No, the whole thing is now filled with a blend of gear oil and ATF.
Everything needs to be flushed out, the torque converter, differential, and
the transmission section needs rebuilding.  If you put a rebuilt
transmission section on with that mess in the torque converter it will fail
again before you get 100 feet.

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael [mailto:mikewelldon@icloud.com]
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2016 5:57 AM
To: Stuart MacMillan
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Sad and depressed

As my backyard mechanical skills, projects don't intimidate me as much as
they used to.

I've spent enough time one under the van and taking things apart that I can
usually figure stuff out.

That being said, transmissions seem like a whole different story.

Since its at the gearbox (??) to the differential, is it advisable to just
remove that part and bring it somewhere for a rebuild?

My information on removing the whole transaxle is lacking and I have no idea
if it's ok to just disconnect the box portion and the leave the diff and
final drive installed and then just bolt it all back up.

The optimist in me says go for it. The realist laughs and says good luck.

Anyway, Neil are you following this at all? Know anyone in NH area that
could do a rebuild?

Mike

> On Mar 30, 2016, at 9:04 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
wrote:
>
> Your tranny blew because the seal between the diff and the tranny failed.
> Unfortunately, it's very common after 25+ years. You need a rebuild or
> a rebuilt unit from a reputable vendor. Good used ones can be found,
> but I would not install one without resealing it. :-(
>
> Stuart
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
> Behalf Of Michael
> Sent: Wednesday, March 30, 2016 5:18 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Sad and depressed
>
> Sooooo,
>
> Last December the 88 auto blew the diff gasket. Checked atf. Nothing.
>
> This winter replaced engine oil, diff oil and gasket and coolant as
> well as threw in some atf.
>
> Just moved the van. It revs really high. Like 3500 high before it
> moves. It feels like it's stuck in a high gear.  Usually it clunks a
> little when it goes in gear. No clunking at all through the gears.
>
> And smoke. And the oil level which was full, is now not after runnin
> it for like ten minutes. No drips.
>
> Damnitt.
>
> Mike