Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 13:20:55 EST
Reply-To: Jwilli941@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Todd Hill <Jwilli941@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: David Bogel's 3rd Gear Grind
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
David writes:
<< My '87 syncro westy, when cold, is hard to shift
from 1 to 2. When it goes into 3rd gear it grinds a little.
Once it warms up it feels fine, but I've only driven one,
this, vanagon. >>
Sorry to say but I would agree with the diagnosis of a
bad 3rd/4th hub simply due to past experience. The
difficulty you are having with 1st/2nd could be several
things but most probably is the pin for that fork beginning
to stretch. Eventually it will snap and you will not be
able to engage those gears at all. VW seemed to do
a good job in both the updated design for the 3rd/4th
hub and 1st/2nd shift fork. I always use this new hub
for 3rd/4th and either will replace the 1st/2nd fork with
a new part or, if it is not excessively worn, will modify
the pin to match the upgraded part from VW.
How long do you have until its time to rip and tear?
Hard to say. The last 2WD 091-1 box I did was because
the 1st/2nd pin broke. Once in the gearbox I noticed
that the clutch hub for 3rd/4th was cracked all the way
around but the owner did not notice any problems
shifting! You might be able to drive the Van for years
like this with only a minor cold weather annoyance,
however, it might break on you the next time you down-
shift into 1st. What you could try is draining the oil and
refilling with a good synthetic GL4 rated gear oil. VW
recommends going with this type of oil due to shifting
problems when cold and its alot cheaper than a rebuild
if it works! If it doesn't help then you are no worse off
than before and should be able to salvage the new
gear oil to put in the rebuilt transaxle that you'll need.
I do not have any of these gearboxes built at the present
time and usually only rebuild the customer's transaxle
and ship back to them as these can be very expensive
to do. If you decide that it is time for a rebuild then feel
free to post me a note about it and I will be happy to
submit a bid on the job. I am less expensive than some
and more expensive than others but it has been my
experience that you get what you pay for on these.
Good luck with the GL4 synthetic gear oil- maybe it will
do the trick!
-Todd Hill
VolksWerks Transaxles
Olympia, WA