Date: Sat, 1 Feb 1997 18:45:58 -0600 (CST)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Thoreau <spwhite@artsci.wustl.edu>
Subject: 1980 vgon auto tranny questions
well, i took the plunge and bought a 1980 vanagon, it has a little bit of
a problem however...
the auto tranny leaks fluid out just about as soon as you put it in.
at first i thought it was just the belly pan seal, but upon further
inspection that does not seem too likely.
it appears to me, before a thorough inspection, that the torque converter
seal or the o ring between the tranny box and the final drive is bad, do
either of these seem likely to you guys. any other obvious culprits that
you can think of?
also, the car has been moved around in the parking lot a couple of times
with the fluid replenished but leaking out rapidly. if, before i got it,
it was run dry for any length of time how bad could the damage be? with
fluid it seems to run okay and drive/engage without too much trouble, is
it likely that it would fail soon even with the seal replaced? (i dont
want to drop the thing twice if you know what i mean...)
i am pretty much an auto tranny idiot, all my cars have been manuals
before this. If the tranny turns out to be unsalvageable, how hard would
it be to swap it for a manual? i am pretty sure that once i determine
which seal is the culprit many miles can be left in the tranny, but i
await everyones advice eagerly...
thanks a lot,
stephen white
p.s i didnt post this to the type 2 list b/c i wasnt sure if they had
automatics as an option or not. any advice on which list would be more
likely to help with an aircooled vgon? (my guess is type 2 for engine,
vanagon for body/autotrans/chassis/interior questions...)
93 Corrado SLC - 87 Scirocco 16v (hurt) - 84 GTi (dead) - 80 vanagon (?)
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as long as you are looking for happiness, you will never find it
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spwhite@artsci.wustl.edu http://www.artsci.wustl.edu/~spwhite
CCA St. Louis Regional representative