unclepete Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 sorting out the gearbox top selector rods (successfully) to cure my TR3a's sloppy gear selection and to stop her popping out of third, i had a look at the gearbox itself. all looked fine except for the oil level? a bit low but no obvious leaks. the gearbox has a little dipstick which, when measured, looks to come to about the same level as the fill level plug on the side of the gearbox. looking at the manual it gives a larger oil content, when fitted with an overdrive (which mine has). topping her up used up a whole litre of gear oil to get to the bottom of the dip stick (which has no scale markings). is this ok, as looking into the gearbox, the cogs etc. looked covered by about 2 thirds? what worries me is that the dipstick has no 'max or min' marks? peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CP62 Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Peter, I've never had a manual gearbox with a dipstick, but provided it is a TR box I believe the filler plug hole in the side of the box gives the correct level. This should match the level mark on the dipstick. As for max and min marks - I'm sure a range of levels would be OK, but the gearbox should not normally lose any oil, so if you find it needs topping up when you are servicing, you should probably start checking it more frequently, until you can find and rectify the leak. All the best, Nick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel Lay Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Hello Peter, As I have got both types of boxes lying in garage I have just had a look. According to Bill Piggott's book from TS50001 they done away with the dipstick and went to filler/level plug only. However if yours is around that number I should think they were using the old style covers on newer casings or of course the cover or box could have been changed at some time. The dip stick in mine has two lines, one 1/4" up and the other about 5/8" up from the bottom. Mid way in between seems to coincide with the bottom of the filler/level plug. The length of the stick itself is 6 & 7/8" (this is the stick only). All the best Nigel (with TS952) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
j-eichert Posted January 31, 2005 Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 Hello Peter, i check mine too (gearbox-no. TS 47...): Length of the stick 175mm, two marks 5m and 15mm from the bottom (160/170mm from the top). Sorry, I'm used to metric...using the calculator, this gives: Length 6 7/8, two marks 6 11/16 and 6 5/16 from top or: 3/16 and 9/16 from the bottom The stick has a round tip, so adding its height this would add up to Nigels 4/16 and 10/16. The marks look as if they were made with hammer and chisel... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unclepete Posted January 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2005 thanks all nigel my commission no is TS25### 1958 so a few thousand to go before losing the dipstick. its quite handy for topping up as getting the fill level plug out is a real pain. i will pull it out again to double check the dip stick for marks. its only a push fit into the top of the box, but its a pain getting to it from under the dash and through the rubber bung!! as there are no oil leaks i think the previous gearbox fill up forgot about the extra bit for the overdrive? pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Elliott Posted February 1, 2005 Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 My 1958 TR3Athe dip-stick fill hole. It came that way. TS 27489 LO. There is a large rubber plug about the same size as we find for the holes in the floors when we want to jack up the car using an original jack. Remove the carpet, then the large rubber plug and after pulling up on the dip-stick, one can check the oil level. I drilled 2 small holes about 0.030" diameter (0.75mm) through the dip-stick where the grooved lines are located. Before I check the oil level, I blow the oil out these small holes with a quick puff of air from my mouth and then push the dip-stick back down into its hole. This lets me know more easily what the oil level is as I can see the meniscus of oil closing the bottom hole ( at the bottom groove) leaving the top hole still open Don Elliott, Montreal, Canada Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unclepete Posted February 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2005 thanks don now i know how to give my 3a a blow job pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Kitchener Posted February 2, 2005 Report Share Posted February 2, 2005 Don Elliott:I drilled 2 small holes about 0.030" diameter (0.75mm) through the dip-stick Hey Don, You'll be losing points at this year's VTR if that becomes known on your side of the pond. Cheers Mike http://mikek.9online.fr/index.htm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
johnsilver Posted February 7, 2005 Report Share Posted February 7, 2005 Pete, Just one thing i would look out for concerning gearbox dipsticks, when i first came to check mine after i first bought the car i found parts of the dipstick had been ground away, after investigation i discovered a slight bend in the stick and it was catching one of the gears in the box, you will proberbly know with taking the top off yours that it runs very close to the gear cluster so if its not perfectly straight it catches and quickly gets ground away. By the way. mine has min and max marks and seems to be acurate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Smith Posted June 26, 2005 Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 Hi all Just changed the gearbox oil on TRK and about 1½ lts came out, but I can only get just over 1Lt back in!! ??? The filler plug starts to overflow after this; I have tried running through the gears on the axle stands to disperse the oil around the box but this makes little difference. TRK has a TR2 gearbox (No TS 4357) fitted with overdrive; the manual says a gearbox drained should take 1½ lts. Am I doing something wrong? Advice much appreciated Thanks Andrew Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel Lay Posted June 26, 2005 Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 