Newbie Needs help, is this where you fill the gear oil.

[Abscate]

[ronjohn82]

where would the bell housing drain from ?
and if a hole needs to be drilled in the bell housing
for it to drain,
where would we drill the hole?

[jimf909]

Do NOT, do NOT, do NOT!!! drill a hole in what you’ve photographed. That is the transmission, not the bell housing.

The bell housing is the case between the transmission and the engine block.

Do you have a Bentley or Haynes or any shop manual yet?
_________________
- Jim

[T3messie]

Nice fauxpas .

The connection between the engine and the bellhousing is not oil-tight on the diesels, so it will drain itself, don´t drill holes.
But you have to remove the tranny anyway, because your clutch disc is full of oil and will slip forever if you dont change or clean it.

Your "dipstick" is a remnant of the dipstick tube for the engine oil.
A preowner cut it and closed it with tongs.

[?Waldo?]

So far your actions have caused significant problems without helping anything. Stop taking actions. How to check and fill the various fluids is not secret information and not something to guess at. The thought that you poured oil into your bell housing is irrefutable proof that you should not do anything else to your vehicle without a lot of education first. With your current level of understanding you can/will cause expensive and/or dangerous/deadly issues.
This is to be taken seriously. Read the owner's manual. Read the Haynes. Read the Bentley. Take a class at your community college. After that, you might consider opening your engine lid again.

[Wildthings]

Drilling a hole in the bellhousing is no big deal, VW once even had a service bulletin about doing so to spray lubricant on the throwout bearing.

As the engine and tranny sit in the vehicle, if you center the hole 1/2 rearward of the drain plug that would keep you from hitting the clutch cover when you drill through. Someone who has a Diesel bellhousing sitting out could give you a dimension from the engine to tranny parting line.

[Sodo]

If this is what it looks like....won't it just drain out between the engine and the bellhousing?
Or has it drained already?
Its not gasketed.
_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Sodo]

Just for the sake of discussion.....

Wildthings mentions drilling a tiny hole halfway behind the trans drainplug (the yellow dot). From the pic it appears that the oil will drain out on its own without drilling (and probably has already drained as T3Messie has suggested above). I don't know anything about the diesel bellhousing - only this pic, and it could be wrong pic too.

It would be good to have a "real mechanic" drive it and assess the condition of the clutch (after a week). If it's "OK" now..... it might heal further. There is something to be said for driving it and spreading the oil evenly around the clutch, than concentrated on the bottom.

Also note that a spinning clutch throws oil outward, whereas a parked van it all drains to one location at "1G" in gravity. Whereas 3000 RPM at the edge of a 180mm clutch disc is throwing oil outward with a force of 2262 "Gravitys". Which do you think will rid the disc of oil faster? Driving might be up to 2262 times faster than simply waiting for it to drain. So you can wait one week or rev it 3,000RPM for a few minutes with the clutch depressed for much better results. Even better drive 3000RPM and press the clutch so the pressure plate is spinning too. Or just drive the dang thing ------> as long as the clutch is not slipping. <------ which may requre a real mechanic to assess.

The diesel van does not have a lot of HP, it might be OK with a little bit of oil. A little bit.
_________________


'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[Paulbeard]

I still don't have any idea why someone would tackle gear oil as a first(?) step in Vanagon ownership maintenance. I feel like we're being trolled here…

As ?Waldo? points out, OP is operating from a dangerous lack of information. If you can't get a Bentley or Haynes manual, use the internet. Change the oil and filter first, as a way of getting an easy win under your belt. That will get you under the thing and more familiar with it. You would have wanted to drain the old oil anyway and if you looked that up, all this would have been avoided.

Was the transmission whining? They can do that after almost 40 years of service (how many miles?).
_________________
Currently -> Frida: 87 Tizian Red (mostly) Vanagon GL Westfalia w/ 2.0L ABA conversion
Formerly -> Steward of a 73 Super Beetle (Beater) and 67 Beetle 1300 (Little Max) both names by POs

[Sodo]

You bring up a good point,,,, it does seem kinda outlandish action for a "first mistake" doesn't it? Just find a hole and dump oil in it.... has a fakey smell. But it could be a genuine "new and original mistake."

[Paulbeard]

[ronjohn82]

Thank you all again. And not sure what possess us to do things.. Is it some karma that has to bring worry into my life? I look back at that moment and don't even know what the mind was thinking but we quickly stopped and caught hold of ourselves and thought .. "what are we doing?" i guess its that way with other mistakes we might have made in life. And yes.. putting things in wrong holes can be a mistake. ... What was i thinking back then?
no ill effects physically, just a bit of regret when someone isn't who they pretend to be and have secrets... sorry for getting off point..

anyway.. update.. when i had to move it yesterday. it was fine, 1st through 4th gear.
then about 20 minutes later it had a little chatter pulling away from a stop sign. engaged it quick so it move forward. later in the day just had to move it a few hundred meters. No slipping or chatter. Is something happening when it heats up? and and as far as drain holes..
Yes.. no drain hole needed.

[MsTaboo]

[Sodo]

[ronjohn82]

thanks Sodo..

i see your point..
will get her on the road today.

would carburetor cleaner be better than brake cleaner?

would i need to wait a certain amount of time after spraying it
with brake cleaner or carb cleaner before driving?

[riceye]

[Aryana]

I said to drive the van many posts ago...

You guys telling him he’s not worthy to work on his van all should weld your toolboxes shut if you’ve never made a mistake while learning to wrench.

[Sodo]

[?Waldo?]

[Aryana]