Club 80-90 Forums

My auto box is leaking. On the nearside above the drain / dipstick there is a 2-3 inch round 'thingy' (inspection hole?) held in place by a big circlip. Well thats where it's seeping from ! I've not took it off yet to investigate. Any advice welcome. Cheers in advance, John.

Yep. had the same problem on my old camper. It's called a governor cover (I think). Mine had rusted at the front and developed a pin sized hole but when you're moving the oil squirts out. You can remove it when the van's stationary and the engine's off - I never tried with the engine running.

I tried to source a spare but had no luck and had to get the hole welded up; but be very careful as it's very thin and can warp out of shape due to the heat from the welding. I had to run around for a few months with a sort of gear box 'nappy' taped around it....

Thank you 1664, thats really helpful. I'll have a look today. If it comes out easy i'll get it welded. It looks pretty furred up so if it doesn't come out i'll cross that bridge when i get to it. heading off to my garage with optimism !

Hopefully we are talking about the same part. Looks like a cover / cap about the size of a small tin of beans held in place by a curved 'm' shaped metal spring that looks like it's made from a metal coat hanger? Protrudes out from the gearbox body on the passenger side?

Acording to my Oct 1987 edition of workshop manual for VW automatic gearbox 090 the governor is in the diff case on the UK passenger side just in front and above the final drive shaft. It is a cup shaped cover held in place by an M shaped spring clip. The flat cover on the passenger side of the gearbox just above the filler/dipstick tube is the 2nd gear brake piston cover. The cover appears to be a machined item retained by a circlip, the manual says "various versions in use, install only cover with 2 grooves for "O" rings".
I hope this is of some help. Sid

Looks like I've got the wrong bit then



I'll get me coat

Hi all, yep when i got out there i saw the cover you meant. Mine is more to the front of the vehicle actually on the auto box. I got the circlip off but couldn't shift the plate. I was scared of doing irrepairable damage so i cleaned it off and put some metal filler in to get me slightly mobile whilst i do some more homework on it. I'll let you know if it holds, Cheers

belucky wrote:Hi all, yep when i got out there i saw the cover you meant. Mine is more to the front of the vehicle actually on the auto box. I got the circlip off but couldn't shift the plate. I was scared of doing irrepairable damage so i cleaned it off and put some metal filler in to get me slightly mobile whilst i do some more homework on it. I'll let you know if it holds, Cheers

hi , just done mine , as mine was leaking, take the clip off , get a piece of stout wood resting on the cup amd gently tap it all around , it will come loose, there is an o ring in the box but dont know where you would get a replacement from,clean all around the area and the cup, i put mine back with a very sparingly use of gasket sealer round the outside of the cap - making sure not to get any on the inside so not to contaminate the auto fluid, been fine since - no leaks

Cheers Palmtree. I'll have a go as the magic metal has only partially stopped it.
If you happen to read this, can I just confirm there is no chance of knocking the cup into the gearbox ?

Thank for the advice

belucky wrote:Cheers Palmtree. I'll have a go as the magic metal has only partially stopped it.
If you happen to read this, can I just confirm there is no chance of knocking the cup into the gearbox ?

Thank for the advice

no chance, just tap it from all directions till you see/feel it move then carefully withdraw it, a little bit of fluid may come out, good luck

Van seems fine now, although i'm underneath after every journey to keep an eye on it ! A big thankyou to all who helped.

The rubber O-ring which seals it is about £3 from VW commercial