volks,

a few things going on with the van today, any advice would be
appreciated.

1. a sometimes stickey lifter. sticks when the engine has been started,
and shut back down before the van warms up. the lifter sticks on the
next start up, and quiets down after about 20min driving. today: drained
one quart oil (castrol synthetic 10w30) and added 1 quart of synthetic
auto transmission fluid (as per a list post which stated that auto tran
fluid had a high detergent content, which, when run with oil, provided a
gentler cleaning of the motor than most alternatives) the plan is to run
the van about 4-6 hours, normal driving, drain and refill with synthetic
20w50 (for the summer).

related problem. i noticed that the oil drain bolt has stripped out the
threads on the motor. its holding at the moment, but i will have to deal
with it sooner or later...any suggestions?

2. grindy tranny (moving from 1st to second). worse when cold. decided
to drain the gearbox, and fill with synthetic gear oil. i've been
following recent threads about oil weights, brands, etc. my options for
synthetic seem a bit limited. i have (but haven't used yet) mobil 1
synthetic gear oil 75w90. i know bently calls for 80w90, and i haven't
heard anything regarding the pros and cons of mobil 1. (there is no
local supplier of red-line). and thoughts on this?

3. finally, i noticed a torn cv boot, all were cracked, so i decided it
was time to take it all apart, replace boots, check cv's, etc. all the
cv's needed replacement (200,000+miles on originals), bought german made
replacements and as soon as i can find a shop who will press the new
cv's onto the axles (no way to do it at home, simply too tight), i'm
back in business. here's my concern. when pulling the axles, the cv
grease was in the following condition. driver side and passenger side
outer joints had stickey gummy grease, not unexpected. driver side inner
cv was loose and creamy, about the consistency of normal wheel bearing
grease. passenger side inner was about the consistancy of egg nog, and
drained out of the joint when i pulled it. is this symptomatic of
something? a too hot gearbox? why one side and not the other? no unusual
noises from the gearbox, some stiff shifting, esp. when cold, but
nothing to indicate impending catastrophic failure. any ideas about
this? should i be concerned at all or is there anything i should look
for before i reinstall the new cv's? not sure if this is related, but
that particulat cv was the most difficult (by far) to get off the axle,
leading me to again wonder about the possibility of excessive heat.

on a final note, anyone who has replaced cv's, are the new cv's
typically very VERY hard to get on (much more difficult going on than
the old ones coming off) to the degree that you needed to take them into
the shop to get pressed on?

thanks in advance for any advice on any of this...eta back on the road
sometime this week!

matt greenwell
87glwesty