On my newly acquired '86 930, the whole underneath is completely drip free except for on spot on the trans. When I got the car last week, this bolt was actually marked "stripped" with a paint pen. It is the source of the only leak currently on my car. It is a 17mm head and is located on the passenger side, just forward of the axle. When I put a wrench on it, it moves freely. Is What is it for? Is it something I can remove and then re-thread? Can I remove it and use some permatex thread sealant? Does it attach to some item inside the trans? I just put a smear of Yamabond on it to try to stop the seep.

 

Oh boy! This is the detent holder. It holds the spring and detent in place to keep the shift forks from moving around. It will leak as long as it is like that. Guys will hang on these and they shouldn't. You can cert it or oversize it and retap. There are not a whole lot of options to fix it beyond that. It is under pressure from the spring.

 

Can it be removed to retap without causing a problem or is it something that must be done while the trans is apart? Any advice or should I just live with it?
Thanks

 

I don't think I would leave it. If it comes out you will jam the gears. It probably can be done with it in the car. You might pull the bolt and oversize it. Shove something in the hole to keep the shavings out. The bolt may not want to come out now, you may need to wedge a screw driver behind it, apply pressure and unscrew it.

 

Will do
Just wanted to make sure that nothing would fall into the tranny or millions of little pieces would come flying out.
Thanks

 

Not really, but there is a risk of the plug coming out if stripped and that would cause the tranny to potentially go into two gears at once. Both gear shafts could drop in to the syncro because nothing would stop the other shaft from shifting when pressure was applied. It also would allow the fork not to center on the syncro causing premature wear. All this only if the plug comes out.

 

When you undo it, only the spring is likeley to come out. If the piece of metal comes out don't worry, it's just one piece. There is nothing else in there.

Good luck.

My 3.2 carrera had the same problem. A ordinary bolt was cut so it was a little longer than the original bolt. The spring was shortened to compensate for the extra length of the new bolt. The tapped thread inside the casing is longer than the original bolt.

Stephen's idea's sound much better as they do not involve shortening the spring !
As he warned, dont let swarf get in there.

 

You just want to make sure that the tension on the top detent (shift rod) is the same on the bottom detent. If either is more than the other it could hang up. I can tell you how to get out of that mess should it occur. I use to do it once a week racing my 72. I would slam second so hard it would pull both detents across the rod notch and launch it in second and fourth gear. At the same time. No neutral. Driving home was a treat. I finally figure the loose nut was the one in the driver's seat much harder to fix then you would think