Date:         Thu, 6 Mar 2014 11:19:12 -0800
Reply-To:     Aaron <a.robinson.lists@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Aaron <a.robinson.lists@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Auto transmission questions
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Hello all. 

I'm looking at getting an inexpensive Vanagon Carat ('91 with 175,000 miles, original engine and transmission) and have some questions regarding the Automatic transmission. I've only dealt with manuals in the past. 

The transmission is leaking ATF and the owner keeps filling it when it starts shifting poorly. I haven't checked levels on it, but it does a few strange things.

1. It won't start in Park. Assuming this is a simple switch to fix and can look that one up in the bentley.
2. When I come to a faster stop (not an emergency in any way), when reapplying the gas, it doesn't quite engage. It's almost as if it's in neutral, then "falls" into gear after a 1/2 second on the gas.

I'll be crawling around underneath a bit more to see if I can find the leak(s) this weekend. If there are other common things I should be aware of for Automatics, It love to know. I'm trying to figure out if the transmission is serviceable as-is, or whether I should figure on fixing it now. The van itself is in decent shape but I don't know if it would be worth a new transmission, and I'm not sure how hard it would be to seal up the old one.

Thanks!
Aaron
'87 Westy (manual)
'91 Carat Automatic??