What is meant by "adds drastically to the cost of a rebuild?"
Like...how much more is  rebuild with a ring and pinion replacement as
opposed to one without that?, And do they even rebuild effectively,
without replacing those gears?

  The reason I'm asking...and an educated guess would be close enough to
help me with a plan...is that my 84 with a 5sp manual has that whine, it's
not alarmingly loud, but it's been growing  louder as time passes, and I've
begun trying to avoid piling on the miles that I usually do (about 20k per
year, mostly rural)
 Instead, I've been driving my poor man's Syncro almost every day.A.97 GM
AWD automatic...and the two differ in fuel economy, significantly...Using
data from the Fuelly app...My cost per mile in the Vanagon, running on
premium fuel for my inline motor...it costs me  $0.13/mi while the Safari
runs  on regular but at $0.16/mi...  25mpg on the vanagon and 18 on the
safari..

   At those costs per mile, well documented (10k+ miles for each
vehicle)...it will cost me $600 more to avoid driving my vanagon for 20k
miles, while I try to save up for a trans rebuild....So if a ring and
pinion replacement is around that money...I'd certainly prefer to drive the
Vanagon again, as my toy box and fun mobile, , except in winter...and of
course I ain't figuring in anything but gasoline...I think the Safari will
be hard on tires...but otherwise it just goes along with no drama (so
far..., fingers crossed)...The vanagon has been well sorted and it's not
breaking much anymore, either,  but the whining trans...that's gonna be
costly even without a R&P being involved...

   Anyone wanna relate any ring and pinion replacement costs from
experience or  make a guesstimate?

On Mon, Aug 3, 2015 at 2:41 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> As others have noted you may have a bad ring and pinion or the pinion
> bearing. They can make noise for long time. The thought though is whether
> or not you plan to rebuild that box. The noise is coming from the pinion
> becoming miss aligned with the ring gear. Continued operation will damage
> that gear set. Having to replace the R+P adds drastically to the cost of an
> overhaul.
>
> Dennis
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of B Feddish
> Sent: Sunday, August 2, 2015 9:59 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: High pitched noise
>
>
>
> I’ve got an issue with a high pitched noise from the back.  The vibrations
> in the noise are directly related to speed and do not change when I shift
> from 3rd to 4th (about the speed at which I hear it).  It does go away when
> I press the clutch in and coast so it is only happening when I have my foot
> on the gas.
>
>
> This is a new one for me, what could this be? It it the tranny getting
> ready to go? If so, how long have I got? Is this a slow death thingy or
> clunk clunk stranded thing? Or is there something else I should look at.
>
>
> This is an 83.5 wc Westy BTW.
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bryan
>