The 02A and 02J transmissions are both quite a bit stronger than the 020's. They are also much easier to tear-down for service than an 020, in that there are a lot fewer special tools needed.
The 02A in my Corrado VR6 has about 160,000 miles on it now, very hard miles. The car was used in street-stock drag racing for a lot of it's life. That being said, it needs attention- 1st gear is hard to get, 3rd and 5th are vague sometimes. I'm actually amazed that it has lasted this long.
Also, the diffs of the 02A/J still use rivets, and there are still bolt-kits to replace them, though rivet failure is very rare on these. The differentials do tend to break though under heavy use such as burn-outs, etc.. when one wheel is turning much faster than the other under load.
Some people say the 02A's are better internally than the 02J's but I have yet to see any real proof of that, the 02A might have better synchros but the 02J gears are supposedly stronger. The 02A's have a weak shift tower, the 02J design is much better. The 02J's went to a "fine-tooth" synchro sleeve for 1st and 2nd gear starting in 2001 to make it shift smoother, but they are easily damaged (sometimes after one accidental grind) and will prevent 1st from working. Many people will change an 02J over to 02A style synchros. The Dual-Mass flywheel on the 02J trannys is junk and should be exchanged for a single-mass 02A flywheel immediately. The 02A and 02J cases are similar, but both have very different mounting points so the mounts are completely different. On both 02A's and 02J's, you can swap the bellhousing half of the case from a 4-cylinder car to a VR6 back-half if you so desire. (usually done the other way around for different gearing on a VR6 turbo)
That's about all I know off-hand.
Brendan
Topic: 02A tranny (Read 3477 times)
