After 9,000 miles of trouble free driving I had my first problem!
Actually, I was already aware of the issues with 3rd gear because just after I first put together the Van I was “locked out of 3rd” for a while but it eventually fixed itself and it held for 8,500 miles. There is a known defect related to 3rd gear in the 091/1 transmissions. I have been taking my time gathering all the parts to finish Albert and it’s time to start making more progress. Today I removed the engine and transmission to remove the bellhousing and send it back for an exchange. (just after I posted in the vanagon pages it was okay haha) It wasn’t that big of a deal because I had to remove the transmission anyways.
I have it stashed underneath the table at the moment, tomorrow during my “4 hour lunch” I will separate the engine and start to disassemble the transmission:
I also removed the axles as well as the old joints, I have new German made joints to go in but need to go pick up some synthetic grease:
Here is an axle shaft ready to accept the new joints:
My Peloquin Torque Biasing Differential, now the van will actually go places in the snow:
It looks awesome:
