Date:         Sun, 10 May 1998 07:36:27 -0500
Reply-To:     claudius claiborne <claiborne@RICA.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         claudius claiborne <claiborne@RICA.NET>
Subject:      Mismatched Westy Transmission
Comments: To: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

     I recently bought a '87 Westy that had a "new" transmission.  The van
performed well in about 20 miles of driving on country roads-shifting like a
knife through soft butter.  When the deal was sealed and I hit the
interstate to go home, within 10 miles a cloud of white smoke appeared
behind the van.  It turned out to be transmission fluid, apparently blown
out of the transmission casing through the front seal, hitting the engine
and burning.
     A local mechanic, just headed home for dinner, reopened his shop and
put the bus on a lift.  When he removed the front fill plug after a long
hunt for a 17mm adapter, a quart of milky white fluid spewed out of the
opening all over the floor.  Having had a good belch the transmission
performed acceptably thought not smoothly the remaining 60 miles home.
     I have since found out that the "new" transmission came from an '86 van
and has an ABD serial number indicating it was an early '86 rather than the
ACW late '86 transmission.

     Does anyone know if this transmission is mismatched with the '87
engine?
     What could have caused the build-up of pressure in the transmission
case?
     Does a milky white fluid indicate water in the oil?
     Can a head gasket leak into the transmission?

     I better stop here.  The scenario just gets worse.

Would-be '87 Westy