once again, hard to find part

wopnick · Post by **wopnick** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 6:12 pm

So yesterday I finally got to go visit my car to get the engine code and was doing a visual check of parts on my transmission (what I could see anyways). I noticed that one of the input shafts was slightly crooked. I pull the two inner shaft out of the tranny and checked them. Sure enough the smallest one was bent very slightly. Anyone have any idea where i can get one? I can't find it anywhere. Thanks for your help guys, it's been very useful.

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 6:09 am

Is this auto or manual? Ray

wopnick · Post by **wopnick** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 6:14 pm

it be an auto. I wish it was a stick, someday I hope to convert.

wildthings · Post by **wildthings** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 6:41 pm

I would think that the inner shaft could safely be straightened. I would lay the shaft across a flat block of wood so that the bend is up and centered on the block. Gently rap the shaft with a heavy hammer right at the bend. Check to see if the bend has straightened at all. If not rap harder, if yes repeat the gentle blows until the shaft is straight. Do not try to straighten the shaft in one blow as you may over do it.

A brass or other soft hammer would be good, but is probably not necessary.

You can check for absolute straightness by rolling the shaft along two round dowels or pieces of pipe, and watching for wobble.

The 003 automatic was used in several years of VW vans during the early 1970's as well as the Type 4. Automatic parts from a van should be easier to find.

wopnick · Post by **wopnick** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 6:55 pm

sounds good. I thought of straightening but I'm afraid to reuse the shaft. The other problem I've ran into is that no junkyard will part with the shaft alone without trying to stick me with paying for the whole tranny.

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:39 am

Just get the whole tranny. Its very worth it to have all the spare parts. I am not exactly sure which shaft you are refering to. There are several. The slightest bend in any of them is dangerous. These must be very straight. Many trannys sied this way. Some previous owner either seperated teh differential case from the transfer case incorrectly...or did not support the torque converter....or most likely did not correctly align the engine and tranny package.
If the driveline is not properly aligned.....100% of the time...it will either cause longterm wear to teh tranny and rear engine main (it slightly misaligned)....or will cause bending and fast wear and leakage if hevaily mis-aligned. Ray

wildthings · Post by **wildthings** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:11 am

The 003 trany was also used on the Type 3, but I am less sure the shafts would be the interchangable as the Type 3 used a Type 1 engine instead of the Type 4 engine. The only shaft which you should consider straightening is the inner shaft, it is under a much lower load than the other shafts, driving only the oil pump. Get it as straight as you can with no visible wobble and you should be all right.

This shaft gets bent when you pull the engine without unbolting the torque convertor. If your engine is seized and you can't get at the torque convertor bolts, it is best to pull the engine and trany as a unit and seperate them once they are on the ground.

raygreenwood · Post by **raygreenwood** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:09 pm

The type 3 tranny should drop right into the type 4 . I had always thought they had different bell housing...but several people said they are the same. I am trying to remember exactly how the type 3 suspends teh engine...but in the type 4.....this is a big problem when the whole driveline package is not correctly aligned and there is a written warning as such in all of the manuals. Yes...you are correct....not supporting the torque converter can do this....but on the 411/412...because the rear tranny bushing is required to have "0" weight on it...and the rear hanger is required to have nearly "0" weight....there is a simple...but required alignment procedure for 411/412 's...that MUST be done...or this will also happen. There are 4 seperate adjustment points for this in teh 411/412. Ray

wopnick · Post by **wopnick** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 5:58 pm

thanks for all the info guys. I plan on getting a spare tranny and as they're fairly cheap at the wrecking yard (170 bucks) i'm flat broke so it'll be a little ways off until I can pick one up. Thankfully the owner of the junk yard is willing to recondition an older one in trade for my bent and useless one. Speaking of which, if anyone needs parts for ANY volkswagen, I can get it for cheap and am more then willing to ship those parts anywhere as long as whoever needs it covers the costs of shipping and parts.