New to Autoshift, Tech issues?

[grabenkater]

Hi everyone my wife just bought an all original 1972 model Super Bettle. This is the first car I have ever driven with the Autoshift feature. It seems to be shifting hard, especially into reverse. Is this something that I could be doing? or could it be the transmission itself?

I have read everything in the owners manual, and in the Chilton repair manual. Both do not give any relivant information.

Thanks

[volkenstein]

Grabenkater,
                 Bookwus (Mike) in that post has a detailed post on checking the electrics and vacuum systems which are at the heart of an A-S shifting decently. You can do a lot of the checking fairly easily. Do all the checks first as it may save you a pretty penny.

pm NovaGhiaOwner. He has a scanned A-S section you can wade through whilst waiting for a Bentley. It's about 5.4 Mb, so a bit of a dialup killer.

Enjoy
Volkenstein

[bookwus]

Hiya grab,

Hey Volkenstein!  Thanks for the plug!

Grab, if you read that post (hey everyone! grinding question....) you should have enough information to do a little troubleshooting on your own.  But do know this elemental truth, the shift action is really dependent on three variables....1.  electrical contact, 2.  vacuum assist, and 3.  engine condition.  All need to be coordinated to give you a smooth shift.

FWIW, the most common culprit in a hard shift is a misplaced vacuum hose (the small one routed from the control valve to the carburetor).  But do hang out here and ask questions for your specific case - somebody here has been there before and you will save yourself from having to invent the wheel all over again.