As an educated guess I wold suggest that your synchromesh rings are wearing
( They are made from brass ) the minute particles are suspended in the oil.,
hence the metallic sheen in the oil.

Suggest a long email to Todd or Darryl the lists Transaxle guru's.

Ray Hunnam

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Schwenk <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Tuesday, July 13, 1999 1:56
Subject: Re: Report on the cause of death, my 1.9 TD Vanagon

>I need to get my transaxle oil analyzed to find out
>what the silver sheen in it is...definitively...anyone
>know where I can in Calif?
>TIA
>steve
>
>karl wrote:
>>
>> A refresher: This is the 1.9 TD that I installed in my Syncro Westy this
>> winter, that made the trip cross-country east to west, 7000 miles, only
to
>> die the day after I returned home to Maryland. I sent a test-sample of
the
>> oil off to the Mobil oil test lab, and the results are here! (I used
Mobil
>> 1, 15W50 grade oil)
>>
>> The report says: " Severe level of fuel soot detected. Soot implies poor
>> combustion, improper air / fuel mix, compression. Viscosity high. Bearing
/
>> bushing wear indicated."
>>
>> In the 'physical data' section, the viscosity of the oil at 100 degrees C
is
>> 63.1(!!), water by volume less than .05%, fuel less than 1% by volume,
and
>> soot an incredible 12.1% by volume! (iron and other metals were at an
>> acceptable level, so it wasn't self destructing during the trip)
>>
>> So, cause of death was not overheating of the oil as I initially
suspected,
>> but soot contamination. I suspect that there was a problem with the pump
and
>> / or the injectors, as the exhaust had several episodes of belching lots
of
>> black smoke (soot). .....this would also explain the poor fuel mileage.
A
>> lesson learned, in the realm of diesels.
>>
>> Karl
>> '87 Westy Syncro TD
>