Every VW rabbit/golf transaxle I have ever taken apart has the black slime in it. Which means the second transaxle might be fine. I don't know much about Prestolite motors, but if it doesn't have a cooling fan (like an external blower) then it might be a good idea, regardless of the transmission selection.
Just my opinion, Seth Paul G wrote: > > Hi, > > Well, I've got the front suspension and axles out of my VW Pickup right > now. The axles are being rebuilt, new stuts inserts, A2 Jetta springs, new > rubber and most certainly new wheel bearings. While doing this I plan to > build a lower control arm frame connector. That will run right under the > tranny, and I'm wondering about my current choice. > > Its a 120v system with a Prestolite MTC 4001 motor. This is a rather low > rpm per volt, high torque per amp motor, the curves for it are closer to an > ADC 9" motor than the ADC 8" motor is more often compared too. The > controller is a 450 amp baby DCP (600 motor amps peak, and about 400 > battery amps in practice). The motor comes out of current limit at about > 3500rpm. The Pickup weighs about 3300lbs. My biggest concern is freeway > efficiency and not overheating the motor, either transaxle I have will be > about equal around town. > > First, the same motor and pack voltage is in my Buggy (Optimas are stiffer, > current limit about 3600rpm). At 60mph the motor is turning 4200rpm in > third (150 amps). There is not alot of throttle left, but with such a light > vehicle I don't need much power to easily maintain speed up freeway grades. > > Now my Pickup gearing choices: > > 1. The tranny in there now runs 3700rpm at 60mph in 3rd. I have gotten the > motor temp light on once (the motor temp switch seems to be conservitively > low temp to avoid damage). But I had a bad alignment, wheel bearing, and > still don't have a bed cover. I don't know how much this stuff will help, > so there is some blind guesswork here. 2nd gear is 10mph per 1000 motor > rpm, sometimes that gets me to use 1st. 4th gear is to tall to be of any > use (2450rpm at 60mph). The tranny looks good inside the oil fill hole and > all gears are quiet. > > 2. The tranny on the garage floor is the one that came out of the Pickup. > It never moved the Pickup as an EV, but the motor was run attached to it > originally. 3rd gear at 60mph would equal 4450rpm. At that rpm I figure at > full throttle the Presto will only draw about 200 amps. That is very little > throttle reserve for freeway grades. 4th gear may be an option that could > be used briefly, 3150rpm at 60mph (this is stock VW Pickup 4 speed > gearing). 2nd gear is about 9mph per 1000rpm, so I may be slightly less > inclined to find 1st gear (espcially starting on a mild grade). 4th gear in > the tranny is a little more noisy that it should be (couldn't hear that > over the diesel, but could over the presto). I think the tranny was run > very low of gear oil as the oil in it when I got it was clean and amber, > but reaching inside the fill hole I could wipe out a black sludge film. I > don't know how much harm it has really seen, it does shift just fine (I > drove the Pickup about 200 miles as a diesel). > > OK, what would list members choose, and why? > > Thanx for the help, > Neon -- vze3v25q@verizondotnet
