Gearbox oil pump service kit

[Workshop Help]

Please avail yourself of my article on the topic of gearbox oil changing to be viewed in The Workshop Manual. Note the extension magnet to be used to swab out swarf along with flushing with solvent.

Mildred Hargis

[FI Spyder]

The mention of swarf is somewhat of a puzzle to me. I hardly have any in mine. Nothing notable in the oil. Only a minimal amount on the tip of the magnetic plug. I drive between 2,000 to 3,000 miles per year as I am retired and only run into town 2 or three times per week, change oil every second year. I do shift fairly carefully, meaning not to fast and not too slow but positively. I both up shift and down shift although when coming to a stop (ie stop light or sign) I usually put it in neutral and coast to a stop, the higher tire pressures putting up little rolling resistance and you can coast a long ways, also helps with fuel mileage as the engine is idling rather reving high to slow the car down. What am I doing wrong?

- - -TR7 Spider - - - 1978 Spitfire- - - - 1976 Spitfire - - 1988 Tercel 4X4 - Kali on Integra - 1991 Integra - Yellow TCT

[sheetsofsound]

Doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong to me; in fact, it sounds pretty much the same as the way I drive.

My car has been my daily since getting it running back in March. I've put @4,500km on it since then. Compared to my former TR7, this gearbox has been noisy since the get-go and produces a lot more swarf. I replaced the rear mount and am waiting on poly bushings for the gear change extension, but I'm pretty sure the grinding sound under load is not going to be silenced that easily. Also, in neutral it is very noisy, and the noise disappears when the clutch is depressed. I have read many posts here and considered all the different opinions about what might be going on, but based on the swarf that I get in the gearbox oil and the amount on the tip of the drain plug, I'm pretty sure whatever is really wrong can only be solved with a teardown and rebuild. I have a second box out of a parts car sitting on my bench waiting for the time that I can get to work, but my plan is to eventually swap out the box while putting in a new clutch, hopefully before catastrophic failure.

[Workshop Help]

I agree with you, the gearbox is worn.

What you hear when idling in neutral is the input shaft and layshaft gear teeth contacting each other in an ever widening groove on each tooth. This grinding produces a goodly amount of swarf. As these two gears are in constant contact, this is where the wear is the most severe. The rest of the gear tooth wear is spread over the RPM range.

Then there is the matter of the taper roller bearings wearing down on their races, which opens up the tolerances and promotes a wobble effect on the input shaft, layshaft, and main shaft.

The time for a gearbox overhaul is nigh. The bad news is the cost of a new input shaft and layshaft. The good news is the actual labor to do the overhaul is actually pretty easy, provided you have a few basic important tools and a large vise to hold the center plate securely in place. I did it about seven years ago and it wasn't bad. The worst part was getting the gearbox out of the car then reinstalling it.

Always keep in mind, any other transmission you find will be in the same condition as yours. Fixing your gearbox will keep your conscience at ease knowing what's inside that cast iron LT77 case.

Mildred Hargis

[sheetsofsound]

The gearbox on my bench came from a TR7 that had been worked on shortly after leaving the showroom floor. Apparently, according to the owner of a shop around here that specializes in British cars, back in the day a local and well respected shop was 'correcting' known problems with the 1980 and 1981 cars. I don't know exactly all that was done, but from what I can see there was extensive anti-rust treatment in all body cavities, which worked; there's no rust, and the head studs had been treated with anti-seize compound (the head bolts came away with absolute ease after sitting untouched since 1988). I suspect the gearbox had something done to it as well, as it is marked up with white grease pencil on the outside and the date - 1988. The car had less than 25,000km on it when it was in a flood and the owner just walked away from the car. The gearbox was completely submerged. I drained out the reddish white sludgy gearbox fluid just last week. Not sure what I'll find when I open it up, but I don't think wear will be an issue. I'm thinking the anti-rust treatment would have been useful on the gearbox internals at this point.

[kstrutt1]

You may be fine, when I drained the oil out of my v8 virtually a gallon of water came out first(the valley gasket had corroded through) yet when I pulled the sump off everything inside was spotless, all I can think is the oil floating on the water prevented any oxygen getting through.


<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by sheetsofsound</i>

The gearbox on my bench came from a TR7 that had been worked on shortly after leaving the showroom floor. Apparently, according to the owner of a shop around here that specializes in British cars, back in the day a local and well respected shop was 'correcting' known problems with the 1980 and 1981 cars. I don't know exactly all that was done, but from what I can see there was extensive anti-rust treatment in all body cavities, which worked; there's no rust, and the head studs had been treated with anti-seize compound (the head bolts came away with absolute ease after sitting untouched since 1988). I suspect the gearbox had something done to it as well, as it is marked up with white grease pencil on the outside and the date - 1988. The car had less than 25,000km on it when it was in a flood and the owner just walked away from the car. The gearbox was completely submerged. I drained out the reddish white sludgy gearbox fluid just last week. Not sure what I'll find when I open it up, but I don't think wear will be an issue. I'm thinking the anti-rust treatment would have been useful on the gearbox internals at this point.
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