Oil and ATF fluid levels - Tip

[KevM]

Hi,

I am almost at the end of 2 months of slog getting my semi rebuilt AGAIN.

Quite simply I didn't realise how significant a rise in my ATF fluid level was and didn't check the oil as I had only just rebuilt the engine a week earlier and 'knew' it was ok.

Well it wasn't, a rise in ATF fluid was a direct result of engine oil pumping into the ATF at the oil/ATF pump.

2 tiny little seals that i eventually bought later and replaced for a meagre 20pence had gone solid and were not doing what they should have been doing, sealing.

End result was a seized engine which had to come out and be rebuilt, cost me loads aggro, time and money so if your ATF fluid levels change significantly, check the oil too and if you can't see a leak then the seals have given up.

Changing the seals isn't a huge task but allow about half a day depending on your schedule, speed or whatever else is going on.

To get to the oil seals you have to take off the pulley wheel which is a pain without the right tools, there is a pully wheen extractor but if you can't get one then 2 bug screwdrivers, a lot of elbow grease and patience and you should eventually be able to get it off but if you can find a pulley extractor my advice is spend the little bit needed to get it off. Without one this will definitely be a half a day job and your arms will ache like hell for a couple of days plus you could bugger up the pulley wheel.

In fact forget screwdrivers, get the pulley wheel extractor, it still costs less than a new engine!

Buy some replacement oil pump gaskets before you start as well, a couple is all you need.

With the pulley off you can undo the tinware behind the pulley wheel ad get to the oil/atf pump. 4 bolts on mine which need a suitable allen key to undo them.

You will need to undo the pipes that go into and out of the pump, I used a cut down plastic lemonade bottle to catch the fluid that drips out. Any suitable container will do but you need something.

Then gently prise out the pump unit. NOT the engine oil pump, although if you wanted to this could be a good time to replace that too if you wanted.

The engine oil pump will stay in the engine and in your hand you should have some cogs and a face plate between the two sets of cogs, one for the engine and the atf housing, prise the atf pump housing apart and you will see some more cogs.

On a clean workbench (I slapped down some stuck together sheets of A4 paper) lay everything out carefully and start to take it apart. There is a woodruff key holding one of the cogs in place, tap this out with a screwdriver or suitable tool and then you can pull off the cog. Be carefull with the tiny woodruff key, it's a tiny semi circle of metal but you need to keep it safe as its so easy to lose.

You should now see the seals. Take them out and put your new ones in with a bit of grease or something. 14x22x4 I think were the oil seal sizes, if you search this forum you will find another post with the sizes on it.

Cean it all up then reassemble the whole lot.

You can fire it up without the pulley wheel on to check for leaks between the gaskets. If its ok then stick the tinware on and pulley wheel.

Viola. Two tiny little seals that can cause a huge amount of greif replaced.

I didn't have new gaskets when I put it back together so I have had to strip it down again to stick them on as right now I have got a bit of fluid seeping out but for me this is better than seeping into the ATf and I should have this fixed by tonight. The engine oil pump gasket is a standard item for engine oil pumps, the ATF one looks like a bit of red greased proof paper. There is a critical tolerance between the housings so don't go sticking in a cardboard type gasket, as long as you replace like with like it will be fine.

Hope this helps

Kev