Fluid Leak

[1919 Touring]

  My 1919 DB Touring has a leak from the bell-housing when it is running.  I have changed the fluid & put the appropriate viscosity in it.  Leak is coming from the drain hole in the bell-housing.  It is not the motor oil/too thick.  Is this a common issue?  

[nearchoclatetown]

You need to find someone to work on this car. Sounds like the trans is leaking into the bellhousing, which you knew.

[Mark Gregush]

Could be the cork seal is shot which would require pulling the transmission to repair or is over filled. The fluid level should only be about mid-point or as shown on the right-side removable plate that holds the gear. Other options are to either put thicker lube in or carry a drip pan and live with it till the transmission can be pulled if it is not a case of overfilling. 

[stakeside]

My 29 DA6 has a reservoir  behind the rear main bearing cap. If that reservoir does not drain fast enough the excess oil will overflow to the bell housing and dip out.

Possible problem is the rear pan gasket incorrectly installed or rear main bearing is badly worn Or excessive oil pressure. It could be a combination of these.

I found this out when I got an engine running that was given to me. While the engine ran oil poured out of the bell housing.

Even my rebuilt engine drops oil at the bell housing but able to control by adjusting my oil pressure.

[1919 Touring]

  For sure it is not over-full & it is definitely not engine oil.  So I would guess bad cork transmission seal?  I used 600W Oil from Mac's.

[cutdown]

The front bearing on these gearboxes takes all the thrust when you put your foot on the clutch. As a result, it will wear more [ I was surprised how worn mine was even though it was still very smooth running ]. I replaced  the front and rear main bearings on mine with 2RS bearings [ double rubber sealed but with the inner seal removed ].  They wont leak for a very long time now.

Watch out for wear causing the rear bearing to slop back and forward on the mainshaft. I made up a spacer to take out the end play [ fitted in front of the bearing in my case because the bearing had worn its shape into the rear yoke ].

[1919 Touring]

Thanks for the suggestions you guys have posted.  Time to investigate I guess.

[cutdown]

I don't think you need to be concerned about the "clutch float". The whole clutch floats. When you disengage the clutch, the shaft needs to float to allow the clutch to disengage. Look at he diagram. The clutch shaft floats between the bearing in the flywheel and the front bearing in the gearbox.

 

BTW, I renewed the flywheel bearing with a 2RS as well. No need for cork seals if you do that. [ modern cars don't use cork seals, they rely on sealed bearings like the 2RS ]

 

I ordered a whole lot of stuff from Myers  [ including cork seals etc ] before I knew what my gearbox looked like. I fitted the new corks whether I needed to or not.

 

I changed a few things when I rebuilt mine. I had bought a new exhaust manifold nut and packings, but ended up making a 3 bolt exhaust flange clamping system where the new nut held the front plate of the 3 bolt flange in place. Now when I do up the front exhaust pipe, it is a solid metal to metal connection with a thin copper seal made up from the old water heater we replaced, Manisealed in place.  [ Maniseal is an exhaust sealer invented in NZ by Penetril Laboratories in Jessie St, Wellington. The patent was sold to CRC]. Bloody good stuff.

[cutdown]

Yeh. Know about those problems. Early this year while waiting for my engine to be reconditioned, I pulled my clutch apart and cleaned it. Left it apart until the day before I started to refit the engine.

Edited November 28, 2022 by cutdown (see edit history)