Gearbox Oil Level

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 8:03 am

After a gearbox rebuild last year (had a problem with oil leaking from the rear seal) the problem continued but too a much lesser extent than previously

Anyway, over the weekend prior to getting the car back on the road i thought i'd top up the gearbox as i assumed it would need oil

With the car on the level, too my surprise, i unscrewed the level plug and oil ran out :?

I left the plug out for about 10 mins as oil continued to dribble out and i guess about 100ml came out.

I'm assuming that the garage that did the work overfilled. Considering the fact that it was overfilled, would this have any impact on the continued (but marginal) oil loss from the tailshaft area when the car was hot?

David Oslo · Post by **David Oslo** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:22 am

My opinion is that a proper (in working order) simring / oilseal on a proper (not worn) shaft should not leak both when rotating and when stationary. Independant of the static level of oil on the inside. Only case where I would think leak may occur is in case of overpressure, which is exactly why the gearbox, diff and engine block all have breather circuits venting to atmosphere.

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:43 am

Those were my thoughts

The leak is very small - more of a very slight dribble when the gearbox oil is hot

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 9:44 am

I wish mine leaked that little.

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 10:22 am

I haven't checked but it could of course be the speedo drive leaking

rolando38 · Post by **rolando38** » Mon Apr 27, 2015 1:24 pm

I guess you're talking about a manual stick , not auto ?

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Tue Apr 28, 2015 7:03 am

rolando38 wrote:I guess you're talking about a manual stick , not auto ?

yep

david muir · Post by **david muir** » Tue Apr 28, 2015 7:43 am

Had this last year after changing gearbox oil. although I'd left it dribbling from the level plug for 'a while' it proceeded to blow the excees from the breather pipe giving the impression of a sizeable leak(a little oil does go a long way!). Took level plug out again and there was still oil coming out!...........check the level!

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Tue Apr 28, 2015 3:52 pm

Took the car for a 20 mile round trip today - MOT (which she passed) and i noticed that whilst on the ramp that the gearbox is not dribbling any oil at all since reducing the level

It was damp around the speedo drive and i'm wondering if this was the culprit and exacerbated by the overfilled gearbox?

johnben · Post by **johnben** » Wed Apr 29, 2015 6:04 am

Candellara wrote:Took the car for a 20 mile round trip today - MOT (which she passed) and i noticed that whilst on the ramp that the gearbox is not dribbling any oil at all since reducing the level

It was damp around the speedo drive and i'm wondering if this was the culprit and exacerbated by the overfilled gearbox?

Hi, my advice would be to clean and dry the affected area so you know exactly where the problem is originating from, I had an oil leak from this area which was hard to identify but eventually tracked it down to the speedo angle drive fitting. Now leak free thanks to help from forum.
viewtopic.php?t=6228&highlight=speedo

John 67 2 + 2

abowie · Post by **abowie** » Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:03 am

How do you overfill the gearbox? It's like the diff. You put oil into the filler hole until it starts leaking out. You can't put more in after that...

Candellara · Post by **Candellara** » Wed Apr 29, 2015 10:54 am

It may have been bench filled or the vehicle was jacked up and at an angle whilst filling

David Oslo · Post by **David Oslo** » Wed Apr 29, 2015 5:32 pm

abowie wrote:How do you overfill the gearbox? It's like the diff. You put oil into the filler hole until it starts leaking out. You can't put more in after that...

that's easy :D

a) Fill it using the breather pipe (especially if last car had an auto box and that's how you're used to filling)

b) Jack one side of the car up and fill it through the filler hole. Quite natural if you done so in order to drain from the drain plug, and without thinking fill in the same operation.

c) Squeeze the oil bottle really hard and quickly screw on the gearbox plug before the oil rushes out, not realising your mistake.

NB! please note the :D e.g. this is meant tongue in cheek, and not meant to offend anyone (burnt my fingers on another thread a while back)

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