Leak coming from A833 bell housing. Help!

-

Iceman_krebs

Active Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2015
Messages
31
Reaction score
9
Location
Windsor, Colorado
I did not put this engine and 4 speed a833 in and I have not rebuilt a tranny before. I took my 69 dart out today and came back with a pretty good leak coming from the bell housing cover. I took it off and it looks to be coming from maybe the input bearing retainer in the transmission? Smelled the fluid and it's definitely trans fluid. Should I attempt to replace the retainer? Could it be something else? Would I get fleeced for this "little" thing by taking it to a transmission shop? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

IMG_0022.JPG
 
There are only so many causes if it is indeed the trans. Countershaft (cluster) retainer gasket, or the oil seal. Replacing that seal is easy. In this day and age I have no advice on getting one. In my day, "easy."
 
There are three places for oil to leak there. Input shaft seal,bearing retainer gasket and counter shaft
which doesn’t have a seal just light press fit in the case. Brewers has all the parts you need.
 
Based on the caked on grime, it has been leaking for a while.

Have you checked the fluid level yet?
 
There are only so many causes if it is indeed the trans. Countershaft (cluster) retainer gasket, or the oil seal. Replacing that seal is easy. In this day and age I have no advice on getting one. In my day, "easy."

Then the real fun stuff starts when you find out what made it start leaking.
Could pilot bushing, front bearing going, or even a cracked front bearing cover.

Someone had to say it.:D:rolleyes:
 
Based on the caked on grime, it has been leaking for a while.

Have you checked the fluid level yet?
I did check the tranny level and it is low. Had it full before I went for a spin.

Guess I’ll order the seals from brewers and research how to do this. May be a “how to” on here?
 
I did check the tranny level and it is low. Had it full before I went for a spin.

Guess I’ll order the seals from brewers and research how to do this. May be a “how to” on here?
Don't be scared, pull it out and post pics on here.
Everyone will pile on and walk you thru it.
Dany and I have done that A LOT on her project when we get over our head and we have NEVER gotten bad advice!!
 
May as well do the bearings while your in there
 
I've got H pipe exhaust. Seems to be pretty close to the output end. Has anyone had to take out the exhaust to pull the tranny?
 
I've got H pipe exhaust. Seems to be pretty close to the output end. Has anyone had to take out the exhaust to pull the tranny?
yes, lol. 17 minutes is my record; on a drive-on hoist. and that includes dropping the exhaust and GVod unit. Most of that is spent taking the shifter off,lol.
 
If you just replace the rubber seal that's in the bearing retainer, that's easy, except for you have to pull the trans. Depending on the large or small size bearing retainer, if you wanted to replace the input shaft bearing, easy enough for the large one, the small one, you have to pull the tailshaft out and remove the cluster shaft ( I believe) to pull the input shaft out. Big deal. Replace the seal.
 
I did check the tranny level and it is low. Had it full before I went for a spin.

Guess I’ll order the seals from brewers and research how to do this. May be a “how to” on here?
Jack up the car, put it on stands...all 4 doesnt hurt.... Block the rear tires...take the the u-bolts loose at the rear end n let Driveline down . Leave yolk end in trans so you dont spill oil everywhere.., take and remove your shifter and linkage, Speedo cable then with a jack under the transmission loosen and remove the transmission crossmember and lower the transmission and engine down some paying attention to the z bar on the bellhousing, you don't want to put that in a bind and screw up the nylon bushing halves inside of it so in case that starts to look like it's happening go ahead and loosen that 1 bolt and take the other out and Let it Loose from the bellhousing period. Now that the transmission is lower down with the crossmember removed take take the four bolts that attach the transmission to the bellhousing loose ,completely remove the upper bolts and then the lower 2 once you're ready to drop it down.

You will not have to mess with alignment of the splines when stabbing the transmission back into the bell this way.
 
So that was harder to get out than originally thought. Not easy w H pipe exhaust. Had to drop that and even then didn’t have much wiggle room. My homemade trans jack adapter worked nicely though.

Anyway, sure enough, of course it will leak when whoever put it in didn’t put a bearing retainer oil seal in. Got one on order from Brewers and just resisting the urge to replace anything else while I have it out. Thanks for the help guys!

