10/4/06
Transmission Seals

If you remember from last time on my transmission, we found a bad seal. François finally found some time to begin the strip down of my gearbox, and he removed the torn seal. He told me to hang it up over my work bench so I won’t make such a mistake again!

There are two seals at the back of the transmission that separates it from the overdrive. As the splined shaft of the overdrive is slipped into the transmission, care must be used to keep from tearing the second seal. As I watched him take the transmission apart, I was surprised to see an oil pump inside the transmission. François explained that most Ferrari transmissions have oil pumps to lubricate some of the bearings inside the box. If any pressure was lost because of the bad seal, some of the internal bearing surfaces could be overheated and damaged.

We stopped work for the day as the front bearing would not come out without a special tool. Although he has a whole wall of special Ferrari tools, there are some that he still has to borrow. He’ll call an old friend not far away to borrow the special bearing puller and continue on my transmission next time. Although there are signs that there was a little oil starvation, the rotation of the gears felt smooth without any rough spots, but taking the rest of the transmission apart is the only way to make absolute sure. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

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