Lawrence:

thanks for the heads up on the VC.  I have the front drive-shaft
removed.  Would the vc still be engaging from left-right differences?  I
never considered the front differential.  It seems to come from behind,
but I guess the front diff is just beneath the driver and could feel
like it was coming from the back.

I'll keep you posted.
steve

Lawrence Johnson wrote:

> Steven, we also have a syncro and went through much the same rumble
> trouble. In our case the viscous coupling was engaging prematurely. We
>
> played with the tire pressure until the rumble was reduced and finally
>
> eliminated. We now use 43 psi front and 50.5 psi rear with an average
> camping load. Hope your problem is as simple to fix.
> Larry
> '86 Syncro Westfalia in Ontario, Canada
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> <<<I have a syncro rumble...and somewhat of a whine, too...as
> previously
>
> posted.
>
> The Rumble begins during acceleration at about 2600 rpm and completely
>
> smooths out and disappears just over 3000 rpm.  It is there if i drive
>
> within that rpm range.  It is there when I deaccelerate within that
> rpm
> range...then tapers off at around 2400.  However, there has to be some
>
> load on the drive train to feel it...and the greater the load on the
> drive train, the more intense the rumble until 3100 rpm...and then its
>
> completely gone.
>
> Possible candidates: wheel bearings, cv joints, something amiss in the
>
> transaxle, but what?<snip>>>