Tranny Done Blowd Up

Now you've got an excuse to go with the 355's 6-speed!

 

If you broke the trany at speed you would have been picking up the pieces on the track or at least find chunks in the oil.

It sounds like the only thing wrong is the hydruadics....I'm not familary enough to know if it has a slave cylinder (easy to change) or a hydrualic throwout bearing, but which ever it has, it's bad (the leak you saw)...and after you replace it you should be all set.

 

If your'e lucky its just the input shaft & it didnt disintegrate & pass shrapnel throughout the trans. If the trans is junk then I would definatley go for an upgrade.

a 512M trans could set you back $15k easy, I think a 355 trans should be quite a bit less as a lot more of them are around. Try 1 of the parts places, maybe they have one

Good Luck

 

Dude if you can get a race trans for $3k jump on it

 

Ah, just dump a Chebby trnny into it

 

JJ,

I can't remember how many of these trannys I have rebuilt. 4 or so. Anyway you need proper diagnosis. You may have done nothing more than crack a hydralic line or have a crack in the case where brake/clutch fluid is leaking into the case or something as simpla as the fitting to the case lossen and spirt fluid and suck air. This is not catistrophic you just need a heart bypass. If you do your own work post back here and we can talk you through it.

 

$3k for a racing trany... jump on it!

Good luck finding any trany for $3k

 

Man Sorry to hear about that John.

 

I probably have the parts you need for repair-complete tranny less drop gear and 2 bearings. Email or call-sent you a private message.

 

I hate it when that happens.....

 

John:

there's this little test called magaflux. Should be done to major components before each and every season.

Art

 

OK, so what is it all about?

 

Did something similar, but mine was a slow grind. Cost? around 8K for a used one installed. Call GT Autoparts in AZ. Oh yeah, my old one was a drop gear challenge box. "Michelotti" style.

 

no wonder challange cars /tracked cars are cheaper than the streeters! holy cow....

 

Actually the tracked cars hold up better. All the worst cars I ever worked on were badly repaired streetcars!

When was the last time you changed your oil? I change mine after every track weekend...that's 11 qts synthetic plus filter! When was the last time you changed your brake fluid? Mine is always new. I bleed out at least 1/2 pint every track day. I race my car only and my clutch is home made from Ferrari OEM parts and I have run it for 5 years.

 

Well it looks like I'm in the "tranny done blow'd up" club too.

I changed the gear box oil about 4 months ago after I heard the tranny whining. After I changed it and the oil draind into the pan I found aroun 5-6 metal bits about the size of my finger nail. The look like the retaining clips for the bearings. Mine was doing the same thing as JJ's. It wouldn't go into 5th, and then it didn't want to come out of first.

So today after letting the car sit for a few months I finally got the gumption to start working on it.

I drained all the gear box oil and then removed the inspection plate on the bottom of the gear box. What do I see? The gear at the back of the trany all chewed up. It is the one that is closest to the flywheel.

Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

So this one isn't gonna be cheap.

I prepped the trany for removal. Disconnect both CV joints, disconnected the parking break cable, removed the cross bars on the bottom of the subframe, and loosend the bolts holding the traning to the engine.

Tomorrow I'll remove the rear bumper, and maybe the mufflers if I have enough time because I have to work later in the day.

 

Ouch. For the 348 Brotherhood Ernie, what gear oil were you using all along?

Wouldn't the gear release/gear-shift problem be related to bad/failed synchros??

I take it that the tranny has to be removed to disassemble and replace the "chewed up" gear near the flywheel. Any bad flywheel noises?

I trust that you are taking pictures for this operation. It sounds as though we all may need it eventually.

Also, did you have the ZMax tranny warranty via adding their fluid every 6 months? It would be interesting to see if they really would pay up their $1,500 limit. Knowing that alone would have value.

 

I was using Mobil 1, 75w90 for the gear oil.

I do think that the gear not releasing is due to a bad synchro. I was hoping that was all the was wrong, but it wasn't.

So yup, I do have to pull the tranny and over haul it. Good thing is that I'll be doing the work so I won't get raked over the coals with labor charges. I may take it over to Billybobs and work on it with him. But I'm still leaning on doing it at my place.

Oh and I haven't taken any pics. But maybe I should cause this won't be the last time someone has to pull a 348 tranny.

Well I'm off to remove the rear bumper.

 

John, what gear oil were you using when your tranny failed?

 

In defence of Mobile 1, the tranny already was having the problem. I changed the oil to see if it was due to the old oil, but it wasn't. The Mobile 1 had less than 40 miles on it. So I wasted all the new oil, ahhhhhh. Also I did notice it was easier to shift with the Mobile 1.

Anyway the bumper is off, and I'll be tearing into it more tomorrow. I may have it out tomorrow or the day after. I just depends on how much I want to work on it that day.

 

JJ,

Chubbie here. Ernie and I are going to do his box so keep in contact with us. Are you interested in making some drop gears for even more acceleration? We have been talking about having some gears made. It would be kinda fun to surprise some 355's.