Thanks AJ, that's great intel. Well, since I've been a flooring contractor for 35 years at least there's no shortage of epoxy in my warehouse!
Rebuilt A 833 front oil leak
- Thread starter I8NEMO
- Start date
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I am experiencing the same thing as I8NEMO did, but different problem. I have a used 833 bought from a person who said he rebuilt it. When I got it home I noticed it had cracks around the bearing retainer casting bolts (from over torqueing I assume). Ordered a new bearing retainer and seal/gasket kit from Brewers. I could have easily replaced the retainer myself, but decided to have a pro look it over, and replace seals and gaskets, so I took to a local trans shop for an inspection, reseal, and bearing retainer replacement. Got it back and they said it looked good inside and I was good to go.
I have the engine and trans on a built up box on casters, as I have a lift and will be installing the assembly from below. I put Pennzoil Synchromesh oil in. About a week later I noticed fluid leaking, and it was coming from the front of the trans. Removed the trans from the engine and found the plug at the idler shaft to be the leak point. I'm hoping I can fix this without having to bring it back to the shop. How do you remove and replace the plug? You can't see the oil because it got wiped off, but it definitely is leaking.
I have the engine and trans on a built up box on casters, as I have a lift and will be installing the assembly from below. I put Pennzoil Synchromesh oil in. About a week later I noticed fluid leaking, and it was coming from the front of the trans. Removed the trans from the engine and found the plug at the idler shaft to be the leak point. I'm hoping I can fix this without having to bring it back to the shop. How do you remove and replace the plug? You can't see the oil because it got wiped off, but it definitely is leaking.
That is not a plug, it is the countershaft that the cluster gear rides on. I would get a new one and and use RTV on the bore when you replace it.
This is my process. I have been putting about a 1/8" chamfer in the bore. Once the shaft is close, I clean & dry the bore with brake kleen. Then wipe the bore with silicone. Sometimes there will be a scrape, or some rust pitting in the bore, and this helps fill those small voids.
Thanks Dan and 66fs. I'm a bit confused. Does the transmission need to come apart to do this, or can it be done from the outside only? Does the countershaft have to replaced? In the above photos, how does the shaft move from the depressed position to flush with the case?
Yes, trans would need to be apart to seal it like I described above. You could just clean and seal it as-is, not sure how well it will work.
That's a bummer for sure, good luck.
The countershaft in your trans looks used. Do yourself a favor and replace it with a new one. Get the Countershaft Arbor Tool from Brewers and a brass drift. If you are good, you can take the bolts out of the tailshaft housing and rotate it and drive the old countershaft out while sliding the arbor tool in at the same time. Then do your clean up of the countershaft bore and slide the new countershaft back in, pushing the arbor tool back out the front. As soon as the countershaft starts into the front bore, do as Dan says and clean the bore and apply the silicone. Then drive the countershaft the rest of the way in. It is a press fit. When the silicone has hardened use a single edge razor blade and remove excess silicone flush with the front face of the main housing.
Brewer's Performance - Mopar A833 4-Speed Transmission and Component Specialists
Hyper_pak
Old School Chrysler Fan
I said this in an early post, get some thin gasket material.
Make a patch slightly larger than the shaft.
A little RTV and sandwich it between the bell and the front of the trans.
It works great on a blowpoof as there is flat surface to sandwich it.
Red line heavy shock oil will get out like nobodies business.
Make a patch slightly larger than the shaft.
A little RTV and sandwich it between the bell and the front of the trans.
It works great on a blowpoof as there is flat surface to sandwich it.
Red line heavy shock oil will get out like nobodies business.
The countershaft in your trans looks used. Do yourself a favor and replace it with a new one. Get the Countershaft Arbor Tool from Brewers and a brass drift. If you are good, you can take the bolts out of the tailshaft housing and rotate it and drive the old countershaft out while sliding the arbor tool in at the same time. Then do your clean up of the countershaft bore and slide the new countershaft back in, pushing the arbor tool back out the front. As soon as the countershaft starts into the front bore, do as Dan says and clean the bore and apply the silicone. Then drive the countershaft the rest of the way in. It is a press fit. When the silicone has hardened use a single edge razor blade and remove excess silicone flush with the front face of the main housing.
