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A better way to check the trans oil??? questions with the

To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Subject: A better way to check the trans oil??? questions with the
From: "Tim Benner" <tbenner@woh.rr.com>
Date: Wed, 7 May 2003 21:18:50 -0400
Greetings from Ohio,

My '65 Spitfire  has been making some odd whizzing noises from somewhere in
or behind the transmission/overdrive.  After several attempts to check the
oil level from underneath without a lift, I overcame the reluctance to tear
the interior up  and pulled the tunnel cover off.    This is the only way I
can see to do this job without a lift and still have the car level.
Besides, it turns out that it's good to look under there once in a while.

Before completing this project and the many mini-projects it has spawned I
would truly appreciate some advice from those of you more experienced than
myself.

Now that the transmission  is drained I am ready to fill it with Red Line
MT90. Shaking the bottle, it seems as thin as ATF.   I have seen this
recommended but is it OK for overdrive?

To facilitate regular checks of the Trans. oil level (with out ripping the
interior apart) I am thinking about making an access panel in the tunnel
cover.  That way the oil can be check and topped off in a relatively easy
manner.  Other than not being original, can anyone think of why this might
not be a good idea?  Since the level was low this will not be a fill and
forget kind of thing  I'll want to have a look every week or two (or every
hundred miles) for a while.

The top (yes the top) of the trans and OD are oily.  It is difficult to
pinpoint the source.  I think that oil must be blowing out of somewhere up
there while driving as there is no way that even a quart drained out...  and
there are no spots under the trans on the garage floor.    The OD has been
working perfectly.   Is there a common cause for oil coming from the top?
Any way to diagnose?  We may be taking a ride without the cover on to see
what it is doing.

The right angle drive for the speedo is free to rotate around  its mounting
point on the OD case.  This cannot be a normal state... or can it?  I cannot
find any information on this part of the car. .. The OD, yes, but the speedo
part of it - nothing.  I have suspected for some time that the right angle
drive is the source of the whizzing sound.  Of course it also could be the
low oil level just like the books say.

Again,  any advice would be appreciated.  It would be nice to button this
thing up by the weekend and take a drive.  Thanks in advance!

Tim Benner
Black '65 SpitfireMK2
tbenner@woh.rr.com

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