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Hello,

In the last few days, I have noticed a few drips of gear fluid comming from the bottom of my BII. Closer inspection found that the dust boot over the shifter input at the top of the transmission was loose and cracked, and since the leak look like it originated from there, I thought I would just replace this boot along with the shifter retainer gasket. I haven't replaced either yet, since I have very little time or money. Well, after I fiddled with it, a few days later I noticed the leak had stopped. Today, I was coasting to a stop with the trans in 4th and when I pushed the clutch in, I heard a grinding noise from the trans, like if I had missed the gear. Any advise? Are the two problems related. Thanks to all who reply, I greatly appreciate all help.

Paul

well, I haven't found a boot, I went to autozone and ford dealerships and no one has the dust boot, it came as a kit from Ford with the shifter retainer plate gasket. I cleaned and reinstalled the boot with some RTV to help seal it up and tommorow I'm gonna get the torx socket to remove the shifter retainer, I'm pretty sure that is where the leak is comming from. Anyone know where can I get the boot and gasket kit? Any thoughts on the grinding noise? Is it due to low fluid? Thanks for any response.

Paul

I never really mesed with the inside of that tranny, so this might be a shot in the dark but if it was leaking and then stopped I would assume that enough fluid leaked out that it is below the leak or the fluid is not high enough to be thrown out. if you are low on fluid then it could cause the tranny do burn up. remember the gear oil is there to control heat and lubricate. if there was not enough oil to do one or the other or both you could have any number of problems. personaly I would keep looking for the leak and keep an eye on the fluid.

so, it made the noise when you were pushing in the clutch or did you push it out of gear before the clutch was to the floor? is it still making the noise or did it just do it that once?

It made the noise when I pushed the clutch in, the transmission was still in 4th gear. It only made the noise that once, haven't made it sense.

I am going to take the shifter off and reseal the shifter retainer plate. I think this is where the leak is from because fluid wraps around the back half of the trans all the way up, and when I pulled the boot to look at the tranny, it was pretty dirty and kinda wet, plus the foam insulator between the trans and boot was wet with fluid. Thanks for the reply.

Paul

clutch maybe?
maybe misaligned?
how long has it been since you changed it?
does it make any other noises?
sometimes if the throw out bearing is going bad you can hear a chatter when it is in nutral and your foot off the peddle........does it chatter from the bell housing when you take off?

if the tranny is working, it's not poping out of gears, and you don't have any whinning threw any of the gears that would lead me to thinking the internals were ok. I don't think I have ever seen a shifter that was factory and in good shape.

Unless you have the trans upside down, you shouldn't see gear oil come out of the top of it. The shifter unit it self is a sealed in most cases. How sloppy does the shifter feel?

No whining in gears, no whining from bellhousing, clutch has never given me any trouble, and is not too old. T/O bearing did make some noise, but I really don't think this could cause this noise. The tranny is not popping out of gear and the shifter is very firm and not sloppy at all. I had the slave cyl replaced a little while ago and the mechanic said he pumped fluid into the trans via the vent line, which seems pretty stupid, so that could explain why fluid was comming from the vent line a few months ago and now the shifter. But since I have sealed the shifter dust boot, I have not had any trouble with the trans or leak. Thanks for the help.

Paul