Two things, neither should be too alarming. 1) fall temperatures, 2) 80w90
tranny oil. The combination of these two cause slower, and slower shifts
until your fluid warms up.

The real solution is to switch to synthetic. The shade-tree mechanic's
solution (I've done it in my Jetta when I was up North) is to drain a quart
of 80w90 out of the tranny, and replace it with a quart of ATF until
springtime. Do so at your own risk. Otherwise, just shift NICE and SLOW...

G. Matthew Bulley
Director
Bulley-Hewlett & Associates
www.bulley-hewlett.com
Cary, NC USA
888.468.4880 tollfree

-----Original Message-----
From:   Zach Daudert [SMTP:zdaudert@PEOPLEPRODUCTIONS.COM]
Sent:   Thursday, October 07, 1999 9:26 PM
To:     vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject:        Sluggish gear changes

Recently I've noticed a sluggishness (slowness) while starting to drive my
85 Westy off in first gear and sometimes into second gear.  It's like it
doesn't really want to move until a certain RPM.  The problem seems to get
better the more I drive, and I don't notice it in third/fourth gear?   I
don't hear any strange noises and the engine seems to drive great most of
the time.  Any ideas?

Zach
1985 Westfalia - Willie
1970 Beetle - Jerry