kenny. Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Had a good swot of the archives and the jury is out. Last time I changed the oil I used the pipe method for filling.........but not the better idea of 15mm copper pipe and rubber hose as some of the lads have suggested.....I used a bloody nylon tube with a big syringe..it took for ever So I can either knock one of them up.............or I've just realised I can in fact get to the alloy top cover with a stubby ratchet I've just purchased...........so 2 questions please. 1) Is filling from the top the best way if poss? ie I won't touch the filler plug this time, just a complete drain and 2 bottles of MTL in. Is it just the 6 bolts and lift off or will it be siliconed down and a nightmare? 2) I've a weeping speedo drive. Done them on an old Ford gearbox moons ago.......what's the snags if any doing it on the 6 speed. Many thanks for your help lads............It'll save me shouting for Mav and his eazi-bleed Edited by - kenny. on 3 Jun 2013 16:43:05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rj Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Quoting kenny.: 1) Is filling from the top the best way if poss? ie I won't touch the filler plug this time, just a complete drain and 2 bottles of MTL in. Is it just the 6 bolts and lift off or will it be siliconed down and a nightmare? As I understand it, it depends on the age of the box. First boxes had an O-ring (mine does), but later don't. I just undo the bolts and throw in the oil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mav Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Use an easibleed to fill the gear box. Much easier than faffing with tubes and funnels and stuff, and you can be sure you get the correct level, rather than filling through the top casing. Don't think it's a full 2 bottles... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mav Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Too late mate. I can bring my gearbox filling easibleed up at the weekend if you wish. I can bring your strimmer back at the same time 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Rather than taking the top cover off have you thought of draining through the drain plug then refilling with a long tube & funnel from the engine compartment? Doesn't take too long especially if you warm the oil 1st. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Cheers Mick, many thanks, that is how I filled it last time with the tube and a mate holding it in filler hole......after draining via the plug, it did take me an age though to get the oil in. I just tried undoing those 6 bolts on top of the box............no chance with the stubby, they do seem overkill for a bloody lid Martin, you're welcome any time as you know...........the eezi bleed thing does sound interesting though. I'd need to do the speedo seal first anyway............just a ball acher with the car 1 foot off the ground, Oh for a car lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted June 3, 2013 Leadership Team Share Posted June 3, 2013 Where exactly is the drain plug on the bottom of the box, and do all 6 speeds have one? (before I go crawling under the car!) Stu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mav Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 On the bottom of one of the sides Stu, and as far as I know, yes they all have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 Although looking through the archives some blokes pump the oil out...........either they never saw the plug or didn't have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrightpayne Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 I've got an old castrol EP90 bottle from when Dad and I used to service his Marina which has a tube with a right angle bend on the top. Importantly it has a tube going down inside the bottle so as you squeeze the bottle it forces the oil through the inner pipe and out through the external pipe IYSWIM. This means you can fill from underneath the car and get 95% of the oil from the bottle into the g box. It's only 500ml so you get 3 sips of tea each time you refill the bottle. It's an essential piece of workshop equipment!! (But don't tell my dad as he's not noticed it missing for the last 15 years 😬) Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 Did the job this morning after I got the offer of a pit to put the car over.........would have been a struggle on axle stands I reckon. Straight forward really, as expected the removal of circlip on speedo drive was a holy pain, the last person who put it in had managed to hide the flippin' pincer holes on it and it was a prat to spin it to get a grip with the circlip pliers. Once clip back in situ no drama. Seal was fished out easy with two angled picks. New seal had to be levered in with a bar on the chassis pushing the drift (socket) square. I used no sealant even though tempted.......just a bit of grease on the top hat to stop it falling out whilst refitting circlip. I'd taken 6 sets of circlip pliers with me and not one set would get a lovely tight grip.........bloody kept on slipping just at the wrong time. It eventually went in after a good swear Speedo job done now for the oil change. Time taken 1h 10 mins............Most of that wasted on the circlip debacle and fishing the old seal out. Easier than last time after a swot in our great L7C archives. So,Removed filler bung with the pre-cut 10mm allen key, chopped down to 20mm. It looked like the Torry Canyon on the garage floor at home but oil was still "touchable" with little finger through aperture.. so that's something. Removed drain plug, again 10mm and let the warm oil completely drain for half an hour. I then replaced plug. Then my Heath Robinson tool came out 😬....but jeez it worked for future reference. I saw a bloke mention right angled Yorkshire fittings to get the angle for the filler in the archives. So I got a fitting and low and behold found that the cheapo green garden hose (the stuff with the criss cross thread running through it) fitted inside the Yorkshire fitting like a tight fitting glove....perfect. So I put 1.5 metres of hose on one end for the above car fill...........and about 20mm sticking out the other end to push into the fill hole...........I taped up the one for the fill hole to make sure it never popped out into box..........although it was very tight anyway. Funnel fitted snugly into garden hose above the car and I asked a lad to do the pouring for me............couldn't believe it..........under 30 seconds for each litre, it flew in without a leak................Thank You L7C archive once more 😶🌫️ What a difference to last time with the nylon tube and syringe body Total time for oil change....1hour 10 minutes with half an hour waiting time included in that. Refitted filler plug, wiped down and job done........no trauma. Soooooo, 35 mile blat, and I don't know whether it's just me but gears seem so much smoother........especially 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to second which felt a bit "sticky"........very slick now....perfect. I swapped from Caterhams own Brand to MTL for the first time. So does it leak?........I'd heard that a seal change sometimes makes no difference. Well it's stood over a cardboard sheet for an hour now...........not a drop, there would have been a small 8 drop puddle yesterday so very promising. Just one final thing, when old seal came out it looked "chaffed" on one side.........as though it may have shaved itself on the way in when the last guy fitted it.......I can't be certain about that though as I might have chaffed it fishing it out. But anyway so far so good, very pleased with that. Thanks lads Edited by - kenny. on 5 Jun 2013 15:23:25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 to reduce filling time further - microwave the oil bottles a little to warm the oil up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 That's a good shout Dave ........although I have to say I wasn't expecting the MTL to be as thin/runny as it was and it was a warm day. Great trick for a winter refill!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stationary M25 Traveller Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 I can see the headlines now ... spate of kitchen fires ..... mysterious circumstances .... all the householders have small noisy sports cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin J Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 Quoting Dave Jackson: to reduce filling time further - microwave the oil bottles a little to warm the oil up That sounds dodgy! Just put them in a bucket of hot water. Edited by - Martin Jeffrey on 5 Jun 2013 16:24:14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted June 5, 2013 Share Posted June 5, 2013 medium for 90 seconds is fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted June 5, 2013 Author Share Posted June 5, 2013 Dave run it under the hot tap next time.............my Mrs. said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny. Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 Drip free ......I was scared to look 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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