Club 80-90 Forums

I am putting this question up for my little (fnurk!) brother:

"Driving home today from beautiful Wales (Port Talbot) into a 20knot headwind I noticed that my RPM varied somewhat with relation to my speed. (my steering was somewhat wayward as well!).
Can anyone advise me whether the 3 speed auto box fitted to the T3 (in my case 2.1DJ) has a lock up mechanism in the torque converter when cruising in 3rd gear or is it being driven on the torque converter at all times.
I have been looking into Autos at work (Honda) recently and had assumed that the VW box would have such a mechanism on at least the final gear if not second as well. My rev counter suggests not, unless the ECU had disabled it (due to the hilly terrain and head wind) or it is not functioning??


Any techy knowhow would be appreciated"

The Haynes 'book of lies and halve truths' does mention the auto......once...

Cheers

I would imagine driving a brick into a headwind would mean the foot would be on the boards so encouraging the engine to change up
locking it in third would overheat the trans fluid I would think

I believe in the Auto box there are only 3 speeds - so 3 is top.

What I think was happening was that even though his foot was stationary on the accelerator, his revs were changing as the vehicle was buffeted by the head wind - So I suppose its like clutch slip on a manual - This is what the torque converter does? But once in 'top' should there be a lockout to stop this happening?