Gearbox Gearchange Rod Oil Seal

[4129R]

I have a smelly leak out of the gear change rod.

Has anyone changed the oil seal with the end cover in situ by just disconnecting the gear change linkage and removing the oil seal outwards?

How did you get the old oil seal out? By careful drilling through the casing of the oil seal, or by hooking it out somehow?

[Pfreen]

Yes.  Just remove the shift tube pin and shift tube.

The seal pops out rather easily with a small screwdriver or hook.

Then, push in a new seal.

I can't remember exactly, but I might have changed the bushing insitu as well.  They do wear, so you might want to wiggle the shifter shaft to see how much play there is.

[4129R]

Thanks for that. The oil seal came out in about 30 seconds, wiggling about with a flat blade micro screwdriver.

The oil seal is 15mm x 26mm x 6.5mm on my measurements.

They often seem to leak so it seems replacing them is a 30 minute job, once you have the oil seal available.

Just found them on eBay. 15 x 26 x 7mm, £2.07 each. I reckon I leaked about that in SAE90, so a cheap quick fix.

[jbcollier]

When the seal is out, try to wiggle the rod up, down and sideways.  Lots of movement?  Seal won't last long.  You need to remove the rear cover and fit a bush.

[buzzer]

Another trick is to put a 14mm seal in. A slightly smaller seal can help allow for any play.  That’s what I installed and no leaks.

Dave

[4129R]

When the seal is out, try to wiggle the rod up, down and sideways.  Lots of movement?  Seal won't last long.  You need to remove the rear cover and fit a bush.

Thanks for the tip. No movement, all good. New oil seal went it easily.

[rjbaren]

I need to look at this in a serious way.  I lost about 8 ounces of fluid over the winter with the car just sitting.  My trans was overhauled by the dealer in the Detroit area and that rear seal is leaking badly.  I have been topping up the tranny every two weeks.

[jbcollier]

As long as the rear housing isn't cracked, it's pretty simple to bush if required.

[SilverBeast]

Make sure you wrap some tape round the selector shaft  (over the hole for the split pin) before you push the seal over it. It reduces the risk of damaging the new seal as the edge can be sharp.

[Footer]

RjBaron,  did you have the transmission done by the dealer in Birmingham, north of Detroit and if so, why did you have it overhauled or repaired? 

[rjbaren]

Yes Footer, I had the transaxle rebuilt by Auto Europa in Birmingham, MI.  When my car arrived after purchase the transaxle arrived completely disassembled.  I think it was Tony Viccaro from the Lotus club that recommended Auto Europe.  I was not about to attempt my first transaxle rebuild, that probably would have ended in a disaster.

My car has been on the road the past two years and after sitting all winter, I collected the fluid from my drip pan below the transaxle because I thought it was a large amount fluid to drip out of the transaxle.  My local shop, Northshore Sportscar's Mechanic who has an immense knowledge of British cars and Europa experience since they race an S2 ,said it would be leaking out of the rear seal and that is the case.  He was not surprised to see how much fluid had leaked out in only five months. 

I am going to order both the 14 and the 15mm seals.  I will try the 14 first and see how it goes.

[Footer]

Thanks for the info RJBaron, I appreciate it.

I bought my 73 Twin Cam Special from one of the owners.  He had eight at the time, of various models along with a wealth of OE parts and knowledge.  I'll take mine back to the dealership when it is time for alignment based on his recommendation.  Hopefully that will be in the next few weeks.

[rjbaren]

I am bringing this post up again because today changed the rear trans shift rod seal as per Buzzer.  I have the 5 speed trans so I decided that I needed to unbolt the trans at the rear and lower the trans in order to drive the roll pins out from the bottom up.  I attempted this job a couple of weeks ago and gave up and put it back together when I realized I had to lower the trans and then I wasn't able to remove the shift linkage from the rod.  I had no idea there were two roll pins, one inside the other.  I removed the smaller pin not realizing there was yet another pin.  No wonder the shifter wouldn't come off the shaft.  Once I learned there were two pins, I knew I needed the car to be raised up a bit to be able to drive the pins out from the bottom and have some room to lower the trans a little bit as the pins would hit the crossmember when being driven out from the bottom.

I built a pair of 6-inch wheel cribs to lift the car a bit and to be able to get under the shift rod and drive the roll pins out.  I also checked the shaft for movement and there was none.  I wouldn't expect there to be since the trans was rebuilt 1500 miles ago.  Anyway, to make a long story short, I replaced the 15mm shaft seal with a 14mm shaft seal like Buzzer did, and I haven't seen a drop where it would drip constantly.  I keep a drip tray under the rear of the trans and I collected about 8 ounces of gear oil over the winter. 

[SilverBeast]

I was lucky and only had one pin so did this http://www.lotuseuropa.org/LotusForum/index.php?topic=4631.msg50255#msg50255

[rjbaren]

That was an ingenious method the get the pin out. 

I found mine safety wired by the mechanic who installed my drivetrain and told me originally, they used a single roll pin, but they broke so then they added a second pin.  He also said when the pins broke, they often fell out.  So, I don't know if the safety wire is a Lotus thing or his thing.