MG Sports Cars

Looks like I won;t be driving much this summer - My T5 (Camaro WC) tranmission is leaking, what I would call "significantly" (not just drops) between the Case Assembly and Extension Assembly (front and rear halves). The tranny has leaked a bit since the day I got it (12 years ago), and I had a local car repair guy "fix" the leak last summer (didn;t want to loose driving time here in Wisconsin doing it myself). Now, it looks like the "sealant" has failed - plenty of fluid on floor after 20 mile round trip to work. Since the engine and tranny were "installed" together, I haven;t tried to pull the tranny separately myself (must be possible). How about suggestions on this job, as well as proper sealent to use (don;t see gasket on the spec sheet)?

And the "doomsday" scenario - could I have a cracked housing? Thanks!

I feel your pain, and wish I could help.

I've never had to service my T5, but I've had it in and out a couple times (to convert to a HTOB and back, to convert from three-finger to diaphragm pressure plate, etc.). On my car, wiggling out the transmission without disturbing the engine isn't all that difficult or time consuming. You have to believe it can be done, because at first glance it probably won't look possible. This should NOT keep your car down for the summer.

Bob Hanlon from Hanlon Motorsports recommends using Permatex Ultra Black sealer on T5s. He also says to make sure all of the old sealer is totally removed. He then says to take a file and lightly file both mating surfaces to make sure any burrs are removed and the surfaces are totally flat. Then use a rag with carburetor or brake cleaner to wipe down the mating surfaces so they are oil free. He puts down a bead of sealer on one of the surfaces then uses his finger to evenly spread it and then torques things together.

It sounds like you're leaking too much to be caused by this but the 2 top bolts on the tail housing go through the main case and might leak if sealer isn't put on their threads during assembly. Wouldn't hurt to check that before pulling the trans.

Pulling the tail housing isn't a terribly hard job once you get the transmission out of the car.

Hope this helps.

-- Scott

I can attest to the fact that T5 removal is possible without engine removal (although the engine will have to be supported at the back while xsmn is removed)...... it still beats removing the whole powertrain.

Sometimes the simple solution works best.Have you tried tightening all the bolts on the transmission?Maybe the bolts between the tailstock and main case have loosened for some reason. It never hurts to check that out. Tim

Thanks, guys. Anyone have the torque spec for the bolts handy?

The Service Manual says to "......run a 1/16 continuous bead of Neutral Cure RTV, Loctite 598 all around the case mounting face centering the bead on the mounting face and circling bolt holes - then torque to 23ft-lb (10 bolts)"

This info comes from a TREMEC T5 Transmission Service Manual (Bulletin No. LD05-0510-0199) that I downloaded off the Internet.

Graham, I think you're mistakenly referring to the top cover bolts, of which there are 10. The tail housing has 8 bolts and Bob recommends torquing those to 30 ft. lbs. FYI.

Scott, you got me on the 10 bolts - it is 8 bolts (the bolt item reference no on the exploded diagram was 10)
....the torque spec of 23 ft-lb still stands though.

Here ya go....
[www.ttcautomotive.com]
pages 7-9 to 7-11 for tailstock/extension assembly

Graham, thanks for the link. I don't think either value would cause any issues at all. In my case, I chose to go with Bob's recommendation. He knows what he's doing.

Guys - Thanks so much for all the great information! I'm ready to attack after spring break!