You have been down this long. a couple more weeks isn't going to hurt.
As for driving it, remember one thing, The worst thing you can do to one
of these trannies, is to run it low on fluid.
You might drive it on short trips and see how it does for fluid loss.
See if it heals itself. But don't drive it on extended trips. No farther
than you would want to pay a tow bill home. The seal could let go
completely at anytime, if that is what it is.
If you decide to do it yourself, I can help talk you through it.
On Thu, 2005-05-19 at 10:13, Daniel Baum wrote:
Hi all,
[I am cross-posting this to the Type 34 and Type 3 lists.]
The car passed its test today, without any particular worries. The
mechanic
at the garage where I always take it for its pre-test check-up says I
have a
bad ball-joint, so I will have him change all four next time I go up
there.
Apparently it was not bad enough to fail the test.
The drive there and back was OK. Just a couple of minor tuning issues
that a
small tweak will solve (hopefully).
The bad news is that my tranny is now leaving a trail of ATF. It is
really
pouring out. The mechanic reckons that the oil seal between the engine
and
the tranny (or torque converter?) has given up. Changing this is a big
job
and frankly I don't think I can do it myself, certainly not on my own.
The
mechanic says he can do it, and I say rather him than me.
The problem is the bill, of course, which will probably be big. It will
most
likely be a while before I can spare the cash. I hate the idea of letting
the car lie unused again for a long(ish) period of time. Is it safe to
drive
it and top it up regularly? (Russ?) I drove it about 100 miles today
there
and back, and it's used up all of the oil that I topped it up with a
couple
of days ago.
Jim Adney once mentioned that the seals dry out when the car isn't used
and
then start sealing again with use. Could this be the case here after a
four-month lay-up? Is there any point waiting to find out? It's always
leaked a bit, but never anywhere near this much, and the more I use it,
the
less it leaks.
One more horrible possibility has crossed my mind: is it possible I
cracked
something when I did this?:
http://www.type34.info/album/Engine%20work%20Jan-May%202005/slides/Flywheel%20lock.jpg
I was very careful to push the torque wrench slowly and smoothly, and
didn't
hear anything snap, crackle, or pop. Is there any way I can tell for
sure,
without taking everything apart?
Thanks,
Daniel
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--
Russ Wolfe
'71 FB AT
'66 FB MT
'64 T34 (not running)
'65 T1 (not running)
'05 KIA Sorento SUV
russw@classicvw.org
http://www.classicvw.org