david, i bet it is grinding not because of a bad tranny but a mis-adjusted
shift linkage. I spent a few very frustrating hours adjusting my grinding
tranny and not is shifts smooth.

As for tranny oil- stick with Redline- mt90. it is not cheap but it makes
a noticable difference, espicially when cold.  BTW, the cold shift problem
was noted w/ a vw technical builetin, i think they said to take a tad of
oil out of the tranny. But with the redline you are probably OK.

well, back to scaring little children. want some candy?

Matthew Pollard          "Racing with the wind and flirting with death
Dept. Of Chemistry        So have a cup of coffee and catch your breath"
University of Idaho
www.uidaho.edu/~poll7356

On Wed, 31 Oct 2001, JOHNSON,DAVID (HP-Vancouver,ex1) wrote:

> Hi all;
>
> Thanks for the discussion on accessing the tranny fill port,
> tools for the job, etc.
>
> On my recently acquired '89 vanagon GL, I've got that 2nd gear
> grinding when shifting issue when the van is cold.  No problems
> when things warm up in five minutes or so of driving.  I'm told
> that synthetic oil can reduce the severity of my cold shifting
> issue and my push out my impending tranny rebuild.
>
> Any recommendations, which brand of synth. tranny oil works well, etc.
>
> By the way,  my other two past vanagons had a similar problem -- getting
> really good at double clutching...
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave
> Portland, OR
>