Hi FChatters, At my annual service last Fall, my dealer found some "unusual debris" that was collected on the gearbox filter. They said it didn't appear to be metallic in nature, but believe that this is due to extra wear in the gearbox differential. On occasions, I do notice a click sound that appears to come from the front passenger side when I slow down and make a right turn, but there is no whining sound or other sounds that appear to come from the transmission during slow or fast speeds. I had a heat exchanger failure last year, but we caught it in a very early stage & flushed both coolant and gearbox reservoirs extensively after it was replaced. The dealer has quoted me $11,500 for a differential repair, so I'm hoping that the debris is due to something less serious! They will give me a 15% discount if done offseason, so I'm debating whether to take the plunge & get this done before summer. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thx, Brad.
Its a fishing trip, stay away. There is nothing....zero in the gearbox that is of any consequence if it is non metallic. If there was a differential problem the gear box magnet would look like a big afro. Debris in the gearbox filter has become a big sales tool for crooks. Fill it with oil and drive it, change annually. If the syncros are a problem or it makes noise have it looked at but non metallic debris in the filter is a scare tactic.
Agree with above. Tell them to go somewhere where the sun don't shine. BTW your blinker fluid is low. Ferrari fluid is $5000/oz. *jk*
These type of scare tactics from the dealer is ridiculous! I'm glad I recently decided to tackle preventative maintenance myself! I did my Gearbox/differential service last month. I ALSO found "unusual things" inside the screen. At first, I was skeptical in cleaning the filter, but I'm glad I made the extra effort to do it correctly. Car shifts much smoother with Redline 75W90 NS per Fchat recommendation. Very happy! Image Unavailable, Please Login
That's what I'm thinking too. Probably from when the car was manufactured? I would not be surprised the filter was NEVER changed or cleaned. Many dealers don't even bother! :/
What I found. This is common from what I have been told. It is the excess sealant used in the assembly of the gearbox. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Mel, Nothing to worry about. Eventually, all this excess sealant will go away over time with the proper yearly maintenance and fluid change. I agree with Rifledriver.......nothing to worry about. There was no metal on the magnet. From the appearance and color of the debris found by Supratime, it appears that the fluid change on the gearbox had not been done in a long time and many miles ago.
Ferrari has had those filters in many transaxles since the 275. Over all of those years most of the filters were not accessible without removal and disassembly of the transaxle. They have the ability to flow many times the amount of oil that the oil pump is and their real purpose is to prevent large metal pieces from being ingested and doing even greater damage. The motor has exactly the same nature of screen on the oil pump for the same reason and those are never serviced so don't have heart failure if you see some junk in it and no one has cleaned it before. We have a 29 year old 328 and a 27 year old TR and human eyes have not seen the transmission filter in either since the day those cars were assembled.
Agree with the group. I found same rubber type debris and fluid was clean and changed two years prior. Guessing the filter was never cleaned due to the extra work involved. These are the exact reasons I prefer to do my own maintenance because no matter how good the shop is you're still trusting their individual tech and techs come and go. I went with Redline and replaced the sagging upper mount and shifting improved significantly. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
@fahlmanb - Do you have pictures of the debris? There's a situation where the oil disareator internal structure could break down and fall in there. It would be aluminium however. Did they take the time to show you the stuff they found?
Unfortunately I don't have any photos. Just going by their description. I suppose that's also a possibility since aluminum debris wouldn't collect on the magnet... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The gearbox has a disareator? (spelling?) The engine dry sump system has one. Can this break down and contaminate the gearbox? I would think not.
Brian - Your ****ty, patronizing attitude never helps anyone. People bow down to your bullying for god know what reason. OP - They are correct, the disaereator is only for engine oil. It came from my own desire for more clarity and experience with disaereator failures. I think you've already moved on from this issue, but next time, try to get them to take a picture and confirm by posting it here.
You're right **** for brains. I just perpetuated the myth that debris in the oil strainer is cause for a very expensive transmission repair. Who the **** have you helped lately? Go screw yourself. Just because you're clueless don't take it out on me when I make a joke of your disinformation.
Having just read this thread for the first time I think it's been very helpful and saved the OP a potential big bill which no doubt would have got bigger..... Edit: that escalated whilst I was typing
