How often do you check yours?

[Guest]

Looking underneath my Seven, there is a light coating of oil / oily muck on the bottom of the gearbox and at the front end of the diff case.

I'm guessing that some of the oil is old as the car doesn't appear to drip oil on the garage floor but it got my thinking that I should check the levels in the gearbox and diff every once in a while.

How often do the POBC check theirs?

Also, how do you check the levels? I found the plug for the diff case but have no idea how to check the gearbox.

The car is a standard 1.8 VVC

Cheers,

Lee

[Wrightpayne]

Annually as part of the service schedule. If leaking then more often till it's fixed 😬

 

Ian

[Jonathan Kay]

Checking gearbox oil level:

 

Lots on this in the archives and excellent guidance from Alcester Racing Sevens.

 

There's a filler plug in the L side of the gearbox. You can get to it from underneath or cut a hole in the tunnel to get easier access. Most people use a cut down hex key if they don't have that hole.

 

It's also possible to get access from above, either by removing the top plate or fitting one with an access hole.

 

Warning: Some gearboxes are overfilled. Have a think about this before undoing the filler plug.

 

Jonathan

 

Edited by - Jonathan Kay on 20 Apr 2014 10:09:56

[Roadsport06]

Diff - oil level with filler plug

Gearbox - oil level with filler plug.

Filler is near side if the gearbox, difficult to get at and you'll needa cut down allen key

[Martin J]

I hate checking the gear box oil level.

If there are no significant drips left on the garage floor you haven't got much to worry about.

The other awkward job underneath is greasing the UJ's on the prop shaft. (Assuming your one has grease nipples) I now ask my friendly MOT tester to do them thoroughly each year & slip him a drink.

[Stationary M25 Traveller]

Propshaft UJ greasing easy enough using a grease gun with a flexible spout Martin. Welcome to borrow it any time.

[oldbutnotslow]

Its done as part of the annual service as has been indicated.

Filling is made easier by using one of these

here

I have fitted a right angle elbow on the end of the plastic tube with a short piece of soft rubber pipe on it.. Fill the container with enough oil and you then only have to push the handle to fill the Gbox and dif with the correct oil.

[virden]

As a cheaper alternative to the oil sucker, I overfill my live axle via the air vent using a large calibrated syringe I acquired from my local vet for just 80p

[Guest]

Thanks for the replies and the handy links. Also for the heads up on UJ greasing. I hadn't considered that at all. I did notice a coating of splattered grease inside the transmission tunnel so it looks like they have been done.

 

I'm keen to do as much of the little bits of maintenance on the car as I can such as checking all the levels once every 6 months or so. That way, I'll know if a suspected leak is something I can leave until the service or something I need to get looked at sooner rather than later.

 

Cheers,

Lee.

[10uptobase]

On my roadsport, the diff is easy to access from above if you lift up the Ali boot floor. It's only held in with self tappers. Do need to take off the filler pipe cover first, again only a couple of self tappers though. Then it's easy to get to the diff filler plug with an Allen key. I find using a socket ratchet with the appropriate inset is best if the plug is a bit tight to undo. I then insert a length of thin plastic tube with a funnel on the end and fill with diff oil. You can leave it while doing a few other annual service jobs. A tray under the diff catches the overflow and you know you are up to the correct level. Remove tube, re tighten plug, wipe off excess oil, refit floor and filler cover. Job done