How do my inards look?

[burn_your_money]

I'm not very familiar with autos. I'm doing the filter and figured I should take some pictures.

Is this stuff normal looking?

[blkboostedtruck]

wow looks dirty! prolly never been changed? see i told you you should of given me that tranny!
i can't wait to see what mine look like?
prolly should change it again after 500miles or km however you do it up there?
Duane

[the caveman]

Diff looks okay. Has it ever been opened before ? That metal could be there from a long ago. If the ATF is still reddish and doesn't smell burnt, it's fine. Be warned though, if the oil has been in there a long time i.e. more than 100,000 kms or 6-7 years, changing it may cause  the trans to fail. All that new ATf has so much detergent in it that it will wash away all the gunk and because now the viscosity is lower it may leak and slip. Other than top ups, good working autos should be left alone unless the ATF is changed regularly.

[burn_your_money]

No idea if it has ever been changed, I just got the car. I hope it survives. I plan to take it on an couple hour highway run and then change the fluid and filter again. I'm using the cheapest, crappiest ATF I can find in the hopes that it has the least amount of additives in it

[the caveman]

How did it shift before you opened it ? Was it okay and you just had to look , or was there already a problem. To me the diff looked fine, but was it noisy on overrun ? Are the shifts crisp and smooth? Try what you said, just hope it holds up. The only common problem with those even when they were okay was that the ATF would seep into the diff. Check the diff once in a while and let the excess ATF out and then top up the tranny. Don't worry too much about diluted gear oil, once the R&P are hardened with age, as long as they have oil, they will be happy.

[burn_your_money]

I've never heard this car run. I bought it with a run-away TD attached to it. I figured I should pull some of it apart while I had it out of the car. I hope I don't have to rebuild it.

Do you know how to fix the leaking diff problem? I'd rather it be pure gear oil in there

[Quantum TD]

The only common problem with those even when they were okay was that the ATF would seep into the diff.

Indeed. The early transmissions had machine-work flaws on the seal housing between the diff and the slush box.  The machined hole was larger than the original factory seal. My sister's auto trans with only 110k in her 1988 Jetta grenaded while driving at 50 mph. Not mush fun.

WHile I never did the repair, I saw a VW tech do it a couple of times. The VW service bulletin was to replace the seal, but also to use a special paste on the outside of the seal edge.

You could do the repair on the car, but obviously, it's easier with the trans out.

I'd stronly recommend that you replace the seal if you're planning on using this trans. WHile the R&P may hold up on thin oil (as suggested above), the bearings will NOT. That's what gives up the ghost when these older Auto trannies blow.

[jtanguay]

i thought you couldn't run gear oil in an auto tranny because of the friction surfaces???

i wonder what they put in those transmission stop leak products.  lucasoil makes a really good one  :wink: and royal purple makes a good tranny fluid with their synerlec stuff but not sure for auto boxes...

[burn_your_money]

The diff is seperate and has gear oil, the rest has ATF. I am almost tempted to install it and if it blows up rebuild it. Does anyone know if the diff is the same as the manual ones?

Does anyone have any info on this seal replacement?

[the caveman]

The gear oil doesn't get into the transmission section, it's the other way around. And the reason i say that it's not a super big problem is because almost everyone of those diffs have some ATF in them. The newer transmissions  [i say that, but it's the model that started with the passat in 1990]have the problem the other way around-gear oil finds it's way into the transmission, a much more serious problem.

[clbanman]

Indeed. The early transmissions had machine-work flaws on the seal housing between the diff and the slush box.  The machined hole was larger than the original factory seal.

WHile I never did the repair, I saw a VW tech do it a couple of times. The VW service bulletin was to replace the seal, but also to use a special paste on the outside of the seal edge.

I'm not sure how much oversize the bore is.  We use Loctite 573 for a similar application on our trucks with gaps up to .25mm.   Loctite 504 is good for up to .73mm.

[bevboyy]

Tyler, I'd be really suspicious of those metal flakes. There's quite a bit of them in that pan. A flush and fill may work for a bit, but since this is an autobox, I'd replace the torque convertor as a bit of insurance..

[burn_your_money]

Why are you suggesting the torque converter JC?

[smoken u]

during the time that I worked at the volkswagen specialty shop in alliston, I must have replaced at least 30-40 auto trans units, although I've never seen one with chunks of metal in them, I did often find ones in which the clutch baskets and clutches had worn away into nothing and left metal/friction material deposts in the bottom of the trans. torque converters are very bad on MKII and MKIII vw's. I'd cahnge the fluid, and filter, drive it for maybe 2 weeks and then change it again, so that all the crap that is left in the trans is completely cleaned out.

[RabbitJockey]

my suggestion:

1.add gear oil
2.add semen
3.add some new seals and what not
4.add some assembling
5.drive and enjoy