John,

First, make sure that you can remove the 17mm hex fill plug before draining
the final drive.  Then remove the pan to drain approximately 1.5 quarts of
oil.  You should clean the pan, and make note of any metal shavings on the
magnet that is located in the flat part of the bottom of the pan.

I replaced the gasket with a new one, lightly coated with "The Right Stuff"
(both sides) to make sure it didn't leak.  Make sure that you remove all
remnants of the old gasket from both the pan and the final drive case.  Pay
attention to the torque process in the manual, you will need to torque the
bolts, wait 5 minutes as I recall (this allows the gasket to "set") and then
torque them again.

In my case, the split washers used as lock washers were flatter than a
pancake, and would no longer lock anything.  I replaced them with some I had
on hand.  You can run a plastic hose into the final drive fill hole, lower
the van and fill it until the oil runs out (make sure you have a pan to
catch the oil!), or what I did is to have the rear of the van on ramps, and
the front on jack stands so that it was raised enough to get under the van
and also level so I could add the oil right then and there.  I found that
there is enough room in the final drive area to fill it with Mobil 1 75W-90
oil in the skinny plastic containers it comes in.

Don in Reidsville, NC
1986 Kawasaki Concours
1988 Vanagon GL (Sylvia)
"I reject your reality and substitute my own." - Adam Savage

----- Original Message -----
From: "No Name Available" <Trvlr2001@AOL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thu 14 April 2005 16:57
Subject: Auto Tranny Final Drive, Oil Change?

> Hi All,
> Can anyone give me a heads up on
> changing the final drive gear oil?
> Should I drop the Pan to Drain?
> Do I Fill Through the Large Hex-Socket Bolt?
> Thanks In Advance !!!
> John C.
> SLC, UT
> 90 Carat Auto...