Date: Sat, 16 Nov 1996 21:48:05 -0800
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: dfuller@jeeves.ucsd.edu
Subject: re:Autobox flush/refill
Tim,
The short answer is that there is no way I know of to drain the torque
converter that I know of without removing it- which means dropping out
the transaxle to get to it. This is something I have done on a
weekend, though I can't recommend it for routine preventative
maintenance. I now change the ATF every other oil change (about 2.5
qts), which should keep fairly fresh fluid in the system (by dilution)
without draining the torque converter.
I started doing this after the auto trans on our '90 Carat failed at
63K miles. After three rebuilds at home, I finally figured out that
the endplay was adjusted incorrectly from the factory- one of the
rings on the trans.oil pump kept undercutting and eventually breaking.
I finally ignored the Bentley figure for endplay and bought a shim
from VW dealer equal to the amount of undercutting. The shim cost .79
while the dealer wanted $900 just to diagnose the problem, with
assurances that it would cost $3500 to fix. At those prices I figured
I had nothing to lose trying it myself at home- at the worst I would
have it towed to a tranny shop with the transmission in a box in the
back. Turned out that it wasn't that difficult. I can now pull the
tranny out , tear it down, put it back together again and into the van
in the dark without a Bentley in under 3 hrs! The last rebuild was
about 50K miles ago, no signs of trouble. I swapped torque converters
on the last one though- catastrophic failure/blown clutch packet
filled the system with metal particles. I wish now I had kept the old
TC and had it flushed at a tranny shop (about $15) because the rebuilt
I installed is of older design and engine runs about 200RPM faster at
65MPH.
The other recommendation I have is to drop a small magnet into the pan
while you have it off. It collects all of the fine metallic particles
from the fluid due to normal wear- looks like a caterpillar after 10K
miles. It can't hurt.
I have never seen a bottle of ATF that says only Dexron. They are all
labeled DexronIII/Mercon, which is what I use. What you want to avoid
are the ones labeled only "ATF" or "Type F", which are NOT compatible.
Here in San Diego, cold morning starts mean the high 40's, so I don't
know about the synthetics. I'd go for the cheaper stuff and change it
often.
Dan Fuller
'90 Carat
'63 Bug Ragtop
'95 BMW 318i conv.
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