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Date:         Tue, 19 May 1998 00:03:49 -0700
Reply-To:     "Steven X. Schwenk" <sxs@SCHWENK-LAW.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Steven X. Schwenk" <sxs@SCHWENK-LAW.COM>
Subject:      Syncro Rumble...Syncro Whine
Comments: To: vanagon List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I have a syncro rumble...and somewhat of a whine, too...as previously posted.

The Rumble begins during acceleration at about 2600 rpm and completely smooths out and disappears just over 3000 rpm. It is there if i drive within that rpm range. It is there when I deaccelerate within that rpm range...then tapers off at around 2400. However, there has to be some load on the drive train to feel it...and the greater the load on the drive train, the more intense the rumble until 3100 rpm...and then its completely gone.

Possible candidates: wheel bearings, cv joints, something amiss in the transaxle, but what? The van has new tires just balanced, new shocks, new alignment, new brakes, new rotors, new drums, front drive-shaft removed. Nothing is touching or causing vibration by contact against another part. I will be inspecting the wheel bearings and the cv joints this weekend.

The whine only appears over 55 mph...highway cruising....a wavering type whine. Below that speed, the trannsaxle noise level is the same it's been the last 50,000 miles. Not much. If this noise is not related to the above noise, then my guess is it's the beginnings of a transaxle bearing whine (but I know little...just guessing here).

Although i don't really have the expertise to make the judgment, I do not think it's the transaxle. My crude mechanical instinct says no...by the way it feels, because of the mileage and use on the van, because I cannot recreate it when I jack up the rear wheels (with the front drive shaft removed!) and run it in gear, and the fluid is speckless with nothing to speak of on the magnet plug. But again, just guessing here.

From my recent conversations with various learned transaxle experts, the main shaft bearing, the pinion bearing and the 3-4 slider hub are the main failure points In the transaxle. Keep driving with these gone, and you'll do more damage....serious (i.e. expensive) damage.

The bearings typically whine (I am told) when they go, but sometimes rumble, and the noise will be constant and get louder as the rpms increase. A cracked 3-4 slider can whine...but I do not know much about those symptoms. Other failures I've seen in the archive include grinding noises (park it), it locks up while you are drifting backward in reverse (time for a rebuild), it suddenly will not shift out of or is locked in a gear, like 3rd (syncros?).

This post is limited to known transaxle symptoms. I'll post what I discover the problem with my bus to be....hopefully soon.

Many thanks to (in alphabetical order!!!) Dennis Haynes (for all of his existing and informative posts in the archive) Todd Hill (Volkswerkes Transaxle) and Kyle Wade (Volks Motorsports) for helping me out and providing valuable information. I also spoke with Mr. Wheedler of Wheedler engineering, who was also helpful, but is not on the list. All of the above rebuild syncro transaxles.

steve 1990 syncro westfalia


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