The Vanagon clutch should operate smooth as silk! If you have shudder or chatter something is wrong. Could be anything from bad clutch, (disc, flywheel, pressure plate, release bearing shaft), to something inside the transmission itself. Yes broken parts such as the slider hub or 4th gear breaking are fairly common but this is really just another repair. Many vehicles require repairs sometime even routine maintenance that needs 4 figures to address. The main limitation to the automatic is the torque that the torque converter can handle. If it constantly slips there will be excess heat to deal with and failure. I don't know what this limit is but a torque converter specialist should be able to help. Dennis
-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Zeitgeist Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 11:28 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Re: Automatic vs Manual I have no experience with automatic Vanagons, even though I've owned four T3s. All four have had problems with the shifters or clutches, and frankly the transmissions themselves aren't really a stellar unit anyway. I'm strongly considering converting my manual over to automatic, both for the ease of shifting and additional lifespan. btw, this will be accompanied by the addition of an Audi 2.8L V6, but that's secondary to this discussion. When I was shopping for this van I intentionally avoided automatics because I thought they would complicate my intentions of dropping a TDI in there. After living with it for the last 8 years as is, I can truly say that an automatic no matter how bad would be a step up. I hate the clutch shudder upon release, I hate the hunting for gears and the grinding shifts from third to fourth. I will not miss my green eggs and ham |
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