At 04:47 AM 5/11/2005, you wrote:
>   -If I purchase auto. trans. which is the (1) life expectancy of such
> units (mileage) and (2) what are common rebuilding cost for auto. trans.
> on the 86-91 vanagon.

 From what I've heard, those 3-speed auto units are absolutely bulletproof
and with minimal maintenance (barring abuse) will probably outlast the
vehicle. Checking the archives, you find very few auto tranny
complaints,  and even fewer queries about rebuilders. That's gotta mean
something.
I just got a rebuilt myself and, including shipping, paid $520 plus $200
core charge.

>     -What is a  good source for getting a Vanagon auto. trans. rebuilt in
> the SE USA area?

If you're going to have them ship it anyway, you might want to look into
German Transaxle Inc <www.gtainc.biz>
  in Oregon. Kind of exactly NOT in the SE USA, but I was unable to find
any other rebuilders ANYWHERE that were recommended by anyone as many times
and for as long as GTI.  They're the only rebuilder referenced in the
archives that I could still get ahold of, and apparently they've been in
business since 1971.

>         -Any "$ issues" on the 86-91 Vanagons that I've not had to deal
> with on the older 83-85 Vanagons?

None I know of, except maybe the idle stabilizer on the 2.1 failing. Seems
to happen more often than whatever it is the 1.9 uses. Seems to me the 1.9
and the 2.1 are BOTH expensive. I'm no expert though. I've only had just
the one 2.1 I have now.

>Last ?, what happens to a auto. trans. Vanagon if towed incorrectly with
>the rear wheels on the ground (say of a tow dolly) for 200 miles (this
>occured on a recent E-bay auto. trans. Vanagon auction and curious minds
>want to know......).

According to VW, if the auto tranny gets spun for more than 30 miles or
over 30mph without the engine running to pump ATF through the system (as
happens when towing nose-up, rear-down), the lack of lubrication will smoke
the transmission. Those are probably conservative engineer numbers, but it
seems to me that 200 miles is likely to be way too far. If the transmission
still works, I'd be surprised if it worked for very long.

John Bange
'90 Vanagon "Geldsauger"