Vanagon will only go into reverse, not 1st, 2nd, 3rd

[gardeeena]

We just finished pulling my 90 vanagon's automatic transaxle so that we could replace all of the usual seals. Installed the gowesty transmisison cooler as well. After reinstalling the transaxle and filling up the fluids with redline synthetic atf, we took it out for a drive and only had first gear for a while. That stopped worked and now only reverse works. You need to rev the engine to 3000 rpm to get it to move forward. Any suggestions as to what has gone wrong? The gears all worked flawlessly before we did this work.

[djkeev]

Tell us more......
What seals?
how far was it disassembled?

Dave
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Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[gardeeena]

The transmission was not disassembled at all. Only the seals between the transmission and final drive were replaced...and the governor seal. The torque converter was emptied as much as possible and partially refilled before assembling it to the final drive.

[kourt]

Did you check your ATF level exactly as described in Bentley?

Engine warmed up (driven ten minutes), engine on and idling, parked on level ground, registering between the dots on the dipstick?

kourt

[djkeev]

Reassembled fully?

It can be difficult to fully mate the two sections fully together. There should be only a very small gap between the two, 1/8" or so.....

Dave
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Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[djkeev]

Pump shaft fully seated?

Dave
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Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[gardeeena]

Dave: The final drive was removed from the transmission and reinstalled following the Bentley manual, carefully.
note: The turbine shaft was kept in the final drive section and not removed.

Kourt: Yes, we have checked the atf following the Bentley manual too. We also tried flushing out the RedLine atf (2 times) to conventional atf. No change.

Since the first test drive (after filling everything up and starting it for the first time after the repair work), we haven't been able to get it move in 1st gear. The first time we drove it, it drove for a little bit in 1st, but then got worse to the point where we could barely get it to move in 1st and it wouldn't move in any of the other gears (aside from reverse, like I said, it's driving great in reverse) so originally thought there might be extreme slippage happening because the synthetic oil but that's obviously not the case after changing the atf.


Stumped :/

[gardeeena]

and yes, the pump shaft was fully seated...

[kourt]

Just to be sure--and please don't be offended by any second guessing that occurs in this thread--but did you bolt the torque converter to the engine using the three flex plate bolts? The conditions you describe could coincide with overlooking this step.

kourt

[insyncro]

10:1 says that it is starving for fluid.
The cooler needs more than stock.

[gardeeena]

Thanks Kourt, no offence taken! Yes we did bolt the flex plate in. We also noticed that the bentley torque rating of 81 ft/lbs was not correct and found through other sources should be 21 - 25 ft/lbs.

[gardeeena]

Insynchro - we added more coolant in the system to compensate for the gowesty cooler (about 1.5 litres) . How much extra would you suggest?

[kourt]

Just to be really, really sure... (more second guessing):

You've told us you reassembled and added fluid and then test drove it. What I don't see is a definitive statement saying, "we opened the engine lid after warming up the engine and tested the ATF level again."

I keep coming back to this because so many people get it wrong and you have to remember that the GoWesty cooler is thermostatically controlled, so you won't be able to account for the volume of that cooler until you really heat things up. Then you'll have a really low ATF condition again, and then you'll have to fill it carefully while the engine is hot and running.

Your symptoms sound like low ATF... and I mean no offense, but please really tell us, in excruciating detail, how you checked the ATF and confirmed it's at the correct level.

Thanks... trying to help here.

kourt

[kourt]

...also, I note that if you changed the back to back seals between the transmission and differential, did you measure and shim the transmission properly? Here's another area where folks get it wrong frequently.

kourt

[gardeeena]

We have checked it many times. We followed that routine with the synthetic atf and after we switched it to F type fluid, we ran the engine for about 30 minutes and checked it while it was really warm and the dipstick read half way (between the lower and upper limit) I wish that it was a atf issue, I'm worried that it's a transmission failure.

[gardeeena]

Kourt, the gaskets on each side of the separation plate were changed and a new o ring installed on the transmission housing and we bolted it back together. Nothing else was changed. We never 'measured' anything because we didn't change anything mechanically. Let me know if I'm missing something here

[kourt]

Yes, you need to measure and ensure the shim(s) is/are placed every time those two are separated. True, you didn't go into the automatic hard parts and change them--but you still had to open it up. One of the measurement metrics for the shim placement is the differential seal carrier, which you removed, resealed, and reinstalled.

You've started to talk about Type F and also Redline... was there something going on that prompted you to change the ATF? I see some thought process in these choices, and it sounds like those decisions were made as a result of existing symptoms. What prompted the seal replacement in the transaxle? We need a lot more detail here. There are red herrings all over the place.

kourt

[gardeeena]

There was a leak from the seals (under the torque converter area) and it looked as though there was atf in the gear oil. So that's why we replaced them. Otherwise the van ran great before the seal replacement.
As for the redline vs F type... after we test drove the van, and it wouldn't move in 1st gear or the other gears, we had read that in some cases, the redline D4 was the reason for gear slippage. So that's why we tried the F type.

[gardeeena]

Hi Kourt. Wondering how a wrong shim placement/measurement, would cause the transmission gears not to work at all except in reverse?
I wonder if this detail is what is causing the problem then.

Dena

[insyncro]