Thanks Dennis. I'll check the fluid level and vent tube. There's no reason
I can think of that the transmissions would overheat, still have the stock
2.1L and don't pull a trailer. I did switch the type of oil I use a few
years back, 3 years ago I switched from Redline to Delvac and then a year
later I switched back to Redline when I installed a driveshaft decoupler.
Both oils are synthetic 75W90. The transmission has just under 200K total
miles, 80K since rebuild (I don't know if seal was replaced then or not).

-Mark

On Mon, Jul 25, 2016 at 7:08 PM, Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@hotmail.com>
wrote:

> Yes this seal is easy to replace. However its leaking is usually a symptom
> of something else going on. There is also an insert-bushing behind it that
> may be cracked. Make sure the transmission is not overfilled and that the
> vent tube is not kinked or otherwise clogged. This seal never sees enough
> action that it should wear out. For it to go bad is a sign the transmission
> has been over heating.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
> Of Mark McCulley
> Sent: Monday, July 25, 2016 9:26 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: replacing transmission selector shaft seal
>
> My '87 has transmission oil leaking from where the selector shaft enters
> the transmission case. Is it fairly straight forward to replace the seal
> with the transmission installed? This is a syncro if it makes a difference.
> I see van-cafe has a write-up here:
>
> http://www.van-cafe.com/home/van/page_131_783/transmission-selector-shaft-seal.html
> ,
> seems like it's not particularly difficult.
>
> Thanks,
> Mark
> Seattle, WA
>