Was it the same torque converter on both transmissions?  Was the
trans from FL in vehicle or sitting around out in the elements?  I
think that can be pretty bad for a tranny, where moisture can get
into it.  The not going into forward gears but reverse still working
sounds like maybe a valve body problem to me.  Maybe the TC was going
bad and pieces got into the valve body of both trannys?  And now TC
finally failed more dramatically...

Edward

At 10:35 AM 6/30/2007, Dennis Haynes wrote:
>Yes, Torque converters do fail. The usual failure is the one way clutch.
>Van will still move but no torque multiplication so acceleration sucks.
>Once the noises begin, all the vanes are smashing and that will destroy
>it. It will also fill the tranny with an awful lot of metal pieces. The
>usual causes are a bad bushing, improper installation or the thing was
>dropped.
>
>Torque converters do get rebuilt. They get cut opened, cleaned, parts
>replaced, welded back together and balanced. A local tranny shop will be
>able to send yours out for this.
>
>Dennis
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
>Randy C. Nunes
>Sent: Saturday, June 30, 2007 9:07 AM
>To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>Subject: 1984 Westfalia Automatic Transmission
>
>The problem is my automatic transmission.  I just pulled the Westfalia out
>of the weeds after 5 years.  Got the van started pretty easily and towed
>it
>down to Nethken and Associates in Fishersville, VA. The transmission
>worked
>in reverse but not in the forward gears, so I picked up a used one from
>Florida. He got that one in the van and it worked for about 20 mins and
>then
>it burped and again wouldn't move forward.  He was pretty stumped about
>why,
>but said it sounded like the converter, it started making all kinds of
>noises.  I went through the archives and the ATF was full and was changed
>when the  transmission was changed.  Anyone have any idea, or has it
>happened to anyone?
>
>Randy