G'day Craig,

As I understand it, the reason the cooler was added to the later (i.e.water
cooled) vehicles was that the energy being dissipated in the fluid was too
great to be cooled in the "non-cooler" fashion.  The fluid gets too hot,
probably damaging the fluid and thus then the friction clutches.  The water
cooled engines are more powerful, hence the problem.  It IS possibe to drill
and tap the housing of the "aircooled" auto and route hoses to a suitable
cooler, but that would involve dismantling the transmission to ensure
cleanliness inside.  Inside, the two transmissions are essentially
identical.

There is ONE issue of which to be aware.  The shaft on the 2nd gear band
piston of the "aircoooled" is held in the piston by a circlip.  This circlip
can break, not uncommonly according to my guru, (did in mine) and this can
destroy the piston, cylinder or both.  That is probably fatal to the
transmission and comes about because an early 1980s auto transmission is
old!  The later models had the steel  shaft permanently fixed into the
aluminium piston.

The answer to your question is YES, you can run that transmission in your
vehicle, but be aware that it is a less than ideal pathway.

Dave
downunder
PS I put an '86 auto into my '82 Van and then eventually had to rebuild that
one anyway.

PPS Be aware that the kickdown lever is a little different between the two
transmissions

2008/8/12 craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com>

> So there's this list member, and friend who is a member of our "Pittsburgh
> Vanagon Club" that has an autotransmission in his '87 that leaks copious
> amounts of fluid. For some reason or another, the decision has been made
> that it cannot be resealed in a timely fashion or might not be worth
> saving.
> I've struggled to find a good replacement for him at a reasonable price and
> come up pretty empty, but have an alternative. We have an aircooled
> automatic transmission......
> I know it's a strange question, but i'd like to hear what you guys think
> about putting that transmission into the '87. The transmission is believed
> to be good, and it would get him back on his way for the time being. "For
> how long....we don't know" but it would have him back on his way (which he
> needs to be). So, if you have a transmission on the east coast or will ship
> (ASAP) for cheap, or have any input....let's hear it.
>
> To my knowledge the only difference is the oil cooler on the water cooled
> van's transmissions and lack there of on that of the aircooled vanagons.
>
> -Craig
> '85WESTY
> '80Parts
>