hi,
im new here, so first a quick intro-
im a not so young motoring nut from Bundy. over the years i have owned numerous cars inc a 65 kombi and a 74 kombi.
i just recently bought a t3 transporter after having no veebubs for 15 years. the t3 is not my daily driver. not sure what i will do with it yet, but first i wish to ascertain its current state of repair. its drivable and looks quite good, but has 375000 plus km on it.
engine has oil leaks, but i will pull it down, so im not worried about that.
the gearbox questions-
before i pull the engine out, i want to know how bad the tranny is. currently it has a whine that varies with speed, and would appear to be a diff or other final drive noise. otherwise the gearbox acts ok. ( its a 1989, 2.1 wbx. 5 speed rwd only)
the first thing i want to do is change the tranny oil and see if that improves things, but i have not found a lot of info on this.
the questions are-
do the gearbox and diff share the same oil.?
what is the oil volume to replace, ?
what oil grade is preffered ?
and ' is there anything else i need to know' about t3 trannys ?
thanks for taking the time
Richard

T3 tranny pinion bearing suffers from overheating and is a usual issue. If left the pinion will continue to go out of mesh which eventually destroys the ring and pinion assembly. My T3 was similar, purchased at 360 000km with a pinion brg noise....I kept driving it, many towing a car and trailer miles until it died in a big way, spewing oil as the out of mesh pinion pushed the front housing away from the main gearbox casing. My panel now has 391 000k's on the clock, I cracked a head at 375 so as I repaired it I got to inspect the engine internals....the bore and headstuds were as good as the day it was built. Valves are showing age, but otherwise engine is a dream. This is primarily due to it being VW serviced from day 1 and driven hard...it's a commercial afterall, so was thrashed (I even knew the sales people, the service crew and got told about the company that originally purchased the van) Proper servicing and driven hard....perfect. Hopefully your engine is similar. I'd refrain from a complete teardown unless you know it's necessary.

Gearbox and diff share oil. I use 80W90 hypoid, I think 3.5 litres.

thanks for the quick reply.
i will see what some new fluid does.

from what you say, re the pinion bearing, maybe look at that while the engine is out. we shall see.
thanks again for the info.
Richard

I would agree. First drain the oil and see what is damaged.

I know the syncro crown wheel and pinions are NLA but Albins gears are now making them so they can be purchasedso I assume the 2wd would be the same.

There is an excellent T3 gearbox rebuilder in Wauchope NSW named Ronn Smidt

here is another site that may help you

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/forums.html