Towing with an automatic

[john davis]

Hi....has anybody got any experience of towing with a 2.1 automatic? My caravan is getting towards the top end of the weight limit in the specs (ie c1250kg). In days gone by I had to fit an extra oil-cooler onto to my old Volvo automatic after it started to blow the atf out of the filler tube; any liklihood of this with the VW? Looking at things underneath, I'm not even sure if you can fit an extra cooler?
Why do I need to tow the caravan....'cos the wife doesn't like to spend more than 2/3 consecutive nights in the camper. The deal is: I can keep the camper if it will tow the caravan.....I hate ultimatums!

[Ian Hulley]

Matt and Torz have a 2.1 automatic dragging the Supershitecaravan Clampettmobile, they'll be able to tell you

Ian.

[Syncro G]

Should work alright. My Dad had one that he used to tow the same size of caravan every summer for 18 years. (from new untill over 160k miles, same 'box). In fact I think it clocked its 100k mile towing a caravan somewhere in france.

Not a farrari but would sit at 60 hapilly unless the hill was steep, then it'd drop off a bit. It was completely stock and well serviced, never had a problem. I think they have a heat exchanger on the gearbox to shift unwanted heat into the coolent water? It used to benifit from a small drive before hitching up to get the gearbox up to temp. Towing on a cold box was noticeably more sluggish.

[vanwesty]

I have been towing a plant trailer loaded with mini tractors,mowers and landscaping gear around the hills of mid Devon with the same 2.1 auto pickup for 19 years still got original engine and gearbox 110,000 miles tows like a dream.

[Dubstar]

I've been doing a lot of internet research since my autobox went last month. Mine was an Aircooled without the oil cooler but the replacement I got had it. No good for me though as it uses a heat exchange system with the water coolant. It also wouldn't clear the cross member so I took it off and bridged it with a piece of pipe and connectors I had made locally. Some of the websites I was looking on - mostly American, the home of the auto - suggest changing the atf fluid every year, and adding an additional cooler if doing a lot of towing as the atf can reach up to 300 degrees. Although they weren't VW specific, more like those big V8 Chevys and things. I'm going to install an oil cooler on mine shortly anyway, as after a long run with the old box, it was really sluggish after a while, and that's without towing anything - no towbar.
So basically it should be ok, just change the atf regularly and think about fitting an air cooler in place of the water exchanger. If you keep the heat exchanger on, then Go Westy recommend it as a service item - see below.
http://www.gowesty.com/library_article.php?id=305

[john davis]

Thanks everybody, you've set my mind at ease; was thinking of getting a smaller caravan but will stick with what I've got.
John