X type gearbox etc

[johnnyroper]

Sorry to bore you all with more x type jag stuff but this is precisely the reason I don't like using garages to work on my cars as I don't trust them.

Had some notchy gear changes and a slight clunk when taking up drive in first so thought I would change box oil and bleed the clutch initially.

However when accessing the drain plug I found the roll restrict or bracket was loose,the 2 m10 on rear of casing were approx 4mm away from tightening the bracket the m8 that was fitted was too long so the nut was tightened up to shoulder but not clamping the bracket. Furthermore threads were damaged so I had to get the trusty grinder out.
The car had clutch and DMF earlier this year so it's been like it a while

Once I finally got round to doing clutch and gearbox oil it's clear not been changed for a while, obviously didn't change oil when box was out and only blead bare minimum fluid through clutch.

Oil and fluid were really black,goes to show this filled for life the manufacturers say is utter nonsense.
Only a quick blast round block but gear changes seem a lot smoother already.

[insanitybeard]

I think garages have an easy get out clause with a lot of 'repairs' that they do, they either take advantage of the owners ignorance to exaggerate faults or the scale of work required or if they damage something along the way then it's a 'we found this was damaged in the course of doing XYZ, and you need a new one of these as well'. Not to say they're all like it of course but I think (actually I know) that there are a lot of chancers out there. It's a minefield of an industry. Now if the gearbox was like the Galaxy with stub (drive)shafts that stay in place and prevent any oil leakage when the gearbox is removed then I suppose you couldn't realistically expect them to start changing/ topping up oil unless you were paying for it or had asked them to. But if the shafts had to come out completely in the course of dropping the 'box and some fluid loss was likely then it's a different matter. As for clutch bleeding, and I don't really know why this is the case, but in my experience when bleeding clutches, the fluid is always blacker and more discoloured than fluid bled from the brake system- this goes for fluid that was completely renewed at the same time as well- I've done a complete fluid change at the same time before (clutch and brakes all round) so it's all clean fluid, and the next time I've gone to renew it the clutch fluid still comes out more discoloured! I was going to say the clutch gets more use than the brakes, but then it probably doesn't have to transmit as much load or for as long so I still don't know why this would be!

[johnnyroper]

I have experience of working with characters like that from Vauxhall days,I couldn't do it it think I was far too honest to work in a dealership.

Looking at it the shafts have to come out the box to drop it unlike the galaxy,maybe I am just being picky but when I did them it had fresh oil as a matter of course. The fluid resavoir is just as black it's been in there some time that's for sure. Good flush out of whole brake and clutch circuits on the radar when I next get a spare hour.

Don't understand why clutch fluid gets blacker than the brakes though.

[insanitybeard]

I try to give the transmissions of my cars an oil change every so often- even every 50k is much better than not at all! Clean oil can never be a bad thing. The little Ford Ka I owned before the Galaxy had no drain plug in the transmission though. The best I could do was to use a fluid syringe through the level check plug/ reverse light switch to extract as much old oil as possible, out of a supposed capacity of 2.8 litres I think I was able to get 2 litres out in this way. Not ideal but the best I could do!

[johnnyroper]

Much like me I always change the fluids on my cars,gear oil takes some punishment over its lifetime so can't do any harm having fresh from time to time.

Don't understand why they can't fit drain plugs in all gearboxes,apart from anything else it makes easier should it have to be rebuilt at any time in its life.

[insanitybeard]

I was once told that Ford calculated production costs to tenths of a penny so if they can save 50p a unit by not machining a drain plug orifice and thread and not having to fit a plug then that's what they do! Still, why fit one to some models of transmissions and not others? Daft.