Gary,

Our van did the noise thing when we got it.  Here's a response I got from
GMBulley at the time.  He was right...it was noisy, but we lived with it.
Eventually, it died from 3/4 slider hub failure (unrelated).

-Karl

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<< My gearbox has just started to become noisy -  ... Any thoughts? >>

I had the same symptoms in a fromer '76 Type II and my Jetta. In my case,
it was due to lack of dilligence on my part. I had leaking output shaft
seals on these trannys, I allowed the fluid to get too low, and the gears
and bearings overheated from friction during an extended highway jaunt. As
in your case, the noise started almost overnight. Lesson learned.

If your fluid got low this could be the cause of your noise. If so, there
are two courses of action:

1. Replace the gearbox. From what I understand from the dealer, this type
of failure is rather comprehensive, placing almost all of the componants
of the transmission out of tolerance. The transmission is useful now as an
anchor for a small boat. Use the starter hole to attach a chain.

2. Refill the fluid with good quality oil, (listees seem to relish
Redline), and learn to LIKE the noise. In the bus, the noise was like an
audio tachometer that only worked in 3rd and 4th. The transmission noise
reminded me of old military jeeps, bringing back fond memories of time
spent in the Marine Corps. The dealer said that although the gears and
bearings were out of tolerance, they had little chance of failure. Love
the noise; become one with the noise.

gmbulley
cary, nc

'76 "butta-butta" bus
'85 Jetta TD
lookin' fur a Westy
---

> Hello Volks
>
> My new Westy with 85 K miles has some tranny/clutch problems. I would
> appreciate any comments regarding these symptoms. 1. The tranny whines on
> accelleration and decelleration. The PO had the tranny serviced and fixed
> for 6 months butr the problem came back, I couldn't find out what was done
> to the tranny to fix the problem) 2. The tranny pops out of first and
> second gear. 3. The vehicle shudders when starting out in first. (bad
> motor mounts?)
>
> Are these common problems?
>
> Gary

Karl and Kristina Bloss, Trexlertown, PA
'87 Westfalia Weekender  "Beverley" - 195K miles
http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/
PA/NJ Vanagon owner's mailing list: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/pavanagon/