1936 Gear oil in Clamshell

[Erbleding]

Hi all,

I’m hoping you give me some good news, but I’m not optimistic. I’ve had a chronic gear oil leak behind my gear box and around the clamshell. I installed a new seal and double paper gasket. The paper gaskets were missing before and I assumed this was the problem. However, the leak continued.
I decided to pull the clamshell back off tonight and about 8 ounces of gear oil poured out. Plus I have a fine steady stream of gear oil dripping. Rear end gear oil is still full, but gear box is not. Has anybody experienced this and is it an easy fix for a novice? Hoping to not have to pull the rear axel. You help and comments are appreciated

[Pete]

This guy can help you. He is one of us.

VANPELT SALES LLC
Cincinnati, Ohio
Office: 513-724-9486
www.vanpeltsales.com
www.classictransmission.com

[Erbleding]

Thank you. I’ll reach out to them

[FlatheadTed]

Maybe leaking from the lower cluster shaft ,you may need to roll the Differential back and split the rear gearbox mount ,weld up some ears on the mount to cover the shaft ends. Then fit new gaskets or you might be able to clean the oil of and seal it the best you can with silicone with out doing megger work .Any new gaskets need a gap filler sealer as well ,any drip over is there to lube the bearing on the drive shaft .

[alanwoodieman]

left out the rear bearing "slinger" when trans was rebuilt--leting too much gear lube out. what weight gear oil? overfill will also cause this

[Erbleding]

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I used 600 weight oil and filled to the bottom of the fill hole

[David J]

The slinger- washer should be tight against the outer race of rear bearing.

I just use SAE 140.
Clamshell is meant to hold 4 oz. Much more and it will leak bad.
I use SAE 140 in there also . The felt, cork or whatever you use is a wiper. Not a seal.

[Terry,OH]

8 Oz of gear oil in the clam shell is too much if you added this. I use 0-0 grease which is a bit thicker than 140 gear oil, but will still recombine to lube the U-joint.

[Erbleding]

I’ve used Corn Head grease through the grease fitting, but my issues is the 600 weight oil coming from the back of the transmission and settling in the clamshell. From the comments above, this sounds normal, unless it’s more than 4 ounces?

[Erbleding]

Update. I was hoping that maybe a new gasket and torquing the castle nuts to spec would solve my problem, but the leak persists. Guess I’m pulling that rear axle and torque tube. Grrr

[Seth Swoboda]

Removing the rear end and the torque tube from the transmisson, while time consuming, is not a horrible job. Take your time, you'll be satisfied with a job well done.

[Terry,OH]

Don't use 600W in the transmission, 140W is about the heaviest, NAPA SL24238. The oil weight is not the cause of the leak. You may want to remove the top of the transmission and inspect for the rear oil slinger being in place. The level to fill the transmission is to the bottom of the fill plug.

[Erbleding]

Well, I tried replacing the gaskets and seal in the clamshell and unfortunately the problem persists. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. So it looks like I’ll be pulling the reared back and looking to see if the slinger is missing or there is some other issue. Are there any specific steps to be taken to release the torque tube from the tranny? Dropping the axel looks pretty straight forward. I may ask more questions once I get to the rear of the gear box. Thanks for your help and expertise

[FlatheadTed]

a 10 " extension above the rear Box cross member can work for the 4 nuts , if it has the castle nuts still there its easy but if they are a hardware type nut you need a thin wall socket , Once the oil level goes down the drips will reduce but if its on sloping ground ,drip drip ,the baffile is not a seal so you do get some spill back. I would add two or three gaskets together on the clam ,and it should be lined with HT chassis grease to help seal it .I don't think it could ever be completely sealed .so maybe your over thinking it .Ted

[cadillac512]

Some folks install a sealed rear bearing when assembling the transmission. That's a personal call. Mine levels off in the transmission to about the first joint on a finger when checking through the fill hole. I'll get a drop or two overnight on the floor after that but nothing to worry about.


Terry

[FlatheadTed]

I think the idea was There should be a exchange of Fluids between the Dif and gear box because of the front drive shaft bearing 4": back from the clam .But over filling the Clam might do it

[cadillac512]

Originally Posted by FlatheadTed

There should be a exchange of Fluid between the Dif an d gear box because of the front drive shaft bearing 4": back from the clam .

Yes,and that's why mine still has an open bearing. The system works pretty well but is not perfectly sealed.



Terry

[Erbleding]

Ted, you may be right. I may be overthinking this. Maybe I’ll just let it leak out a bit and let it find its happy spot. Then recheck the level. I just see a lot of folks saying the fill level needs to be to the bottom of the fill hole. At one point it stopped leaking and I was not getting any gear noise, but I could not feel the fluid level when i inserted my finger in the fill hole. But, I have short fingers

[FlatheadTed]

Terry sounds like you have it worked out good ,

Erbleding ,try a piece of wire as a dip stick .

[ssffnomad]

Good info guys . I use the waste end of a yellow wire tie, bent at 90 deg to ck fluids