Walt, I am traveling w/o my '84 Vanagon, so I am going from memory.  If the
automatic transmission is working correctly, upshift at full throttle will
be at 4600 rpm.  A symptom of transmission trouble is failure to upshift at
4600 rpm.  Likewise, if you are going up hill and downshift will take rpm
 >4600, transmission will not downshift.

John

----- Original Message -----
From: "Walt Spak" <b20swalt@CITY-NET.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2007 10:34 AM
Subject: questions about automatics

> As I wrote recently, my 19th Vanagon, a 1984 GL, is my first automatic.
>
> I have had the feeling that it up shifts very quickly, even when pulling
> hills.  It kicks down just fine and I can hold it in any gear by moving
> the shift lever.  It just seems to up shift way sooner that my Mercedes
> does.
>
> Secondly, I an a little confused about the speedometer markings.The
> speedometer has the number "805" on the face.  I am used to the shift
> points marked on the face of the standard tranny 83.5 - 84c models, one
> dot, two dots, three dots.  This one also has 3 shift points marked even
> though it is only a 3 speed and only shifts twice.  The points are:  one
> dot @ 21 mph, two dots @ 38 mph, and three dots @ 65 mph.  If i nail the
> accelerator pedal from a dead stop, the bus far exceeds these points
> before it shifts on its own.  Anyone know what this is about?
>
> Walt
>