Be afriad, be very afraid, some VW T3 gearbox destruction is the title of this post for a very good reason. As this is one of the worst gearboxes Ive seenin a while I thought I would share it with you. Also the cause of its destruction is a slight mystery and not what you would think at first. The following gearbox is a VW T3 Syncro gearbox that was mated to a Subaru and was rebulit 7 years ago. 

Cause of failure 

 

From what I can see there is nothing in the rebuild that was the cause of this gearbox failure.  Upon first impressions one would assume that the box was result of a severe bump start.  However it could be due to a number of other factors, a fitting  error ?   A propshaft failure resulting in a cracked nose cone?  A bearing failure  due to lack of oil ? Or a combination of all the above causes its very difficult to say. Needless to say this box has suffered a lot of damage and from my priliminary investigations the pinion shaft is a write off. Anyhow heres the pics. but I shall update you with more images of destruction and also of redemption I hope. Whether it becomes a donor or a rebuild all usuable parts will be salvaged  

Be Afraid be very Afraid, some VW T3 gearbox destruction 2019 03 01 17.27.16
box dsetruction bump start ?

Note wear and damage to the mounting arms on the reduction gear housing. These should be slots not holes 

vw t3 gearbox destruction wear and damage bad fitting?
vw t3 gearbox destruction wear and damage bad fitting2?

What they should look like 

VW T3 Syncro Gearbox Reduction gear housing

Note fracture on nose cone posibbly from propshaft failure ?This would have allowed water ingress and also oil to leak out 

vw t3 gearbox destruction nose cone
vw t3 gearbox destruction nose cone bits

A good nose cone for comparison 

VW T3 Syncro gearbox nose cone and contents

signs of water ingress (rust) on bearing in nose cone 

2019-vw t3 gearbox destruction nose cone water ingress

Sealing surface ok apart from very slight scoring. Seal was working ok on output flange to prop

2019-vw t3 gearbox destruction nose cone water ingress 2

The Real Destruction

What the contents should look like 

VW T3 Syncro gearbox reduction gear housing and contents

What they look like.  A huge amount of damage here, no traces of any bearings and a lot of debris 

2019-vw t3 gearbox destruction reverse gear

The remains of a R/G gear Synchroniser 

Be Afraid be very Afraid, some VW T3 gearbox destruction 2019 03 12 08.38.09

What it should look like, a  new one for comparison 

VW T3 Gearbox R/1st gear synchroniser

Mainshaft Bearing failure note the missing balls 

VW T3 gearbox destruction Mainshaft bearing failure

G gear in reduction gear housing. Note damage to case at the top

G gear in reduction housing

To be continued .........

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