Yes, the valve body is pretty straight forward to change.  Just get a new
filter and gasket.  I thought that was the problem with my 86, but it turned
out to be the governer.

Jason

On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 10:20 AM, Roger Sisler <rogersisler2000@yahoo.com>
wrote:

> Since it still grips tight when in drive, I would suspect that the body of
> the trans is still good, or good enough. The valve body directs the
> shifting, and this seems to be a shifting problem.
>
>  The valve body is the lowest point on the transmission, and may be
> starved
> first. Just my guess. If all the fluid is needed for circulation in the
> transmission, leaving the valve body starved.I dont know the circulation
> pattern for the fluid, but this seems possible to me. When the fluid is
> foamy from overfill the Vanagon trans wont shift, and slips. Foamy acts
> like
> low fluid. Trans will slip and reengage over and over as liquid and foamy
> fluid is supplied to the tramsnission at different times.
>
> Valve body  swap is EZ. Done it several times before. There are no rubber
> pieces inside the valve body. Only aluminum and steel. I understand that
> the
> pistons can get scored. Bentley shows a good exploded view. I found a
> valve
> body from a Audi 5000 in my 85. Messages here in the vanagonlist  archives
> show where I made this discovery,I think. I think several  different valve
> body swaps from other VW cars are possible, but shift points may be  a
> little bit changed.
>
> Good luck
>