Crayzkirk

After spending a few days pulling the transmission and tearing it down, I discovered nothing appears wrong with the clutches or gears. I pulled off the valve body and removed the accumulator piston. There it is; the seal is demolished.

If I had just believed that tech tip online about the accumulator piston, I'd be driving again. Oh well, live and learn I hope.

So, what's a good cleaning solvent? Mineral spirits for the case? What should I soak the valve body in? I'm NOT taking that apart...

Kirk S.

5000Q86

ATF is naturally high in detergents, but the higher the better. personally i think the best way is to soak the valve body in ATF.

BTW... was the original problem a tendency to bang into reverse or drive?

Crayzkirk

a tendency for the vehicle to act as though the parking brake was on as the temps got colder in first & reverse. After warm up, the car was fine. One day, it started doing it while driving. Changed fluid and filter, helped a little and then same symptoms. Fluid is really dark and has some particles in it. Stinks as well.

onfir3

So the fix is just a new accumulator piston and seal? Pretty sweet.
Agreed on Soaking it in ATF. Why do you think the particles are in the fluid and not on the parts.

For cleaning the sludge stuff off the pan or off the exterior of the valve body, again I often use brake clean, or any evaporative spray. Just don't use it where lubricant is needed.

Crayzkirk

Well, it is partially disassembled. All of the parts are out of the case. I'll take a look at each clutch pack to see if there is any sign of damage.

Simple Green on the case and external parts. Brake parts cleaner sounds like a good idea.

Actually, only the piston seal is bad. The discs and steels all look good. No discoloration, can still see the identification marks on all discs.

Even with it apart, I don't really understand how it works. Which clutch pack is engaged determines which gear set is applying power. Applying brakes to other parts of the system to cause shifts and fluid pressure running the show.

Although the seal was the only bad part found so far, disassembly and cleaning of the parts to remove debris and dirt won't hurt at all.

Thanks...

Kirk S.

Crayzkirk

Closer inspection has revealed chunks of friction material all over. Full teardown and replacement of friction discs is in order. I used two quarts of synthetic ATF + a can of SeaFoam to soak the valve body. The fluid now has the color of dark red blood. Every part is contaminated; running a finger over parts leaves a black residue.

Thankfully, all gears, bearings, sleeves, and plastic thrust washers look great. The brake band lining has cracks so I'll replace that. Maybe a molded piston kit, too.

Kirk S.

5000Q86

i could try to explain it to you, but without animations its nearly impossible to visualize whats happening.

Crayzkirk

Ok, it's all clean and shiny. Started replacing discs and noticed that, on the old and new ones, there are places where a tab is missing on all of the discs. Of course, I didn't notice this taking them apart. My thoughts on this are they are there to allow the fluid to flow more freely within the clutch pack so as I put them back together, I'm staggering the notches equally around the clutch.

Any danger in dunking the torque converter in a bucket of mineral spirits to help get out the contamination? Or should I simply pour in some transmission fluid, let it soak a while and siphon is out?

Also, several clips look the same however they are not! One is simply a retaining clip and the other can be a special thickness for setting play when the clutch is not engaged. It's all definitely tighter inside with new discs.

I can also see why the VW holding tool would be nice; you have to tilt and turn the casing a bunch of different ways to get the parts in because of split bearings.

Thanks for the info. Once the weather warms up, I can get this thing put back together.

Kirk S.

Crayzkirk

Now I'm worried...

It all went together with no issues. Borrowed a micrometer and all clutch clearances were just above the minimum. No extra parts and it turns easy.

Drained the torque converter and filled it with Sea Foam and synthetic ATF. Let it soak overnight and drained it.

Everything looks good. I kinda wish someone else were putting it back together. Especially that under the car part.

Kirk S.