Gear Lube Odor In Cabin-1988 Carrera

TheGanzman · 10-10-2008, 08:45 PM

O.K. - Here's the scenario: 41K miles Coupe. When driving normally with the windows closed but the sunroof cracked open, I'm getting a gear lube odor at lower speeds. Car is BONE dry on the underside; not a drop of oil, gear lube, or anything visible ANYWHERE! No smell in the engine compartment, wheel wells, etc. I'm plum pixillated - has this happened to anyone else who has subsequently diagnosed this problem? I'm not a fan of that particular odor, doncha know...

KTL · 10-10-2008, 09:11 PM

You need to check INSIDE the car. The transmission shifter rod pokes into the car in front of the rear seats- this is where the gear shift selector rod connects to the transmission with a coupler assembly. To get a look at the trans shift rod, peel back the carpet over the hump in front of the rear seats. Under there you'll find a steel inspection cover with four Philips head screws. Take off the cover and see if there's gear oil in there. If so, you've got a leaking shift rod seal......

The only way to replace the seal without too much hassle is to drop the front of the trans low enough to get good access to the shift rod. Lucky for you that you have a G50 transmission with a seal that is easier than most to get out!!! The guys who designed this seal must have learned from the 915 trans (many 915 shift rod bores are booged-up by people gouging the heck out of it, in an attempt to pry out the tiny seal) and have provided you with a seal that has a large steel ring attached to it. You can evenly pry on the steel ring to draw the seal out.

Evenly press in a new seal with a deep socket or length of pipe (a white PVC plumbing tee works good) and you're gold. Well, except for the need to clean out the center tunnel of stinky gear oil. Hopefully you don't have Swepco in your trans., because that stuff is some of stinkiest blue gear oil you'll ever smell!

Good luck!

jwernquist · 10-10-2008, 09:33 PM

Yeap kevin nailed it for you.

I had the exact problem in my 73 I used the PVC trick as well however I didn't drop the trans I did it with it all attached. with a chuck of 1x1 and a wedge block of wood so I could provide even pressure on the seal and it worked out perfect. The really only difficult part of the job was removing all of the old seal. I thought I had it all out and wasn't able to get the seal properly seated I thought I had it but it would still leak so I removed the new seal and got a few dental tools and was able to dig out some of the remnants of the original seal. Repressed a new seal in and 100% leak free.

It really isnt too bad, just awkward and sometimes hard to see what your doing but take your time and just think no more smelly cabin!!!

JW

TheGanzman · 10-10-2008, 09:42 PM

Man - how's THAT for fast, courteous, thorough responses!?

You guys are the champs!

KFC911 · 10-11-2008, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGanzman

O.K. - Here's the scenario: 41K miles Coupe. When driving normally with the windows closed but the sunroof cracked open, I'm getting a gear lube odor at lower speeds...

Kevin and JW are giving you the "real fix"...I was going to suggest driving faster

KTL · 10-11-2008, 07:27 AM

Good point Keith- i've been known to overcomplicate things. Driving faster would indeed be the easier fix!

3.2 CAB · 10-11-2008, 12:36 PM

Bart_dood · 10-11-2008, 01:20 PM

Hhmmmm, I just did a gearbox oil change on my 88 carrera and it had this blue oil in it that I hadn't seen before, it was also a little stinky.

What exactly is this swepco stuff?

I put in mobil 1 75/90 instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KTL

You need to check INSIDE the car. The transmission shifter rod pokes into the car in front of the rear seats- this is where the gear shift selector rod connects to the transmission with a coupler assembly. To get a look at the trans shift rod, peel back the carpet over the hump in front of the rear seats. Under there you'll find a steel inspection cover with four Philips head screws. Take off the cover and see if there's gear oil in there. If so, you've got a leaking shift rod seal......

The only way to replace the seal without too much hassle is to drop the front of the trans low enough to get good access to the shift rod. Lucky for you that you have a G50 transmission with a seal that is easier than most to get out!!! The guys who designed this seal must have learned from the 915 trans (many 915 shift rod bores are booged-up by people gouging the heck out of it, in an attempt to pry out the tiny seal) and have provided you with a seal that has a large steel ring attached to it. You can evenly pry on the steel ring to draw the seal out.

Evenly press in a new seal with a deep socket or length of pipe (a white PVC plumbing tee works good) and you're gold. Well, except for the need to clean out the center tunnel of stinky gear oil. Hopefully you don't have Swepco in your trans., because that stuff is some of stinkiest blue gear oil you'll ever smell!

Good luck!

richde · 10-11-2008, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bart_dood

Hhmmmm, I just did a gearbox oil change on my 88 carrera and it had this blue oil in it that I hadn't seen before, it was also a little stinky.

What exactly is this swepco stuff?

I put in mobil 1 75/90 instead.

All used gear oil is vile stuff.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

Even fresh from the jug it stinks. I have said many times I would pay an extra 100 bucks a gallon if it could smell like nice leather, 50 bucks more for something that does not smell BAD.

TheGanzman · 10-11-2008, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Even fresh from the jug it stinks. I have said many times I would pay an extra 100 bucks a gallon if it could smell like nice leather, 50 bucks more for something that does not smell BAD.

Yeah, it categorically AIN'T Chanel #9! On top of that, a little bit goes a LONG way in the olfactory department!

88911coupe · 10-16-2010, 05:54 AM

OK, asked on another thread but got no response so I'll try on this one since it's the exact model I have. I think I have a leak in this seal, however there is not a drop of tranny oil in the tunnel area...dry as a bone. From what I can see the seal area is outside this area and would not drip into the tunnel area. Am I missing something? I do see lots of oil at the front of the tranny and I've seen it on the bottom of the rubber collar. I think I may have buggered the rod surface when I was trying to get it to hold still while I reconnected the shifter thing from the tunnel.
TIA

midlife · 10-16-2010, 08:21 AM

Also check your CV boots. I used to get a wiff of gear oil smell after exiting the freeway and coming to a stop. It turned out to be a cracked inner CV boot that was slinging grease onto the heat exchanger.

KTL · 10-18-2010, 07:10 AM

The shift rod seal is open to the inside of the rubber boot. The seal has a ring affixed to the outside of it, which acts as the mounting point for the boot- stretch boot around ring.

The oil outside the trans can be the rod seal, the vent atop the trans (overfill causes spillage out the vent) , the output shaft seals, or like midlife said the cracked CV boot you may be overlooking.