8A7FE217-29D2-469D-B959-1892914E64A9.jpeg


A018CFB3-3C97-4B40-BCEF-2A350A08E213.jpeg
 
Here's another tip. Get 2 7/16 bolts, course thread, maybe 2 1/2 " long, cut the heads off and screw them into the top 2 trans holes , they will be a guide and support when you are reinstalling trans, even help when removing it. Trans in, install the 2 bottom bolts, remove the top studs install top 2 bolts. You will be surprised at how much easier it is to install your trans, and your clutch plate will not get hurt when your arms get tired from the wiggling.
Good luck!
 
Here's another tip. Get 2 7/16 bolts, course thread, maybe 2 1/2 " long, cut the heads off and screw them into the top 2 trans holes , they will be a guide and support when you are reinstalling trans, even help when removing it. Trans in, install the 2 bottom bolts, remove the top studs install top 2 bolts. You will be surprised at how much easier it is to install your trans, and your clutch plate will not get hurt when your arms get tired from the wiggling.
Good luck!

That's some great advice Cruze! Thanks. I'll definitely do that. Anything to make our lives a little easier. :thankyou:
 
Here's another tip. Get 2 7/16 bolts, course thread, maybe 2 1/2 " long, cut the heads off and screw them into the top 2 trans holes , they will be a guide and support when you are reinstalling trans, even help when removing it. Trans in, install the 2 bottom bolts, remove the top studs install top 2 bolts. You will be surprised at how much easier it is to install your trans, and your clutch plate will not get hurt when your arms get tired from the wiggling.
Good luck!

:thumbsup:

I use all-thread, same approach. Makes things much easier trying to nail the disc spline and pilot bushing.
 
Here's another tip. Get 2 7/16 bolts, course thread, maybe 2 1/2 " long, cut the heads off and screw them into the top 2 trans holes , they will be a guide and support when you are reinstalling trans, even help when removing it. Trans in, install the 2 bottom bolts, remove the top studs install top 2 bolts. You will be surprised at how much easier it is to install your trans, and your clutch plate will not get hurt when your arms get tired from the wiggling.
Good luck!
I cut a slot in the end, sometimes greasy fingers wont get them out but a flat screwdriver will.
 
One last piece of advice, I just had to fix the same kind of leak (shaft seal was okay but I replaced it also) and when I pulled it down I found the side walls of one of the bolt holes in the bearing cover broke open causing the fluid to run out the bolt hole and into the same area. In case you don't know the bearing cover has oil flowing through the cover a lot. Talked to Brewers and they told me that was normal to happen on one or more holes broken through and they just use red RTV after you clean the threads out and seal the holes by filling the bolt cavity with the RTV, I also got a replacement set of cover bolts and the bolts went in great. Leak is gone.
 
So that was harder to get out than originally thought. Not easy w H pipe exhaust. Had to drop that and even then didn’t have much wiggle room. My homemade trans jack adapter worked nicely though.

Anyway, sure enough, of course it will leak when whoever put it in didn’t put a bearing retainer oil seal in. Got one on order from Brewers and just resisting the urge to replace anything else while I have it out. Thanks for the help guys!

View attachment 1715566215

View attachment 1715566216
 
Years sgo, I installed a "Professionally" assembled short block into my Demon...
Unfortunately one half of the rear main seal had been installed backwards...
Nothing but denial from the machine shop AND the seller.
Sure was a terrific oil-bath inside the scatter shield, and a quick way to mess up a new clutch disc...
Check EVERYTHING you reasonably can while you have it apart!
 
One last piece of advice, I just had to fix the same kind of leak (shaft seal was okay but I replaced it also) and when I pulled it down I found the side walls of one of the bolt holes in the bearing cover broke open causing the fluid to run out the bolt hole and into the same area. In case you don't know the bearing cover has oil flowing through the cover a lot. Talked to Brewers and they told me that was normal to happen on one or more holes broken through and they just use red RTV after you clean the threads out and seal the holes by filling the bolt cavity with the RTV, I also got a replacement set of cover bolts and the bolts went in great. Leak is gone.

Copy all. The passon manual definitely talks about this as well and they say to rtv each bolt that holds the bearing retainer in as well. pretty impressed with this manual. It's easy to follow and lots of pics for guys like me.
 
-
Back
Top