siddus74 Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 My 1360 Herald kit car project even when sat for a long period of time leaks gearbox oil .. its constantly wet along the bottom bell houseing joint highlighted in yellow .. ive done a little research and spitfire gearbox has a bolt with a copper washer that mates with the input shaft.. is the Herald gearbox the same? Is it common for them to leak like this from the bolt with the copper washer? It needs 3rd / 4th syncro so I need to pull it any way, but id like to know why the leak is so bad in this place even when stationary .. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 Youre right that all the small chassis gearboxes have the lowest of the bell housing to casing bolts needing a copper washer because its threaded hole goes right through into the oil. However if this leaks the oil will go into the bell housing and come out of its drain hole not the joint you have circled. Here theres a gasket which should seal the area but the bell housing to main case fixing bolts (like all of the gearbox bolts) seem to loosen over time so leaks start... The free to download manuals from vitessesteve.co.uk have very good sectional diagrams that show the gearbox design👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siddus74 Posted February 18 Author Report Share Posted February 18 Ah .. so its more than likely it just needs a new gasket? Is this a common issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted February 18 Report Share Posted February 18 Yes the gearboxes seem pretty prone to leaks and I dont know if its the mix of aluminium and cast iron but I always find the bolts loose. Im going to thread lock the bolts on the one Im building at the moment.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 all the 3 rail and other boxes have as jonny says a paper gasket agree the copper washer leak would be into the clutch hsg, your leak is from the gasketed joint some use a sealed this is not best as the faces can pant/shuffle and the sealer fails the bolts become almost loose if you use a sealer on the paper gasket use a hardsetting like wellseal no slippy silicon stuff Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siddus74 Posted February 19 Author Report Share Posted February 19 Pete, thanks for the reply and advice. Makes sense to me. Do you know if the fill bung level is above the height of the input shaft? and if you are supposed to fill the gearbox with fluid until it reaches the fill plug level? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johny Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 You fill until oil comes out of the fill plug and thats below the input shaft. Non overdrive only takes 1.5 pints which its why its critical to keep it topped up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 19 Report Share Posted February 19 agree its a level /filler best done parked on the level ground, access can be a fiddle , easy if the tunnel is off many make a access opening in the tunnel so checking is made easier the input shaft is quite likely a scroll not an oil seal so parked on inclines can show up as a leak when not running , as needs to rotate to spin the oil back into the case . the advantage is ,,,,,it cant wear out . the diff also has a level/filler located just behind the N/s drive output shaft best accessed by removing the rear wheel and look through the chassis. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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