Transmission woes

[mach0415]

Hey all. I took a trans out of a 1929 A and noticed clear water draining out of it. I pulled the fill plug and found it low on grease and what was left was rusty. Everything spins free, but when I took the top cover off, I found the bottom side of the sliding gears and the cluster gears rusty and somewhat pitted. My first question is, where did the water come from? and Can I try to polish the gear faces? or Should I start looking for a used trans?

[RonC]

since you already have it out I would find a better one

[Peter J]

Depending on the shape of the case, you can get a new cluster gear through one of the suppliers (Mac's, Brattons, Snyders) plus all the bearings etc.
Pete

[mach0415]

trying to get out as cheap as possible. looks like a good used one will be on the agenda.

[700rpm]

Try an ad in The Swap Meet section, asking for the gears you need in good used condition. Then put some money into new bearings. Finding a complete good used tranny will be a time-consuming gamble, since it is very hard to determine the condition of gears inside the box.

[Mike in NRN IN]

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Okay, so I started responding and tried to keep it short and sweet - then after I finished typing, it turned out to be a small document. So, I thought about deleting this and moving on.

So, that being said, I'm just rambling here - so consider anything I say to be influenced by the copious amounts of fumes I have inhaled during the 'rebuilding' process.

Having just run the gauntlet of finding 'good' 'used' gears - I'd recommend buying new gears - and if you are lucky to find NOS - even better. Maybe a club member has a transmission that was swapped out for an overdrive? Just thinking aloud.

Regarding the collection of water in the transmission housing. . . .

I think (keep in mind this is my opinion and this has no basis in personal research or study, just a limited amount of observation and recent experiences) it stands to reason that water gets into the case in one of three ways. . .

Condensation (heating-cooling cycles.)

Seepage (from outside)

Collection (like a rain gage) - the case sits in the open and collects rainwater

Here's what I have found in my recent gathering of transmissions in an attempt to help with an activity to help some youth 'rebuild and understand transmissions' and to see if I could find a suitable replacement for my Coupe. (I now have 6 cases and enough gears to serve as ballast for a small boat.)

Three of the transmissions had water in the housings (or evidence of significant accumulation of rust and pitting with milky/nasty lubricant.) I have no idea where the transmissions were stored, but each of these transmissions were missing the paper gasket around the shifting tower. Two of the transmissions had the bolts/tower 'painted' to the case, so I am guessing that the tower was replaced WITHOUT the gasket before being 'repainted'. Without the gasket, water can get in (and lubricant can get out.) To removed the towers, I had to soak them with penetrating oil - after removal there was evidence of rust (lots of rust) between the two parts.

Not saying that's where the water came from, but it made sense to me. I guess that the water could have gotten into the transmission from either of bearing ends (open bearings.) With a transmission sitting on a shelf, in an unheated building, exposure would allow some expansion/contraction to draw moisture/air into the case.

Just some random thoughts.

Of the other 3 - the cases did not have water in them and the gears were decent and the rust was confined to the outside surface of the transmission/tower. The input shaft and output shaft were coated with THICK grease (possibly acting as a seal?) Moisture/air could not penetrate the bearings and each of these cases had the paper gasket between the tower and the case.

It seems to me that these three were more 'sealed' than the other three.

So there you have it, my recent ramblings/musings.