ANYONE EVER HAVE A TRANS LEAK AT THE BELLHOUSING OF A 235 AND A 3 SPEED STOCK TRANS IN A 1954 CHEVY?? LEAKING RIGHT OUT OF LITTLE HOLE OF THE BOTTOM OF THE BELLHOUSING....
Very likely the rear main bearing seal. It can be replaced without pulling the engine/trans but it ain't fun. IMHO, if it isn't leaking a much and isn't getting on your clutch, you might just run it for a while (keep check on your oil level). It's your call. A lot of Chevy 6 cyl's have this problem.
how do I know if it's in my clutch ?? a lot of chatter I would get ??? Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I agree with '41 Chev. I have a 53 and my car had a bad leak near the bellhousing. My rear main seal was bad. If you put your finger in the leaked fluid, you should be able to tell if it is gear oil or engine oil.
There is no oil seal in the nose of the trans I am pretty sure. It's maybe just a slinger washer near the bearing. But maybe you are overfull with oil or park on a downhill slope? Or the bearing retainer is loose and leaking from the bottom of it where the gasket should seal it. More than likely the engine rear seal or even seeping around the crankshaft to flywheel bolts. Could even be the Cam seal plug or one of the pipe plugs that are back there. Are you sure it's gear oil?
The transmission countershaft (cluster gear shaft) bore is subject to leaking as well. Not saying that IS the problem, only that it, too, is a possibility among the many mentioned so far.
I just pulled the 235 from my 53 bel air. It to was leaking from the small hole in the bell housing, But I did find that it was coming from the engine and not the transmission, do to the engine running out of oil. I found the rear main seal in the bearing cap was bad. Also the part in the bearing cap was like a woven rope and the part in the block is rubber, not sure if thats the way it should be or some one just put in what they had. The back of the flywheel was covered in oil, but the clutch was still dry. But what a oily mess under the car.
take a wiff , gear oil should smell like sulpher . engine oil has its own unique smell . if you get it on the clutch it will slip and smoke . and once on the material it has to be replaced with the cover , no real way to clean it off . the flywheel will have to be resurfaced also .
If its gear oil, its normal for the bell housing bottom cover to drip lightly. The throw-out bearing of the clutch is lubed via a 3/32" hole on the transmission's clutch shaft collar. It will leak more when you park nose down on an incline. That's why the bell housing cover has a hole at the bottom, so gear oil can drain. You just have to top off transmission fluid, depending on your mileage. With synchro-mesh transmissions make sure to use GL-4 rated gear oil, because of the brass parts in it.
The Jalopy Journal
