915 Input Shaft Seal Question
 

Hi All,
I just had my early style 915 trans rebuilt down at Blackforest Auto in San Diego. On the drive back to my house in Orange County after picking it up, it blew out the input shaft seal, spewing Swepco all over the exhaust and engine, just making a mess in general. To their credit Blackforest towed the car back to their shop to investigate. I'm a little concerned about two things though.

1. My understanding is that the older 915 cases are designed such that the input shaft seal is put in on the inside of the case rather then the outside as with later style 915's. If that's true, realistically how would the seal come out?

2. If trans fluid was leaking from a missing input shaft seal, would that mean that the clutch and fly wheel would have been soaked with trans fluid as well? I was told that, that wouldn't be an issue, because of the way the case is designed. Just looking to see if any experts here can confirm that. I'd really like to get this fixed once and for all, so I can move on to fixing other things on the car.

Thanks for any input!

-Dave

If it leaks slowly and dribbles out fluid may avoid getting on the pressure plate. By what you describe the seal was totally lost and gear oil spewed all over. I can't see avoiding a new friction disc if that is the case. Flywheel and pressure plate can just be cleaned off.

On another post recently someone popped out an axle seal. It was suggested a plugged vent might be responsible. Just as likely your shaft was installed dry and tore up the rubber seal?

The seal was totally lost as explained to me by the shop. I was told that on the early 915 cases there is some kind of guide tube that prevents any leaks from the input shaft seal from getting at the clutch. Sounded dubious to me and possibly an excuse to not pony up for a new friction disk.

I believe that guide tube will work for leaks, but an explosive failure? I would say if the inside of your bell housing is coated with oil, and certainly if your pressure plate is wet, put a new disc in. Perhaps a good compromise would be you pay for the disc, but they do the cleanup and install (unless the clutch is brand new and they blew it).

Unfortunately, I'm a bit too far away to take a look at the damage myself. So I may just need to ask them to take some pictures. It was a brand new clutch that they installed with the transmission rebuild. If I can get some pictures I'll post them.

Blackforest is a good shop and they will do what is right. If they see that your clutch disk is covered in oil they won't throw it back in because they know it will just start slipping and they will have the pleasure of redoing the work again.

Oh, I agree Shawn. I did extensive research on reputable shops in the area, and they consistently came out at or near the top. Which is why I took it there to begin with. But, I'm not the type of owner that just asks a shop to "fix the problem" and don't bother me with details. I like details. So, I'm just trying go glean a bit of insight into the problem from as many sources as possible.