Hello guys, I've recently acquired a T2 2l automatic westy. A lot seems to be quite good (comparatively!) but I'm pretty sure the transmission is a ticking time bomb. It currently wants to stay in a high gear and not great at dropping back down gears unless you select it manually. It's just been serviced and some chunks of metal were found in the trans oil strainer. So... do I leave it until it properly breaks or should (can I?) get it reconditioned? I had a 6 rib reconditioned in my last bay (before I lost it to an engine fire) by a chap on here and he did a fantastic job, but I'm guessing an automatic is a different question... Interested in your thoughts!
If you can find an old-school transmission shop, they should be able to diagnose it. Believe the Bay autos were made by Borg Warner(?) - may be wrong. Pretty common transmission from days gone by.
If you have a metal crank from the box to your carbs rather than a cable it's an 010. If so try the attached
Mine has (had) the switch under the pedal, but at some point had the later box fitted. The solid bar from the box to the carbs is the easiest check. Think someone on here recommended a Yorkshire company, but ever county will have a transmission "specialist ".
Yes I know a guy who knows the T2 auto box inside out. He overhauled mine a few years ago when i was having issues with it. From what I remember he did say it was a VW specific box and not made by Borg Warner. It was the mod valve which had failed on mine and it started dragging ATF through the vac system & burning it hence quite smokey at the time. He fully overhauled the box & axle including some mods which were brought out after the box was manufactured. Anyway you need to speak to Martin at Martin Lowe Transmissions in Barnsley. Might not be local for you but still might be worth having the bus trailered to him as he knows his stuff. Forgot to mention if you’re travelling up dress accordingly, the suns always shining in Barnsley
I'll be speaking to him at the end of the year, mine leaks from the point where the shift mechanism is ( late box ).
Apart from the obvious seals on the bottom, there's another leak point easily fixed which is the governor which sits under a round cover with a bail spring near the left hand drive shaft. The O ring perishes on this. VW Heritage got me the part. The governor is one of the few parts easily accessible, and can be taken out for cleaning. When it gets clogged up, gear shifting is affected.
I'd also add that the automatic gearbox has two sewparate compartments, one with ATF in it and the final drive which has regular gear oil. The latter section tends to get neglected and people don't know they should perodically change the oil.
Finally got around to seeing this guy, my box is fine, but it has a couple of leaks...main one is from the " servo" .. wondered if he meant governor.... anyway to overhaul gearbox/final drive and torqueconverter ...£1700 to £2000 + vat assuming nothing terrible found inside .
As the gearbox is working fine, just leaking, I'm considering having a look at what the specialist called a servo on the left hand side of the box.... which to me is the governor. It appears to be under a cover held with a clip like the rocker covers... the specialist said that I had a later auto box but with an earlier cast final drive...Haynes quotes putting a new seal in with the lip towards the governor body, but the seal I recently got was an O ring. Does anyone know what seal I need ( yes, I know, the correct one. )
Item 20 is an O-ring, part number 003325381 https://www.brickwerks.co.uk/governor-housing-seal-t3-automatic-gearbox.html
Yes indeed part 20. I contacted VW Heritage for mine, though it wasn't listed. It's one of their Preservation Parts range - cost about 3 quid. Definately recommend trying this - no skill or tools needed, before involving a specialist garage.
