'ere, there's a hole in my gearbox !

[philr]

When I was crawling abount under the car recently (bleeding the clutch) I noticed that there is a hole in the underside of the gearbox (?) housing, just after the clutch.
I know its just after the clutch because I can see the clutch through the hole. The hole is about 3 or 4 inches in diameter and seems like it is meant to be there as it is part of the casting and there are no signs of any covers or screw holes etc.

What is this used for ? ventilation ?

It looks like you could get a fair bit of water in there on a wet day.

[stu247]

philr said:

When I was crawling abount under the car recently (bleeding the clutch) I noticed that there is a hole in the underside of the gearbox (?) housing, just after the clutch. I know its just after the clutch because I can see the clutch through the hole. The hole is about 3 or 4 inches in diameter and seems like it is meant to be there as it is part of the casting and there are no signs of any covers or screw holes etc. What is this used for ? ventilation ? It looks like you could get a fair bit of water in there on a wet day.

To make it easy to spot crank seal oil leaks !!
And to prevent the leaking oil from building up and contaminating the clutch...??

Stu.

[shpub]

There's pictures of similar ones in the bible. You are lucky as it does mean that some clutch problems can be sorted out in situ and do not require the box to be dropped. There is/maybe/was a cover that goes over it.

[zumbruk]

It's to allow oil leaks to drain without contaminating the clutch. Land Rovers have "wading plugs" to seal these holes to slow the ingress of water when, er, wading.

[Tahiti450]

there is a cover / plug to fit this hole... My chim is 1999 with the T5 box, (I think the AR 77mm box on the earlier models has a different bell housing without the hole - the bible shows this). Mine is filled with a very nice flexible plastic plug complete with TVR logo ! This should be avilable from TVR. Mine was quite stiff (the plug) when i took it out whilst cleaning the underside, a good soak in hot water made it flexible enough to refit. I would send a pic but haven't figured out how to do this yet (any pointers??).

[Stu247]

Looking in my 'Hong Kong Book of Kung Fu'
There are two plugs listed, TVR part no's;

F0413 PLUG-GEARBOX
F0415 T5 PLASTIC PLUG RET BELL HOUSING

If TMS's parts site was up I could investigate further...

Stu.