sparky_spit Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Whilst underneath the 1500 Spit the other day I noticed a small drop of oil under the bellhousing drip hole. I wiped it away and noticed the hole was blocked. I poked it with a screwdriver and it looked as though some putty had been put in there by the PO. I unblocked it and about 75 to 100 ml of oil came out! There must have been one and a half inches worth in the bellhousing! I caught some of it and it definitely had some black in it, so I guess it's the engine rear seal. It was quite thick also, so maybe some gear oil too? or maybe it's just that it was cold?This explains why the clutch has started grabbing, even though I know the PO put a new clutch in about 14 months ago. He's an idiot - I wish he'd just told me about the leak rather than blocking up the drip hole! I'm now going to do a quick in/out job, whip the box off; clutch/flywheel off, backplate and seal carrier. Change the seal and clutch friction plate and then whip it back together.Question is... looking at the diagrams there appears to be no seal on the gearbox input shaft - is that correct? Does it normally leak from there? If there is a seal, can it be replaced from the front without taking the box apart?Is there anything else I need to look for on the crank oil seal surface, like taking off the shiny ring where the seal lip touches with wet & dry? Or leave it? This is a quick in/out job, so I don't want to do any more dismantling than necessary.Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocita Rosso Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Hiya ,correct no oil seal between gear box and bell housing only a paper gasket. Then bolted on with 4 boltsOne being a `plug `for the gear box oil and with a squdgy copper washer.This can be the source of leak if that bolt/copper washer is failing. There is a rubber seal that goes in the bell hsg from the engine side. There is no seal against the main shaft roller bearing. Id plump for that coppper washer/bolt. Unless there is a fail in the rear crankshaft seal. Bell hg and gear box out .....crankshaft oilseal can be done int car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thealligator Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Engine out is my thought as it easier than gearbox and you dont have reck the inside of the car. I would suject crankshaft oil seal. Plus replace the clutch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Easy to tell difference between engine and gearbox oil - smell it!Sniff a bottle of fresh each, then sniff your leak.John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 As it's a Triumph, it'll be a blend of both :PTry running for a while with that hole unblocked as you are absolutely bound to get some oil past that scroll seal in any case and the oil you describe may just be an accumulation of "normal" leakage.Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Bancroft Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Mike,Take it you have a single rail bearbox. Quite heavy, but I would still take the box out and leave the engine in the car and change the crankseal in-situ.Def engine oil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky_spit Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 The engine/box complete is definitely coming out; when I said quick in/out that's exactly what I meant... it's coming out, I'm fixing it while it's hanging on the crane, and then it's going back in. The crane I use makes this very quick and easy.It is engine oil, I can smell it and it compares in smell to the oil on the dipstick. It's just that it's thicker. Now this could be because it's cold, or it could be because there's gear oil mixed in there too, hence the question about the gearbox input shaft seal.The drip hole is now clear and it only drips a bit, so normally I'd leave it. But, because it has had 12 months of "drips" building up in the bellhousing the clutch now judders so therefore it's contaminated. So, as I have to change that I might as well change the rear crank seal while I have the box off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrapman Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 MikeI think there might be an oil seal in the bell-housing, the early cars had teh scroll seal.CheersColin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocita Rosso Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Yup I think there there is two types of oil seal(diameters) for the bell housing and Im sure it relates only to overdrive or non over drive boxes, but definitely two types Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard B Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 michael_charlton wrote:.. and Im sure it relates only to overdrive or non over drive boxes, but definitely two typesNo difference between O/D or Non-O/D boxes.Just early cars had the scroll seal (or not-a-seal :) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky_spit Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 It's a single rail box with J type overdrive. Difficult to know how old it is as the PO had Clive Manvers fit a recon box and overdrive about 8 years ago. I think it best to get a new seal anyway on the basis that it's almost certainly not a scroll type and they are cheap enough to waste if it does turn out to be a scroll type, or even that the box isn't leaking anyway and it's just the crank seal.Once I've split the box from the engine, can I get at the seal by just taking the bellhousing off the box? I really don't want to dismantle the box itself just to change the seal. The Haynes manual does not really help here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocita Rosso Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Yes. and no need for dismantle of box Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky_spit Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Cheers Chaps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty69 Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 the moss catoalogues are helpfulhttp://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Pdfs/Spitfire/SPI-08A-5_RESTORATION.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Jones Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Note that the bottom bellhousing bolt has (or should have) a copper sealing washer on it. Without this you will have a gearoil leak into the bell housing - guess how I know :(Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willcolumbine Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Cool! This thread is well timed! I'm going to be doing this in the very near future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocita Rosso Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Thought the leak was in the boot...... ;D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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