Henry Boler

I just completely dismantled my spare overdrive and cleaned it all up. It's in very good condition, so may well end up on the car eventually. From under the car it looks like I should be able to test whether the pump is going or not as you can see the piston moving with the plug out. I might just take the overdrive off anyway and find out what is going on. Nothing is ever easy is it!? Henry

Hi Pete, It's a D Type. I'm pretty sure I put the key in as I had to fettle it a bit and also the cam was rigid. Regarding the spool valve cap, I've had the whole thing out, the hole down the valve wasn't blocked, but with the cap off there was no oil movement at all... Solenoid is fine, I've been operating the lever by hand to see if it was a position issue but the box doesn't respond to any position. I guess it's a pump issue then... Is there a way I can get to the pump from underneath to see if it is running? I have a spare overdrive so I'll have a quick look at that too. Henry

Hi All, you may have seen my other thread pointing out that the car is drivable again! If not, well it hasn't been for a while because of gearbox issues, now it's fixed, ish... The overdrive wont do anything at all... I have got the car up on stands so I can run the gearbox whilst playing about with stuff. At first the solenoid levers return spring and shaft wouldn't return properly but I took the plug out and freed that up so it all appears fine now. I had to rebuild the overdrive to clean out all the crud from the gearbox failure a month or so ago. Is there anything obvious I can do without taking the overdrive out the car again? Cheers, Henry

Right, I've finally done some stuff! The car is driving again. I built a new gearbox out of a load of random stuff I found at home. It's not perfect, but it'll do. Main issue is the overdrive now... It won't do anything... Gonna start a new thread about that one! Henry

I like your suggestion! Henry

I must say it did surprise me rather a lot! Yes, I'll make sure that one stays on the shaft I think! I will be taking every last little bit apart and cleaning everything for a fresh start. Henry

So, tonight's findings... I managed to get the gearbox out from inside the car. Getting the bellhousing bolts out was hard, and it barely fitted, had to rotate the whole thing to fit through the tunnel! Got the gearbox apart. Verdict, completely f***ed up beyond any chance of repair! So the laygear at one end had absolutely no sign of there being any needle bearing, and was burned out and expanded. as was the adjacent layshaft hole in the case. Oh yeah, did I mention the layshaft? Or, rather, layshafts? Yeah, that's right it was in two pieces! And the retaining pin was in the overdrive... Reverse is a bit worn, but that's about it as far as gear damage goes. The mainshaft tip bearing is intact but has rough marks on the needles... So I can't decide whether the bearing on the layshaft jammed and made it break or whether it broke and then ruined the bearing... Also I'm amazed at the lack of incredibly loud noises too... On a plus side, I have what I believe is a 2000 vitesse gearbox in very good condition, but it's non overdrive, so I've taken it to bits and will build one out of all the best bits (story of my life!) I guess. Henry

I'll give it a go and let you know the results! Henry

Nothing wrong with the engine, in fact, much the opposite! I wanted to take the overdrive off for a bit of a service. Thing is, I've tried numerous times to get the gearbox from a spitfire with no success and I found I could get the whole thing off with the engine in about 45 minutes in the end! I'm also reluctant to scratch anything on the inside if I can help it... I'll keep you up to date! Don't worry! Henry

Thanks for the offer Neil, Hope you had a good evening! Update: I got as far as nearly unbolting the overdrive, but when I drained the oil, so much stuff fell out I just gave up there and then!! Gonna have to clear the workshop out and get her in for a full engine out job now! Henry

Okay, that makes sense and from what I can feel and hear when driving sounds a very likely option. As far as worn gears go, I would hope they are okay as they were all immaculate only two years ago! Good shout on the overdrive, never considered doing that! I'm well aware of the huge faff of lining up the splines, usually get down there with a long screwdriver and try and flick them back straight! I'll get the tunnel out when I'm home and I'll get someone to drive me about whilst I have a poke about. Hahaha, that made me chuckle! Henry

I think the change is feeling a bit odd, but then again you know when these things happen, suddenly your senses heighten and everything feels wrong!! Also forgot to mention, she jumped out of reverse last night whilst I was having a listen to reverse which is quite noisy. There is no noise at idle whatsoever. I'm not 100% sure but I'd say gear profile. The whine is a road speed related whine. So if the mainshaft case bearing has displaced, that could be a bearing fault that is causing gear noise as without the bearing in place the gears wouldn't mesh right, could also explain the reverse problem right? Is there enough room for the mainshaft bearing to come right out into the overdrives space? Enough to allow the mainshaft to lose concentricity? And I assume I could fix all this by taking just the overdrive out of the car, which I could do with doing anyway (going for whatever sounds easiest!!). Henry

I've had second thoughts since my drive home last night. I'm not 100% sure about the lack of noise in 4th, also if it was the mainshaft tip bearing I assume I'd be correct in saying the whine would be a higher pitch in 1st, lower in 2nd and then again in 3rd and silent in 4th? If so that's not the case, it seems to be a speed related pitch. So does that mean it would be on the output side of things? Part of me was suspecting the diff, but the gearbox feels funny in gear changes etc... Correct me if I'm wrong, but assuming a constant road speed, the Layshaft runs at different speeds in different gears and the main shaft remains the same? Which would point at something at the back of the box or the overdrive? Also, do bearings actually whine? This sounds like a gear whine to me... I'm confused... Either way I think I'm gonna have to pull the engine and gearboxes out and inspect them. Henry

Nice! Sounds about right! That's the whole reason I did the ground up rebuild on my car, as there was literally nothing that didn't need completely rebuilding. So it wasn't worth fixing, just started from scratch and did it properly!

I do still have my old input shaft and main shaft that had a removable spigot. Perhaps that's something I could look into in the future... For now though, I think just take it out, fix it and give everything a good clean before going back in!

Think I'm gonna have to go to work in 4th the whole way tomorrow as I'm out with the car at the moment!!

I'm a bit worried as the new main shaft and input shaft cost me a lot of money a few years ago and I'm reluctant to damage them if I can help it. When I took my gearbox apart years ago that needle bearing was a load of sludge in the bottom of the box and it just about still worked! http://www.canleyclassics.com/triumph-gt6-mkiii-constant-pinion-countershaft-and-reverse-shaft-gears/ Look at part 144782, that's the suspected bearing. The reason they are quiet in 4th is because both the input and main shafts are going at the same speed, and the bearing doesn't need to move.

Oh joy! It's not even 2 years old yet!!

Hi All, Driving to and from work today highlighted something new in my gearbox. I drive my car a lot, almost every day and this has started today. Seems to be whining quite loudly in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear, I haven't checked reverse yet, but 4th seems quiet. The gearbox is usually silent, even with the tunnel cover off. Would this be likely to have something to do with the Needle Roller Bearing between the input shaft and the main shaft? Let me know your thoughts! Henry