Manual gearbox changed?

[Jagman42]

Hi there, i am new to the forum and am looking for some help. I have a series 2 manual 4.2 which had some major restoration work done on it approx 15 years ago. The car had a full engine out respray etc plus other work and has done very little mileage since. New clutch etc fitted then.
I have never actually changed the gearbox fluid but decided to do so recently and removed the carpet to get at the access hole on the tunnel.

It seems that my gearbox does not seem to have the screwplug to enable me check the fluid level as shown in the workshop manuel.
It does have marks on the casing showing where you COULD fit one if a thread was drilled etc however cannot find any plug. This all makes me think that my gearbox has been switched during the resto work and i have presumably accquired some other ( hopefully ) Jaguar box.

Cannot seem to find any access holes anywhere else for checking level etc but have not yet put it up on a lift to check.

Does anyone thoughts as to what box would have been presumably a direct fit onto my existing engine block and where might I find the access filler plug??

Appreciate a bit of a vague question without actually seeing the box etc plus sure someone will know the answer.
Thanks

[Quattrofrank]

On my series 2 the filling plug is on the oposite side of the cover enabling filling from inside of the car.
In other words you have to do this from the underside of the car.
I guess there was little communication between the chassi and drivetrain department at jaguar.

[malcolm]

Mine has to be accessed from underneath as well. Think you need to look on the other side under the car.
They probably continued to fit tunnels with access hatches after they changed the positioning of the plug!

[Gfhug]

I'll add a ditto to this, my S2 has the oil filler/level plug on the RHS.

[Jagman42]

Thanks guys for your input and i will check this over the weekend. As i said there is a mark in the original gearbox casting on the passenger side so presumably they had the castings set up for both sides and whoever was working on the car decided which side to drill!
At least this is what i am hoping!
Will check out and report back.

[Jagman42]

Have dismantled the top covering of the gearbox and can see that there is a bolt on the drivers side of the gearbox which is almost at the top of the gearbox casing. I see that there is no access hole as per the passenger side that will allow you to undo the bolt hence your comments reaccess underneath the car as the bolt seems slightly angled to the gearbox.
It is in front of the speedo drive.
Is this the correct oil filler access/ Seems a very small hole?? and a pretty tight access?

Also any recommendations re new fluid is best ? Car has done approx 65000 and box is pretty smooth but does have the odd crunch or two!

[christopher storey]

If it is near the top of the casing it is certainly not the oil filler hole. The correct oil level in the gearbox is roughly speaking half way up the casing , and the filler orifice will be at that level. The correct oil is 75W/90 but people do use redline lubricats , but what grade I am not sure

[Jagman42]

Christopher Storey
Thanks for your reply, it is the only bolt in the casing down wall on the drivers side of the gearbox. I have not taken the bolt out as yet as car is on a slope and only have access to lift tomorrow when am doing handbrake cable tightening.
Problem is that all the manuals show the filler plug on the passenger side so the only way i will find out is by taking it out and seeing if fluid comes out, however as suspect it has been leaking fluid may already be below the bolt level, unless you have any other suggestions as to how I could check the level??
Thanks for all your help so far

[Hugo]

If in doubt, just drain it and fill with the correct quantity. You can pour it in anywhere you like. As an aside, I am completely new to E Types, but as a general rule synchromesh boxes prefer ATF. In the good old days, EP oils and Hypoid oils were quite different animals, but nowadays the alchemists have managed to make one oil that serves both functions. Extreme pressure oils were fine in synchromesh gearboxes, but hypoid oils were not. They are designed for gears that slide against each other, and they also facilitate the synchro rings to slide over the cones, instead of biting. This can make for hard shifting. Certainly with heavy commercial gearboxes, these can become almost un-driveable if somebody puts hypoid (or hypoid/EP) oil in there.