164 auto gearbox fixed cheaply

[Anthony Toy <anthonytoy@domain.elided>]

Thanks to the digesters who replied to my queries regarding my sick auto 
in my 91 164l.
To recap, the symptons were no kickdown, changes through the gears too 
quickly, occasionally could not select second or first manually. 
Occasionally unable to select reverse. After replacing the valve body 
this didn't fix the problem (however it did improve the gearchange in 
other areas). It turns out the problem was with the seals in the governor 
assembly.
It is a piston like arrangement with two neoprene seals and one cast iron 
retaining ring. One of the neoprene seals had broken, causing a drop in 
oil pressure and the above mentioned symptoms.
The job is a relatively easy one, the hardest bit being to remove the nut 
retaining the gear assembly as it is staked to prevent accidentally (and 
in my case intentionally) being undone. I had to resort to a bit of 
judicious grinding to finally remove it. Anyone wanting additonal details 
on how to do the job please email me directly and I will post the 
details. Total cost of the job was $67 Australian and 3-4 hours of my own 
time. Parts were from ZF in Sydney who were very helpful with advice and 
details on how to perform the job. I have left the $400 valve body 
changeover on as it has improved the gearchange. Now I just need to fix 
that leaking kickdown cable seal I noticed ....

Anthony Toy
Sydney (Kangaroo Valley) Australia
1991 164L and 1971 1750 GTV

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