Brewer's Performance - Mopar A833 4-Speed Transmission and Component Specialists
www.brewersperformance.com
66fs, thanks very much for the suggestion. I called Brewers and discussed the situation with Dan. He said that in a perfect world it would be feasible, but the possibility of damaging the tail housing gasket was a significant consideration. If it got damaged, replacing it would involve opening up the trans and that would involve a lot of work and I'm not comfortable attempting it. He suggested cleaning it very well and use RTV on the face of the shaft. Since I'm not in a hurry, I'm going to give this a try. By the way, Dan said the shaft was a replacement as it said "Made in USA" on the end, so it's probably OK.
Hyper_Pak, Thanks for the input. I'm giving that a try, I'm not in hurry so I'll try the simple solution first.
So...I went ahead with the patch method on the leaking countershaft. I cleaned the area several times starting with acetone and ending with brake clean and compressed air in between applications. I used Permatex for Gear Oil, and cut a patch of .030" gasket paper exactly 1-1/8" diameter, which allows for a 1/8" overlap over the shaft. I applied Permatex to the shaft, pushed it with my thumb, then applied the patch and centered it. I placed a very strong round magnet over the patch and left it cure for 48 hours.
Filled the trans back up with Pennzoil synchromesh manual trans fluid and let it sit for 48 hours to confirm it stopped the leak. I reinstalled the trans to the bellhousing carefully so as to not rotate the trans when close to the bellhousing as it might damage the gasket. The gasket does not interfere with mating the trans to the stock bellhousing. Its been a week now and no leaks. Thank you Hyper_Pak for the suggestion!
Filled the trans back up with Pennzoil synchromesh manual trans fluid and let it sit for 48 hours to confirm it stopped the leak. I reinstalled the trans to the bellhousing carefully so as to not rotate the trans when close to the bellhousing as it might damage the gasket. The gasket does not interfere with mating the trans to the stock bellhousing. Its been a week now and no leaks. Thank you Hyper_Pak for the suggestion!
Awesome! Congrats!
Instead of starting a new thread, I thought it would be best to stick with this one. So...I fixed the leak on the countershaft, but I also have a very small leak at the reverse detent assembly. This assembly appears to have two gaskets, one on the plug and one on the base. I have the gasket for the plug from Brewer's but they don't show one for the assembly, although Passon does show one on their site. What is the easiest way to change these gaskets without running the risk of having the ball fall out and into the transmission? Will the whole thing unscrew as an assembly so I can swap out the gasket?
Unscrew the small plug. Remove the spring and detent ball with a magnet. Then take the housing out. Nothing holding the ball in the housing.
66fs, Thanks very much. Now I understand how the ball could fall into the box, I'll follow your advice.
AJ/FormS
68 Formua-S fastback clone 367/A833/GVod/3.55s
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From the factory, IMO, that larger diameter gasket is too thin, and when you torque the tube, it tears the paper.
Furthermore,
From the factory, IMO, there is too much preload on that spring, which makes it less than easy to select reverse.
So, what I do, is get rid of the paper gasket and install a copper or aluminum washer there, several times thicker than the paper. Then I do the same on the little plug to fine tune the preload, to how I like it. All that spring has to do is prevent the shift-rod from falling into or out off reverse, when it's not supposed to. IMO, from the factory, it's easily many times stiffer than it needs to be.
But worse is how much preload is in the actual shifter mechanism, going from Neutral to Reverse. Criminy! But, I hardly ever use reverse anyway, lol. I like me a nice, easy, "snick" going into reverse, like a Ford top-loader.
Furthermore,
From the factory, IMO, there is too much preload on that spring, which makes it less than easy to select reverse.
So, what I do, is get rid of the paper gasket and install a copper or aluminum washer there, several times thicker than the paper. Then I do the same on the little plug to fine tune the preload, to how I like it. All that spring has to do is prevent the shift-rod from falling into or out off reverse, when it's not supposed to. IMO, from the factory, it's easily many times stiffer than it needs to be.
But worse is how much preload is in the actual shifter mechanism, going from Neutral to Reverse. Criminy! But, I hardly ever use reverse anyway, lol. I like me a nice, easy, "snick" going into reverse, like a Ford top-loader.
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