Transaxle issues possibly related to Kennedy adapter plate?

[calfredson]

86 Syncro with Subaru 2.2 conversion
Vancouver BC

Long story short:

Last fall I had my transmission rebuilt after a faulty oil slinger caused a bunch of havoc. About a month ago, I noticed a small transmission oil leak. I took it in to the same shop to have it looked at. They dropped the transmission today and they are claiming that there is too much play with the Kennedy adapter plate and that it is the cause of all the issues. Their claim is that the studs on the adapter plate are too small diameter and therefore allow movement between the transmission and the motor, causing things to fail.

This seems bogus to me and I feel like they are just trying to shift blame away from the work that they did. That being said, the issues now are very similar to the original issue that caused the need for the rebuild. Perhaps there is something else that has been overlooked?

Possibly pertinent, the transmission has shifted roughly since the rebuild and there seems to be more vibration around 300rpm than there used to be.

Any opinions are welcome. I'm also not sure what to do if they claim the issue is not covered by their warranty? How do I go about contesting that?

Thanks,

Craig

[Wildthings]

When I did my conversion 10'ish years ago, I immediately recognized the weakness in the way the studs were installed and made changes to the design. I believe that the adapter kits have been changed since then to address this problem. How old is your conversion?

[danfromsyr]

the adapter plate should have a ring/ridge that sits into the bellhousing..
that is the centering/locating piece.
it's quite small though and if the 4 mounting studs are slightly loose that allow some or any movement between the transaxle and the plate..
you can lose that alignment slightly.

but it would be obvious in wear patterns on the plate's centering ring..

use lock nuts & lock-tite on the studs.
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[gears]

This may be a silly question, but is this shop well versed in VW transaxles, and well aware of the slop required of the input shaft? The quill shaft design does not allow for the input shaft to be tightly screwed on, an error I have seen before.
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aka Pablo, Geary
9.36 @ 146 in '86 Hot & Sticky
'90 Syncro Westy SVX
'87 Syncro GL 2.5
https://guardtransaxle.com

[Butcher]

The crankshaft and input shaft must be at the same center line. If not, it does not matter who makes the engine or transmission, something will break. Typically it's the transmission/clutch side.

Sounds like the shop is spot on. If anything they may have done wrong is not to mention it the first time around. Using stock stuff, it rarely happens.

[gears]

The alignment of crankshaft and input shaft is VERY forgiving, due to the "quill shaft" design. However, if the design is defeated because the input shaft is screwed tightly to the mainshaft (without having backed off 2 or 3 spline-width during installation), THAT is when problems occur.
_________________
aka Pablo, Geary
9.36 @ 146 in '86 Hot & Sticky
'90 Syncro Westy SVX
'87 Syncro GL 2.5
https://guardtransaxle.com

[Wildthings]

I wonder is the adapter plate may not have been properly machined and thus not mate properly with the bellhousing. If the setup was only depending on the bolts for alignment that would not work well.

[calfredson]

Thank you for all the responses.

The adapter plate looks to be in good shape with proper mating to the bellhousing and the engine. The original conversion was done around 2008, so it could be the "old" design of the studs from Kennedy. They are shipping up some new studs, in case this is the problem. Though the van ran perfectly fine for 9 or so years before this became a problem.

The shop is a transmission specialist, this is definitely not the first Syncro transaxle they have seen, but they are not a VW specific shop.

[calfredson]

Here are some photos I took with my phone, for what they are worth. Not sure if they indicate that anything is amiss.

[gears]

It's quite simple to shake the input shaft and see if it feels sloppy (as it should). No VW manual talks about the need for a sloppy shaft, so it's often overlooked by shops who are not "VW specific". This design feature is unique to VW (although it has been adapted by aftermarket).
_________________
aka Pablo, Geary
9.36 @ 146 in '86 Hot & Sticky
'90 Syncro Westy SVX
'87 Syncro GL 2.5
https://guardtransaxle.com

[Jake de Villiers]

[gears]

They have to be like that, or the symptoms described by the OP (vibrations, oil leak, and more) will occur.
_________________
aka Pablo, Geary
9.36 @ 146 in '86 Hot & Sticky
'90 Syncro Westy SVX
'87 Syncro GL 2.5
https://guardtransaxle.com

[vwoldbug]

Is the clutch disc not in the center or is that an illusion .

[Wildthings]

Is there a pilot bearing in your crank?

[Jon_slider]

good luck w the tranny leak.. listen to "gears" and verify w your shop that they understand this:

[MarkWard]

I can see a step on the adapter plate that centers the transaxle regardless of the size of bolts used. Sounds like someone is trying to get out from standing behind the last job.
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