6 speed gearbox oil leak

[Pete Heaton]

I've owned a 6 speed 1.6 SS for a few months now. The cars great and I've just put it to bed for the winter. The gearbox has a slight leak from the tail shaft, depositing a small pool of oil on the floor every time the cars cooling down back in the garage. No other problems with it though. Is this normal, I'm keeping an eye on the oil level, not much change so it doesn't seem to be leaking when the cars running.

Is it worth worrying about or should I wait unitl something worse go's wrong. Box has done 10000 miles.

[murph7355]

Plenty of them leak a little bit so it's probably nothing to worry about. But keep a close eye on level as the boxes don't like running low.

 

If you have an afternoon free though it might be worth a quick trip to Caterham (or if you're not close give them a call). Jan Thompson had a leak on his that sounded similar and when he took it back to Caterham they replaced the box. I think he was told it was a one off faulty box, but doesn't hurt to check. His car was new in June (is yours new?) and has done about 7k miles I think.

[Jan T]

Andy's right Caterham told me my box had a manufacturing fault and they replaced it at 5000 miles. The sympton was a small leak.

Have a word with Caterham as Andy suggests.

Jan

[Tony Martyr]

Pete,

Is the leak from the tail shaft seal or the speedo drive shaft seal?

I have had the later fault since fitting the box 3 years ago but the tailshaft remains OK

 

[Dazza]

Tony, I also have oil leaking from the speedo drive shaft seal. Is this easy to fix with the engine/gearbox in the car? if so, what parts do you need from caterham apart from a new seal.

 

 

[Pete Heaton]

Thanks for the responses, it's definitely the tail shaft. Its been suggested that the rear bush may be worn allowing a slight movement, and thus the leak. Any ideas ?

 

[Richard J Darnell]

This thread made me check my brand new six speed box (fitted as an upgrade last week) for oil leaks.

 

Some what depressingly I already have a leak. sad.gif

 

I will call the garage that fitted it first thing on Monday for an explanation and cure!

[Fred]

The speedometer drive oil seal on the Caterham 6speed gear box is a Ford oil seal. Yes it can be replaced without removing gear box etc., quite easily if you have a ramp. I fitted three, one after the other, they all tended to leak about 1/2 teaspoonful a week when car was parked in garage. On the 4th attempt, I found that the best way to fit the seal was to remove the plug on the passenger side of the gearbox with a screwdriver, prizing it out, this allows you to remove the speedo drive, then push the new seal in on the drivers side and whilst keeping it pressed fully home, refit the speedo drive from the passenger side. This stops the small metal o'ring inside the oil seal from popping off when you fit the seal with the speedo drive in place. Now refit the plug on the passenger side with some silicon or some hermitite - press it home with a tyre lever or block of wood. There is no pressure there so it will not leak at the plug. Refit the brass top hat with a little bit of silicon or hermitite to stop it rotating. You can also fit, if you have one, a small washer underneath the top hat. This has done the job for me. Total time for job, with ramp, under half an hour.

 

Tailshaft oil seal - The first thing to try is slacken the two rear gearbox nuts on the cross member - this will allow the gearbox to center itself and take any pressure off one specific area of the oil seal which the end of the propshaft may be resting on or pressing against. - Good Luck!

 

Clik

The Impatient

[Mick Day]

I had this problem from new gearbox install in 1996. Repeated returns to Caterham for fixes. In the end I accepted this situation as "they all do it Sir". During a routine service by Paul Harvey he showed me the problem: grasp the prop shaft & there was definite lateral movement. Diagnosis: failed tailshaft bearing necessitating new tailshaft housing etc all done by Phil Stewart. Phil also recommended jacking the front of the car to a crazy angle to pre-lubricate the tail housing bearing before driving.

Good luck

Mick