[T3] Early vs Late Automatic

[Jim Adney]

On 12 Dec 2013 at 12:49, Adam Douglass wrote:

> "The Type 3 automatic is a very solid transmission. They are known to
> go for over 100k miles with no problems. The worst problem can be the
> torque converter seal leaking, and there is a trick to fixing that:
> Put 2 seals in it." 

I have a couple of seals here, "just in case" but I've never seen one 
leak and I've never sold one. My sample isn't huge, but it's bigger 
than most.

I don't know if there is actually room for 2 seals, in most 
applications there isn't. Plus a seal needs lubrication or it will 
fail quickly, so it's likely that the seal on the "dry" side would 
fail early and you'd never know it. And then we'd have people saying, 
"I always install double seals and I've never had a problem." And 
they never knew that their dry side seal failed in the first 10 
miles.

In my opinion, the thing to do would be to clean and polish the 
surface the seal runs on. If that surface is damaged, there are other 
things you can, and should, do.

Wet the seal lip with ATF before you install the TC. You should lube 
the lip of ANY seal you install.

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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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