I decide to start the van and try... Well it starts to move, each time I stop itıs a crap shoot to whether it will move. It never gets past 1st gear. I have to literally move my body a little forward to try and coax the van to get in gear and move, but somehow I get to the garage. While the engine is still hot I check the ATF level, I see a hair on the end, but it was pretty try.

So what is going on with all the burping and how does a perfectly working AT go to a non-functioning AT? The mechanic suspected that the AT is overheating.. What does this mean? I just hope this does turn into a massive money pit now.....

I hope someone here can shed some light on the burping issue, and why all of a sudden the transmission would not engage...

Thanks in advance, Robert

-- Rob NYC/Long Beach, NY 88 Wolfsburg, Silver


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