Well, my '85 transmission is gone. I was on one of my cross-state trips
home from school last weekend when it happened....

I was climbing a hill out in Eastern Washington, when I had to downshift
to 3rd. Everything was normal except for the fact that it wouldn't go into
gear. It felt like something was wrong. I tried to go back into 4th but it
wouldn't go there either. By this time I was rolling along fairly slow, so
I tried 2nd...it worked. So I coasted back into a town  a 1/2 mile back
and
checked it out.

It shifted into 1st, 2nd and reverse, but was a bit harder to do than
usual. 3rd and 4th were still impossible. The thing that I noticed most
was that it felt like it was binding when it was in neutral. I could hear
sound coming from the transmission when trying to roll it. There was also
some resistance to moving it in neutral unless the clutch was in. Also
when trying to move in 1st gear, there was a feeling of binding and then
it would "break free" and move normally. It also wanted to move when I
started it in neutral.

What is everybody else's experience with rebuilding vs. finding a used one
to put in? I'm not sure which route to go with ( I need the least
expensive one).

What years will fit in my '85?

If anybody knows of an inexpensive on that I could buy, I'd love to hear
from you! I've found an '85 used one at a junkyard for $450 and another
for $650.

How hard would they be to install myself?

Any info or personal experiences would be appreciated!

Aaron

'85 vanagon 170,000 miles.
Wanted: Inexpensive Transmission
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 Aaron Robinson                    |  E-Mail:  arobinso@wsunix.wsu.edu
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