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Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:40 am

My friend just came into town from Colorado with his 80 Westy and his trans is leaking gear oil pretty bad.

We wiped down the oil really well, went for a ride (to get it hot) and wiped it down again. I crawled under there 10 minutes later and there was a tiny pool already forming and I can clearly see the leak coming from between the bottom of the tranny case and the engine. It is not running from higher up or any other spot on the trans because I wiped it down really high up on the case.

So my question would be is that the main shaft seal that is leaking in the trans housing and pooling in the bell housing then slowly leaking out?
My friend just had his clutch down in his home town and never had this issue before. Could changing the clutch cause this or is it just a bad coincidence?

Cheers!
Dave

Mon Aug 09, 2010 6:52 am

My Westy was doing the same thing turned out to be this.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=342440&highlight=input+shaft+seal

Mon Aug 09, 2010 7:36 am

You may need to look for more than a symptom here. The 2 piece mainshaft is long and supported by 3 bearings. If just one bearing fails you could have enough slop to ruin the mainshaft seal. You should replace the pilot bearing when you replace the clutch. The middle needle bearing in the case is usually forgotten during the overhaul and should be replaced just as often as the mainshaft ball bearing in the gear carrier.

Just my 2¢

Gary

Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:31 am

Take two giant steps back; how do you know it's gear oil, do the drips smell like hypoid?

Mon Aug 09, 2010 8:45 am

Yep there is no mistaking that stink! Even my garage smells like it now.

Also when we checked the level it was way down.

Cheers!
Dave

Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:00 am

Yup, then shoulda done that slinger/seal when he was into the clutch.

Meantime, if he wants to keep driving before he can get to the repair, it'll leak less if you leave the level low, in fact VW advised keeping the level about half an inch below the filler hole for easier shifting. That was for the later 091/1 but the gearbox in the aircooled isn't much different. Also be sure the gearbox breather hole is clear so pressure doesn't build inside as it heats up.

Mon Aug 09, 2010 9:43 am

Thanks Dime-man (and others) that's good info. I will check that breather tonight.

Cheers!
Dave

Tue Aug 10, 2010 6:41 am

So last night I looked for the breather and could not find it, visually or in Bentley??

Cheers!
Dave

Tue Aug 10, 2010 7:17 am

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=342440

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=344159

Tue Aug 10, 2010 7:39 am

Thanks AAL that helps allot.

Cheers!
Dave

Tue Aug 10, 2010 7:49 am

Well if it's throwing a lot of oil out the input shaft and the breather is blocked, it will only make a small difference clearing it, but that might make using the van a bit more tolerable while you get ready to fix the seal.

The breather hole is very small, on the top of the trans near the front. Look on top, just inboard from the upper left bolt at the seam joining the nose cover (called the "gear shift housing" in Bentley) to the next casing back. It's about 2.5" back from the forward mounting surface of the nose cover. You'll probably need a mirror and flashlight to locate it. Look for the area that is dark with oil, because it seeps out the hole and collects dirt, which is how it gets clogged. Scrape off the dirt along the seam there and you'll find the tiny hole, it's maybe 3/32" in diameter. You can poke it clear with a scribe or a bit of stiff wire, it'll only go in less than 1/2".

The only thing I can see in Bentley that shows it is on p.35.18, there is a straight-on pic of the gear shift housing lower-left of the page, and along the top of its sealing flange you can see a little relief cut, that is where the orifice is.

Tue Aug 10, 2010 10:17 am

Just my 2 cents-if the reason the seal on the trans/slinger is leaking is because the pilot bearing is shagged then driving it around is only going to damage the input shaft and whats left of the pilot bearings home in the flywheel.

I'd pull it to see whats going on-the main reason that my project SVX swap is underway right now and not this fall is my pilot bearing failed--started chewing up the input shaft and leaking lots of fluid.