Date: Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:23:50 -0700
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: Transmission slippage - help!
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You go Girl !
that's the way to tell 'em too.
glad to hear you invested wisely in your vanagon by getting some good
service and repairs done.
would have to say the miles are getting pretty high on your trans though.
this is not really a recommendation, but one time on an old volvo with auto
trans ..
just a beater of an old car , so it hardly mattered.
I put in Trans-X ..
and addtive that is supposed to 'save' and revive tired automaitic
transmissions.
it actually worked and that car kept limping around for another 6 months
at least.
that's not officially a recomendation.
seems to me your only choices are -
1. drive her gently and 'hope.'
2. have someone who is knowlegbile and skilled take a real look at the
trans, witha high chance of it turning into 'it just needs rebuilding' .
There is 'some' chance adjusting and tweaking will keep it working ..but
given the miles ..it's probably really due for a real rebuild.
3. or just have it rebuilt soon,
4. or a get good used one, and thats a risky propasition generally, on
vanagon automatics, unless it's really know to be a good one with not too
many miles on a rebuild.
I bougt a used one once and they guy swore he had driven that very trans and
it was good ..
maybe like a year ago.
It wasn't good however, pumped ATF into the differential secton, wouln't
back up etc.
The next used one I got was fine though...came out of a dead 85 vanagon that
I got the whole van for $ 200 ..
then I got more than that selling the bad one as a core, so lucked out
there.
oh ! ..
important thing to check ! ..
I had a trans that was lazy about shifting up into 3rd. I put in another
one that I knew had only about 10K on a rebuild. During that process I found
the ball pivot , at the top of the trans lever, that is at the very aft end
of the throttle cable ( on trans, not on engine ) was very rusty there ..
like it couldn't pivot, and I wondered if that was keeping the trans from
getting the right input 'signal' relative to throttle position.
That pivot point is way up in there, hidden by heater hoses ..
but someone should check that, just in case.
it's a spot that no one, as far as I have ever been able to tell, even knows
about checking or lubricating, and they sure need that once in a while. ( I
see gobs of never-lubed spots on vanagons that need it despertately, and
it's so easy to give something a shot of spray lube from a can., like takes
an instant, lasts years almost. I find dozens of things never lubed since
they built the van in german 20+ years ago )
it's a ball pivot, right at the top of the trans lever, throttle cable goes
to it, coming from the front.
bit hard to see, but check that for sure. Needs a shot of spray lube at
least. Some are badly rusted and can't pivot like they should.
Scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Annie" <lsandrsn@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, September 12, 2010 9:05 AM
Subject: Re: Transmission slippage - help!
> Dennis -
>
> I may be just a girl, but I'm not that dumb. ;-)
>
> Of course I didn't think "all I had to do was just drive it." As I
> mentioned
> in the original post, I bought it in January and had the transmission
> serviced. I actually had more than that done - tuneup, oil change, new
> exhaust, flushed the cooling system, new brakes, new CV joints, new wheel
> bearings all around, new axles in the rear and much, much, much more.
>
> No, I'm not stupid.
>
> *Annie Anderson* Blogger, Designer, Thinker & Mom
> web: annieandersonblog.com email: lsandrsn@gmail.com
> twitter: silverlunace <http://twitter.com/silverlunace> facebook:
> anniesanderson <http://facebook.com/anniesanderson>
> *Blazin' a trail where there is no path.*
>
> On Sun, Sep 12, 2010 at 6:55 AM, Dennis Haynes
> <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>wrote:
>
>> At 25 years and 175,000 miles that tranny owes nobody anything. The
>> symptoms
>> can be a hydraulic problem or the clutches are just plain worn out. You
>> need
>> to get it properly repaired before you burn it up an make it
>> non-rebuildable. Hopefully you didn't buy that vehicle thinking all you
>> had
>> to do was drive it.
>>
>> Dennis
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>> Of
>> Annie
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2010 2:23 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: Transmission slippage - help!
>>
>> Ok . . . this morning after I took my kids to school, making sure it was
>> good and warm by time I got home, I checked the fluid level again. It was
>> a
>> little below the lower dot so I added some fluid and brought it up to
>> about
>> midway between the dots.
>>
>> I haven't driven yet since I added more fluid but I will check it again
>> after I get home this afternoon from picking up the kids and let you know
>> what happens.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> ~Annie
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 9:40 PM, Annie <lsandrsn@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > No, I'm sure it isn't overfull. It's a little below the top mark. I am
>> > always super careful when I put fluids in anywhere to ensure I don't
>> > get too much.
>> >
>> > It's got 174,000 miles on it. But I've only owned it since January.
>> > Had a bunch of work done to it including a complete trans service back
>> > in February/March. From what I can tell, it was very well cared for in
>> > its early life. The guy I bought it from, however, had driven it pretty
>> hard.
>> >
>> > I will double check it tomorrow and make sure again that it's not too
>> > full just to be even more absolutely sure. I'll let you know what I
>> > find out. If anyone else has any other thoughts in the meantime, please
>> do
>> share!
>> >
>> > Thanks!
>> > ~Annie
>> >
>> > On Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 9:18 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans <
>> > scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> maybe Daryl will comment.
>> >>
>> >> one things ...make super sure it is not overfull.
>> >> that's like fully warmed up and parked on the level, the AF level
>> >> must not be above the top mark on the dipstick. Hyper important.
>> >>
>> >> re the comment " I just thought
>> >>
>> >> perhaps it was because I'd driven quite a few miles traveling back
>> >> and
>> >>> forth
>> >>> to Seattle and Bellevue "
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >> that by itself will not cause a problem ..
>> >> it should be able to drive tank after thankful after thankful, back
>> >> and forth across the US several times if you ask it to.
>> >> Just 'driving it normally' doesn't make it act up unless something
>> >> is worn or tired.
>> >>
>> >> how many miles on it ?
>> >> be super sure it's not overfull.
>> >>
>> >> Scott
>> >> www.turbovans.com
>> >>
>> >> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Annie" <lsandrsn@GMAIL.COM>
>> >> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>> >> Sent: Tuesday, September 07, 2010 8:47 PM
>> >> Subject: Transmission slippage - help!
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Hi, all
>> >>>
>> >>> Seems I'm having some transmission slippage. I've got an '85 GL with
>> >>> an auto trans. I've checked the fluid levels numerous times and it's
>> >>> right where it should be. I did add a little a few weeks ago but it
>> >>> wasn't too low. I haven't noticed any fluid leaking from anywhere.
>> >>>
>> >>> The slipping seems to happen shifting from 2nd into drive and then
>> >>> once you come to a stop and the transmission downshifts. Sometimes
>> >>> it's like it doesn't fully disengage or something as it kinda
>> >>> "clunks" once you've stopped and makes the van lurch slightly. I
>> >>> hope what I'm saying makes sense. ;-)
>> >>>
>> >>> It also seems to slip once you've slowed down a little and then go
>> >>> to speed back up again - it's like it doesn't engage again. It
>> >>> started this a few weeks ago but it was very intermittent at the
>> >>> time and I just thought perhaps it was because I'd driven quite a
>> >>> few miles traveling back and forth to Seattle and Bellevue for two
>> >>> weeks every day. (About 130 miles or so per
>> >>> day.)
>> >>>
>> >>> Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions etc would be greatly appreciated.
>> >>> This is my only vehicle right now and the kids just went back to
>> >>> school today.
>> >>> Can't
>> >>> have any getting stranded!
>> >>>
>> >>> Thanks!
>> >>> ~Annie
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>>
>>
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