Flat Tow Ruined Transmission?

[camperstyle]

Hello all. My first post here, but been doing VW's my whole life due to Grandpas love of dune buggies.

Yes, I've searched the forum for an answer and came up fruitless. I figured I'll post it up here for y'all to pick over and hopefully help the next poor schmuck who comes along looking for quick answers. Thanks in advance!

I recently inherited Grandpas last dune buggy. Its a homemade rail with bus gear reducers. Pretty damn cool family heirloom.. Not sure which trans and motor it has.
Anyhoo, I flat towed it 100 miles then drove it around the mountains for several hours whooping it up in memory of the dearly departed. Then, towed it home about 250 miles. My kids MIGHT have accidently put it in gear at one of our stops. I did not feel it pulling or making weird noises on the way home.

After getting it home to my driveway, I unhooked the tow bar and went to park it beside the house. No go. Starts and runs perfect. Shifts great. No go. Turns out I can shift into all the gears WITHOUT the clutch even pushed in, but no go. Won't budge. I rev it up high, no go. I try all gears and reverse, no go. What the hell? Was it Accidently in gear during the last leg of my tow? Did I fry my trans? It feels like it's shifting into gear and I can feel the stick vibrating as if something is making contact as I rev the motor but it will not engage. It will not move. It's acts like the clutch is perminantly engaged but I can hear something buzzing around in there until I actually press in the clutch.

I have checked all obvious linkages and cables et cetera. Everything looks fine. I am guessing I will have to pull the motor to see what is going on in there.

I appreciate any insights you all can send my way. Anyone experience this before? Anyone know exactly what the problem is? Any recommendations? Anyone want to sell me a cheap bus transaxle. Just kidding, not.

[cbeck]

Before you take anything apart, are you sure you did not strip the splines in a rear hub/rotor? Start it, put in gear, let out clutch, see if one of your rear axle nuts is spinning without the drum/rotor spinning. A second set of eyes would help.
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[Armadillo1954]

Not an expert, but I had an old 67 bus that did the same thing and it's shift tube had come apart at the front of the trans mission. It seemed like it was going in the gears and the clutch sounded like it was working but was just in neutral all the time. Check those connections before tearing it all down. Simple fix. Good luck.

[camperstyle]

Thanks you two for the quick reply. I did not get a chance to tinker on her today but I will certainly check the "shift tube" at the front of the trans and I'll check for spinning of axles or axle nuts before anything else.

I did fire her up for a minute though. Quick start, no smoke or weirdness. Solid motor!

[veeweeman]

My guess is that you smoked the clutch.
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Never be a follower...Do your own thing, make it your own!

[camperstyle]

It seems to go into all the gears fine without even pressing the clutch in, while running. Wouldn't a bad clutch make it difficult to get out of neutral? I would think it would just grind and resist.

I checked this morning for turning axle nut etc. as suggested. Nothing is turning.

[veeweeman]

When your clutch is completely gone then there is no more link between engine and trans
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[dustymojave]

[Bashr52]

I would have expected the engine to over-speed and grenade itself if it had been towed in gear. I doubt that is the issue. Easiest thing to do as suggested above is pull the engine and take a look around.

[camperstyle]

Looking to finally dig into it this week. Thanks everyone for the input.
It's nice to have a few ideas before I go digging around.
Friend at work says open it up and whatever falls out needs to be replaced. Ha!

I think it must have been in gear but maybe 4th, so not too many RPM's, but still enough to burn something up. I'll post back when I open it up.

[Dale M.]

One other scary thought is main input shaft may have broke locking gear or snap ring came off and input shaft is "disconnected" from main shaft...

You may want to check out parts 13, 12 and 3 if clutch is not a problem and input shaft (2) comes out with engine....

Dale
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"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
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All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[camperstyle]

Okay. So, I got the motor out. I didn't have time to look at the clutch too much.
I did look at the shaft coming out of the trans though. It turns easily in all gears. Also, it has about 1/4 inch of wiggle in it. I was not able to pull it out though (with moderate force).

I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to turn like that while its in gear so I'm assuming my problem is inside the transmission at this point, not the clutch or anything else.

Does that sound about right?

[veeweeman]

Ok stretch. ..
If you can slip a 8mm wrench or smaller over the disk then it is most likely the problem. ..since you failed to attend yourself to the clutch itself being the most inexpensive item and lean towards the tranny first says to me that you already have your mind set on buying a new tranny...I wish you luck in your search for the truth...how do you even know that the tranny was already like that?
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[camperstyle]

I'm guessing that stretch is not a desirable nickname.
I'll definitely inspect the clutch. I just ran out if time today.
I just find it odd that I can turn the shaft with my hand while in all gears.
I think that means it's not connected inside the trans. Right?
I do appreciate the commentary though. I don't want to touch the trans if I don't have to.

[pullstart]

With the engine out, pop it into whatever gear you can find, then turn the input shaft by hand. Look for hubs spinning. That should tell if the engine was spinning it or free spinning with a bad clutch...
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[B Ramsey]

[Dale M.]

You need to have someone that knows more about transmissions than you do look at it before laying out big bucks for new transmission....

Dale
_________________
“Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.

"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
============================================================
All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[veeweeman]

I could be wrong and your right. ...I just thought you might want to check out the obvious cheaper route first. ..I hope that your tranny is ok and it was just the clutch.
_________________
Never be a follower...Do your own thing, make it your own!