[Healeys] gearbox woes

John Rowe jarowe at westnet.com.au
Sun Sep 23 07:25:09 MDT 2007


Hi All

The leaks from my sideshift gearbox have been getting worse over the last year
and I decided that now was the time to remove the gearbox and sort out the
problem. Previously it was difficult to determine where exactly the oil was
leaking from as it appeared to be from a few different places.

I removed the box today and to my horror found large pieces of brass in the
overdrive strainer.

On removing the side plate there was no sign of any brass  filings in the
gearbox part.

So what is in the overdrive section that is made from brass that could be
wearing abnormally and causing these chunks of brass to come adrift?

I also noticed when the gearbox was on the bench that oil was leaking from a
small hole at the bottom of the chamber that holds the solenoid plunger
connection. On removing the cover I found the chamber was 1/4 full of oil. On
inspection of the items in there I have  reasoned that the oil must be coming
past the seal on the actuator shaft. I resume that the is a seal on this
shaft.

I also found that oil was leaking past the front seal. This seal is a high
temperature seal and was only replaced 2 years ago.

Is there too much pressure building up in the gearbox under competition
conditions and forcing the oil past these seals?

Any ideas of how to solve these problems would be greatly appreciated as I
have only a few weeks left to get the car ready for the Classic Adelaide
Rally. ( A bit like Targa Newfoundland but down under.)


regards

John Rowe
Perth
1959 BT7


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