The governor seal I spoke about is an internal leak. It doesn�t become
external until the final drive housing is overfilled enough to blow oil
out of the breather or through the seals between the final drive and
automatic sections. Just in front of the final drive oil pan, there is a
hole that connects to the space between the final drive-AT seals. This
keeps the fluids from mixing there. This hole can often get clogged with
road grime. Check it. Also, check the two breathers on top of the AT and
final drive. This also gets blocked by road crud and can cause all sorts
of leakage mixed oil problems. Heck, a clogged breather can cause the ATF
to blow right of the dip stick tube and make a real mess in the engine
compartment. The torque converter seal will not cause the oils to mix but
can make a big mess. Usually, it does not fail on its own or without
cause. The usual cause is a groove worn on the torque converter itself or
the bushing is shot. The bushing is an easy repair. The groove is a weld
and machine repair. Rebuilt converter time.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Marla Stelk [mailto:mjstelk@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 8:11 AM
To: d23haynes57@hotmail.com; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Was: ATF leaking into differential; now Governor or torque seal?

Hello listees,

So I cleaned off a bunch of built up oil grime which had flown over the
bottom of my differential and into my engine compartment, and it looks as
if the oil is coming out of the bottom of the final drive housing.  The
exterior of the governor is clean - in fact its more rusty than anything
else.  Would a leak in the governor seal only leak internally or am I
possibly looking at having to replace my torque covertor oil seal?  I
found an entry in the archives that mentioned similar oil spray as mine
with loss of power and they were thinking at the time that it might be the
torque seal.  I have noticed that the van has a hard time just moving out
of a muddy area or slight snow - once I get going I'm fine, but getting
going sometimes just gets me more stuck.  Maybe my problem is two-fold as
I still have the issue of discovering tranny oil mixed with my gear oil -
it spilled out from the gear oil bolt.  Any thoughts would be great -

Thanks volkies!

MJ Stelk

'87 Westy GL

  _____

From:  "Dennis Haynes" <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
To:  mjstelk@HOTMAIL.COM, vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject:  RE: ATF leaking into differential
Date:  Fri, 20 Apr 2007 19:24:41 -0400
>Marla,
>Have many times has your tranny been opened? You just are not having
>luck.
>
>A very good possibility is your leak is from the governor seal. 1-2
>hour repair, tranny stays in place. Not that big a deal.
>
>Dennis
>
>
>>From: Marla Stelk <mjstelk@HOTMAIL.COM>
>>Reply-To: Marla Stelk <mjstelk@HOTMAIL.COM>
>>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>Subject: ATF leaking into differential
>>Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 16:18:29 -0400
>>
>>Hello -
>>
>>I discovered ATF leaking under the van so I checked my gear oil
>>level and ATF fluid came pouring out mixed with gear oil.  My auto
>>tranny seems to be working fine and when I checked the ATF level it
>>seemed okay - checked it with the van idling (which I still haven't
>>been able to fix - the idle - I think its my throttle valve
>>switch...) - so my question is - how dangerous is it to keep
>>driving it in this condition?  I'm guessing its going to cost about
>>1k to get the tranny seal replaced and so I'm definitely going to
>>have to sell it.  But I don't have another car and have to get to
>>work.  But I clearly don't want to damage the inerts of the tranny
>>either - can I just keep topping off the fluid until the next owner
>>can get the seal replaced?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>MJ
>>'87 Westy GL
>>  Get a FREE Web site, company branded e-mail and more from
>>Microsoft Office Live!
>
>

  _____

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