Hello!
Diving home from work tonight, I smoothly double-de-clutched into third to overtake a slow-moving truck on a country lane when I heard a sudden, brief hiss...
Thought nothing of it until a mile further down the road when I noticed I was leaving a trail of thin, white smoke behind me. Driving gently, I kept an eye on the instruments (no sign of excess heat and no oil light), I nursed the car to my village. Pulling away from a junction, the clutch slipped noticeably and I assumed the clutch had failed, however that wouldn't explain the continuous plume of oily-smelling smoke I was leaving everywhere.
Pulling up at home, I hoiked up the bonnet and could hear a faint rattling from down by the gearbox at idle. Walking around the back of the car, I noticed the back was covered in droplets of oil. Kneeling down, the underside was covered in dripping gear oil and a pool was forming at the front...
So, what's happened? My girlfriend's father guessed the seal between the gearbox and the clutch bellhousing has failed. The Haynes manual suggests this requires a gearbox rebuild. Does this sound correct? What bits would I need to effect a repair? I'm guessing a s/h box and a new clutch. I've not done this before, but I think it's probably something I can tackle myself. I'm not going to drive the car until it's sorted.
Many thanks for any advice or help!
Neil
Diving home from work tonight, I smoothly double-de-clutched into third to overtake a slow-moving truck on a country lane when I heard a sudden, brief hiss...
Thought nothing of it until a mile further down the road when I noticed I was leaving a trail of thin, white smoke behind me. Driving gently, I kept an eye on the instruments (no sign of excess heat and no oil light), I nursed the car to my village. Pulling away from a junction, the clutch slipped noticeably and I assumed the clutch had failed, however that wouldn't explain the continuous plume of oily-smelling smoke I was leaving everywhere.
Pulling up at home, I hoiked up the bonnet and could hear a faint rattling from down by the gearbox at idle. Walking around the back of the car, I noticed the back was covered in droplets of oil. Kneeling down, the underside was covered in dripping gear oil and a pool was forming at the front...
So, what's happened? My girlfriend's father guessed the seal between the gearbox and the clutch bellhousing has failed. The Haynes manual suggests this requires a gearbox rebuild. Does this sound correct? What bits would I need to effect a repair? I'm guessing a s/h box and a new clutch. I've not done this before, but I think it's probably something I can tackle myself. I'm not going to drive the car until it's sorted.
Many thanks for any advice or help!
Neil
