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Date:         Tue, 3 Mar 2009 13:38:01 -0800
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: automatic transmission rebuild - can I do-it-myself?
Comments: To: al sinclair <alvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=original

From what I have been able to gather so far.......... there are 'rebuild kits' for automatic transmissions, sold online. do a search. I'm not sure there are rebuild kits for vanagon transaxles .......but there could be. Likely any transmission shop reubilding your trans would be buying such a kit themselves........so they 'should' exist.

The automatic trans part and the differential part can be regarded as serparate units bolted together. They even have different type oil in each. The differential part doesn't wear as much as the auto trans part I don't think. Eventually side bearings and pinion shaft bearings wear of course. If the gear teeth of the ring and pinion are badly worn ..........the unit is trash basically. Setting up pinoin depth and gear contact pattern on the ring and pinion is tricky, and may require special tools to do right. Like don't go messin' with that part causally.

on the auto trans part........it's more than seals and bearings. ........ the clutch pieces in there wear out ...... and sometimes other 'hard parts' are too worn to keep in the trans.

But if you have one to drive, and one to work on...........and you can do what it shows in the Bentley .........I don't see any reason not to carefully dig into your spare trans and see if you can rebuilt it successfully. It would help if you had a friendly local transmission shop to ask thier opinion on a slightly worn part etc.

Daryl of AAA transaxle should chime in...........we'll see what he has to say.

Since 'conversions' are fun.........for an air cooled vanagon with auto trans I can just see someone getting a vanagon auto trans oil cooler........and retro-fit that to the air-cooled vanagon's trans........then have a small radiator with coolant and an electric circulation pump .......rather overly complex of course. Or just add an air type oil cooler if that's apporpiate for your use. and while you're at it, put in a more modern liquid cooled engine .....but that's a whole other deal.

I'd search for rebuid kits online first. ........then proceed carefully.

----- Original Message ----- From: "al sinclair" <alvanagon@GMAIL.COM> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 2:58 PM Subject: automatic transmission rebuild - can I do-it-myself?

> Looking at the archives it seems that it's possible for a hobby-mechanic > like me to rebuild a Vanagon automatic tranny. Please tell me if I'm about > to make a huge blunder! I've got a spare tranny (it's an '81 van) that was > fairly noisy but still sort-of working when removed - shall I try > rebuilding > it, and how long is it likely to take? It's not a catastrophe if the > rebuild isn't successful, though I'd prefer to discover before changing > transmissions -- it would be a pita to take out what's working OK (but > also > noisy, and slightly leaking) and replace it with my rebuild then find it > broken. > > Are details for the tranny rebuild covered in Bentley, or anywhere else? > Are special tools needed? > What parts should I replace? I'm assuming the basic mechanical parts are > all ok, and that only seals etc need replacement. Are kits of parts > available? > How about the differential? Does that get rebuilt at the same time, or > does > it separate off when the tranny is dismantled? > > Thanks for any clues > Al


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