The Vanagon clutch should operate smooth as silk! If you have shudder or
chatter something is wrong. Could be anything from bad clutch, (disc,
flywheel, pressure plate, release bearing shaft), to something inside the
transmission itself. Yes broken parts such as the slider hub or 4th gear
breaking are fairly common but this is really just another repair. Many
vehicles require repairs sometime even routine maintenance that needs 4
figures to address.

The main limitation to the automatic is the torque that the torque converter
can handle. If it constantly slips there will be excess heat to deal with
and failure.  I don't know what this limit is but a torque converter
specialist should be able to help.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Zeitgeist
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2012 11:28 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Automatic vs Manual

I have no experience with automatic Vanagons, even though I've owned four
T3s.  All four have had problems with the shifters or clutches, and frankly
the transmissions themselves aren't really a stellar unit anyway.  I'm
strongly considering converting my manual over to automatic, both for the
ease of shifting and additional lifespan.  btw, this will be accompanied by
the addition of an Audi 2.8L V6, but that's secondary to this discussion.
When I was shopping for this van I intentionally avoided automatics because
I thought they would complicate my intentions of dropping a TDI in there.
After living with it for the last 8 years as is, I can truly say that an
automatic no matter how bad would be a step up.  I hate the clutch shudder
upon release, I hate the hunting for gears and the grinding shifts from
third to fourth.  I will not miss my green eggs and ham