Automatic Transmission, how badly did I mess?

[Wildthings]

A couple of years back I replaced the Subaru engine in my '91 right before I was ready to head out of town on a long trip. For whatever reason (big oops here) the engine would not start and I just drug the Vanagon out into the field and used my Bay for the trip. Well I finally got around to taking a look at it to see what was wrong, corrected the problem, got it started, and ran it at a fast idle for 5 minutes or so as it fought to run off of the rotten nearly three year old fuel. I finally got around to checking the level of the ATF and found the transmission completely dry, as apparently I had not tightened the nut of the fill tube and over the two years all the ATF had drained out.

My question is, is how badly did I hurt the transmission by running it for five minutes at a fast idle with a nearly dry pan. I filled it with ATF and it seems to operate normally, but I am concerned about taking it out on long road trips and having any problems show up then.

Thoughts and experience?

[danfromsyr]

it's been in a suspended field hibernation for a few years
you should drive it around locally for several days/weeks prior to any long adventure.
give it ~1000 local miles and if nothing pops up. then should be good.

my test drive route is incremental in 1 mile back to home 3 miles back to home 5 miles, 15 miles, 25miles up to 50miles all looping around home on each pass.
or keeping close to safety locations..

[skills@eurocarsplus]

you didn't do the pump any favors. if you just idled it...probably ok seeing the TC should have been full of fluid. I would suspect if anything the TC seal may be compromised (if anything were to go wrong, I would suspect this)

if you didn't drive it, the was hopefully enough juice on the spinning parts to keep them somewhat lubed up. drive it like you stole it...if it pops, it pops. keep it local for a bit till you gain trust
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[jlrftype7]

Very different transmission, BUT, my wife( girlfriend at the time) in the 80s drove a ‘69 Semi Automatic Stick Shift Beetle, which moved fine until she lost enough ATF that it didn’t....
I fixed the leaking hose and added fluid till it was full again... She couldn’t kill that transmission even running it out of fluid... She didn’t know that the Transmission took fluid....
But she was well versed in adding engine oil at every gas station fill up.

Hopefully you’ll be just as lucky as her.. We’re pulling for ya!
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'68 Westy- my first VW and vehicle/Bus- long gone.- sold it to a traveling Swiss couple....
'67 Type 3 Fastback, my 2nd car- gone
'69 Semi-Auto Stick Shift Beetle-gone
2017 MINI Coopers, our current DDs
‘84 Tin Top - Hilga....Auto