Hi Andrew, That's not the filler/level hole, I would try and get the bolt with the shaft back in as I believe it is the one that holds the reverse spindle on the early boxes. The spindle has an ident in it that the bolt locks into - see an early service manual. Your box would originally had a combined filler plug with a dipstick in the top cover. I suspect this was changed to a later cover to incorporate the overdrive lock out switches when an overdrive was added but of course the filler/level hole vanishes. On the later boxes the filler/level plug was in the large blank part of the casing on the side you can see from your photo. I don't know what to suggest, I can give you the distance from the top of the casing to the oil if you remove the top cover and fill it that way. I have got both an early & later box with TS952 and I am using the later box for this very reason as the early box is non O/D but if I fitted the O/D to it with the later top cover there is no way of getting the oil in (well there is through an O/D lock out switch but how do you check the level). Get back to me if nobody can come up with a solution and I will drag the old box out tomorrow and see if there's a way round it. I hope you get the bolt with the reverse spindle 'lock shaft' back in OK. Nigel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Elliott Posted June 26, 2005 Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 Nigel - If you drained only the gearbox, you will get about a litre of oil. If you also drain the overdrive, you'll get another 1/2 litre. Don Elliott, 1958 TR3A TS 27489 LO, Montreal, Canada Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel Lay Posted June 26, 2005 Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 Point taken Don, I will look tomorrow. Maybe the bolt Andrew removed is is line with the later filler/level plug. The only worry is that it holds the reverse gear shaft in place, if the shaft has moved you won't get the bolt back in. An interesting one because as I said, originally I was going to put the O/D onto the earlier box for TS952 then change the top cover but as I said this gets rid of the filler hole(s) on the gearbox. We will see what Andrew comes up with. Hope all is well - All the best, Nigel (grill is in and looks great) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew Smith Posted June 26, 2005 Report Share Posted June 26, 2005 Nigel All is well, the reverse still works OK - just taken TRK out for drive - backwards!! I was advised that this is the only way to fill and check the oil level given there is no "easy" method on TR2 boxes fitted with o/d - both the previous owner and a reputable TR specialist advised of this method as having "been doing it this way for years". The oil shows when the required level (1½ lts) is reached, normally - see confession below. I still have TRK's original non-o/d gearbox, so will drag it out tomorrrow and have a look also. Don Yes, you are entirely right and I have been a complete Muppet; I forgot to drain the o/d!!!! Regards Andrew Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel Lay Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 Glad it's all sorted Andrew and I have learned something. At least I can use the early box with a later top cover. All the best, Nigel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Les Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 I'm confused now! My TR2 has overdrive, lockout switches allowing overdrive on 2nd, 3rd & 4th, but still has its dipstick/filler? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Nigel Lay Posted June 28, 2005 Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 Hello Les, how are things? I assume if O/D was fitted to a 2 originally there would be no problem. The early gearbox I have is a non O/D one. There are no inhibit switches fitted just flats on the casting of the top plate. I assume with work the switches could be fitted, I don't know whats involved, I must look sometime. I reckon if an O/D was fitted by a dealer to an early box it would be simpler for him to fit a later cover and let the customer sort out oil fill problems (or is it my twisted mind!!) Catch up with you soon - Nigel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mike ellis Posted June 28, 2005 Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 Les, Don't worry yours is correct. The dipstick was found on all gearboxes up to TS50000 whether overdrive or not. The filler/dipstick hole is to the right hand side of the top cover and does not interfere with the inhibitor switches. Problems only arise when you have a pre 50001 casing without a level hole fitted with a post 50000 top cover without a dipstick. This is what Andrew appears to have. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Vincent Posted June 28, 2005 Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 Hi Guys: I replaced the original gearbox on my'58 TR3 with a later box and overdrive with a level/fill plug instead of a dipstick/fill hole as on the '58 (the new one is from a '61).I cut out an inspection hole in the gearbox tunnel cover about 4"x4" opposite the plug and made up a sheet metal cover plate held in place with metal screws.There is an opening in the carpet covered with a piece of carpet held in place with velcro for access.Now I can check or add oil from within the car. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Elliott Posted June 28, 2005 Report Share Posted June 28, 2005 I have done something similar as Vincent on the post-60000 TR3A that I'm restoring but instead of a sheetmetal plate and screws, I cut a large round hole on the left side of the tunnel for access to the oil fill plug. I use a large round rubber plug (as used in the floors for the jack hole) to close the hole in the tunnel. I didn't cut the carpet as it's rather easy to lift it out the way to check the oil level of re-fill the gearbox. Note, if you go this way, make sure that you have the round rubber plug in your hand and measure it. The latest repro plugs for the floor are about 1/4" smaller than the original plugs. Don Elliott, 1958 TR3A, Montreal, Canada Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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