That's ok, it was only a theory, and the only one which places the blame on the
owner rather than the shop who did the work - I must have been in a good mood :-).
(I did none of the work aside from changing the oil, as I do not have the special tools
for the transmission). Various other theories, including what you've suggested here I
think, were covered several years ago on the list, when I had to deal with the shop,
since the r&p failure occurred less than a year and 10k miles after the bearing
replacements. They (Autospiel in Victoria) eventually agreed to eat the labour portion
of the second tear down, but it still cost me another $900 for parts.
Needless to say, I will consider transmission work very carefully in the future, either
buying the tools and doing it myself (I can live with my mistakes, but have a hard
time living with the mistakes of others who I have paid good money to), or I will take it
Darryl at AA. I would have taken it to Darryl before, but the shipping logistics were a
problem at the time.

On 2 Apr 2005 at 2:17, Al and Sue Brase <albeeee@mchsi.com> wrote:

> I do not agree about your r&p failure. I'd say the cause of your r&p
> failure was incorrect pinion depth or (More likely) backlash after
> replacing the bearings. Did you re- set the depth with a pinion  depth
> setter? The book says you need to I never have, but do set the backlash
> and check for contact pattern.
> I would concurr about the syncro scratching that Greg is experiencing..
> Synthetic oil and careful speed matching whil shifting will make the
> grinding much less. It will last that way for a VERY long time if you
> are gentle with  shifting.
>
> Al Brase
>
> Shawn Wright wrote:
>
> >On 1 Apr 2005 at 21:20, greg crone <l_levi1@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >>I've got an 85 westy that has a slight grind when
> >>going from first to second. If I wait 2 or 3 seconds
> >>it doesn't happen...only if I try to shift right away.
> >>Is this the onset of the fabled vanagon syndrome?
> >>
> >>
> >
> >No, just standard 2nd gear syncros wearing out, very common on any manual trans.
> >Drain the oil, and get 3-4 qts of Redline MT90. It will make a difference, possibly
> >enough that you can go for years more before needing to rebuild. However, if you
> >find large chunks of metal on the magnet, as opposed to fine metal powder, then you
> >may want to consider a rebuild sooner. My ring & pinion failed soon after I replaced
> >all the bearings in the transmission. I suspect all the metal from failed bearings (slow
> >failure over several years) accelerated wear on the highly stressed ring and pinion.
> >
> >My '85 Jetta trans ground 2nd gear at 200k. I switched to Redline, and it still shifted
> >great at 480k! I have tried many other gear lubes, and Redline is by far the best.
> >Shawn Wright
> >http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
> >'85 Jetta D
> >'88 Westy 2.1L, soon to be 1.6TD 5 speed
> >'82 Diesel Westy
> >
> >
> >
>

Shawn Wright
http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
'85 Jetta D
'88 Westy 2.1L, soon to be 1.6TD 5 speed
'82 Diesel Westy