Roaring in lower 3 gears, what to check?

[majicwrench]

Not to keep hammering at the same point, but changing the oil is going to be pointless. Making sure its full, I can see that. And as you correctly suspect, you are not going to get lucky. At least with the trans

[ScoopMan]

Not to keep hammering at the same point, but changing the oil is going to be pointless. Making sure its full, I can see that. And as you correctly suspect, you are not going to get lucky. At least with the trans

But is it not better to ensure that the busted chunks of metal that are presumably in there now are removed? Especially if I want to drive it for a while more and minimize the risk of it getting worse.... as opposed to not driving it at all anyway.

[majicwrench]

You could make that arguement. But any "chunks" are sitting in the bottom of the trans and not going anywhere anyway unless you turn car upside down. Fine metal is what is spinning around with gear oil. Draing and refilling, will remove some of that, yes, but much will still be hanging on the gears, and if indeed a beariing is failing, it will quickly produce all sort of new,. fine metal particles. Certainly your call.

[ScoopMan]

For all I know right now there may be little or no oil in it at all right now, which is what would have caused the damage in the first place. I guess I will find out soon enough. If the oil is low and I top it off I would not be surprised to see it start leaking. If that is the case and it is truly bad I would park it sooner rather than later and just take care of it properly before the Spring. Right now I am only hoping to get in a few scenic weekend tours in before taking her out of commission for repairs. I doubt I would get 1000 miles in before then anyway.

[SLOSpider]

As mentioned on these threads before its a good idea to first make sure you can remove the front fill plug before dropping the pan. I had to take my rear mount loose and drop the trans down so I could get a socket on my fill plug.

[ScoopMan]

Wow, I didn't know you needed to drop the back of the trans to take the fill plug off. Those crazy Italians....

I bought some GL1 at lunchtime, I will get under the car sometime over the weekend to give this a look.

[ventura ace]

Wow, I didn't know you needed to drop the back of the trans to take the fill plug off. Those crazy Italians....

I bought some GL1 at lunchtime, I will get under the car sometime over the weekend to give this a look.

You should be able to get a closed end wrench (17mm, if I remember) over the hex head of the plug without dropping the tranny. Be careful not to let the wrench slip and round off the hex, or it will be a real bear to get out of there.

Alvon

[ScoopMan]

Thanks Alvon, I have the technology. Hopefully the head is not already rounded by repetitive vise grip action. Sounds like it might also be interesting getting the fill spout in there.

Dave

[fiatfactory]

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[ScoopMan]

Thanks everyone.

I finally had time to put the car on stands and go under there. I took out the fill plug and stuck my finger in there, and pretty much NO oil in there at all. Bummer.... I could not really tell exactly where the oil was coming out, but I DID see fresh oil pretty high up, near where the shift lever emerges. I tightened a few 10 mm bolts up there, as well as the bottom cover bolts, filled it up and took it out for a long drive. It quieted down a bit, but still a lot louder than it should be. No doubt at all there is damage, I am frankly surprised it shifts as well as it does with no oil in there. I have no idea how long it was run like that, I only just bought the car 2 weeks ago.

I parked the car and checked the next morning, no oil drops on the floor at all. Either a good thing or a very bad thing... I doubt all 2 quarts could have leaked out in 100 or so miles, but who knows without checking the level again. No time to do it yesterday, so I will check the oil again next weekend, the fill plug is very easy to get to, I don't really understand why anyone would have trouble removing it. Nothing in the way...

I haven't decided what to do long term, obviously it won't get any better by itself. If it basically holds its oil and runs OK, I will probably follow the deferred maintenance program for a while at least.

[ventura ace]

Fresh oil in the top, but no oil down on the gearbox cover?? Does this mean that you store your car upside down?

Did you not find any oil at all when you removed the gearcase cover?

The tranny gear case normally only holds about 1.5 quarts before it spills out the fill hole. If you were able to put 2 quarts in, I hope that the oil was added to the right location.

Alvon

[ScoopMan]

Beats me why there was oil up there, but it looked pretty fresh. The spinning gears pretty much sling oil around everywhere inside the case, I guess some oil is splashing up there and getting out somewhere. I suppose I should take a look at the gearshift boot.

I never removed the bottom cover, I just felt down throught the fill hole. I do not yet have the stupid 12 mm allen wrench or whatever it is you need to remove drain plugs. My local NAPA did not have it either. I guess the FIAT-friendly vendors MUST carry this item. Obviously this is a must-have.....

I was not super scientific about measuring oil, I just pumped it in until it was clear it was full, then I let the excess drip out into a pan before I put the plug back in.