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Oil fouled clutch disc


TFC

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Got my 53 B3B on the road last year, went through most of the mechanics i.e. engine, drive train, brakes etc.  A few issues but over all runs good, biggest problem, the clutch has been fouled with oil and more specifically transmission oil, seems as though oil is coming out of the input shaft housing. FTR: This is a "3 on the tree" transmission.  Have not pulled the transmission out yet to check this out yet, even with this lousy clutch been enjoying driving him too much to dry dock.  Curious if anybody has any experience with this?  Also, did not notice a "vent hole" anywhere on the top of the casing, should there be one?  I will add oil type and level are correct and that the few gaskets/seals that there are on this transmission have been replaced.   Thanks...

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Typically the flathead rear main seal leaks, they even designed a "fix" by adding oil-absorbent felt strips to the flywheel cover butted up to the oil pan and a drain hole to the flywheel pan...there should not be a vent on the top of that 3spd, and there isn't an input shaft seal in the traditional sense as they used a gasket on a flanged sleeve to keep gear oil from spilling out around that input shaft...if you have oil on both sides of your flywheel, then you've definitely got oil leaks from engine + transmission...

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My 1938 Dodge sedan would slip especally as the clutch got hot. When I changed the clutch it looked like my issue was fatigued springs on the pressure plate. This could be a possible issue with your clutch instead of oil.

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I did install a rebuilt clutch plate and disc when I had it all apart, think those are good.  Always leaves a fair amount of transmission oil on the tray I keep under it in the garage.  Guess I would say It is not really slipping, it's more grabby and not smooth, takes a lot of "finesse" to start off in first or reverse.  I have removed the flywheel cover and saw that the end of the input shaft housing was wet with tranny oil, One thing I did notice when I had transmission out, looks like the input shaft bearing has no built in shield, have seen other vehicles that have shield/baffle(my model A Ford has this set-up).   Wondering if there is a better bearing with a shield available?

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6 hours ago, TFC said:

I did install a rebuilt clutch plate and disc when I had it all apart, think those are good.  Always leaves a fair amount of transmission oil on the tray I keep under it in the garage.  Guess I would say It is not really slipping, it's more grabby and not smooth, takes a lot of "finesse" to start off in first or reverse.  I have removed the flywheel cover and saw that the end of the input shaft housing was wet with tranny oil, One thing I did notice when I had transmission out, looks like the input shaft bearing has no built in shield, have seen other vehicles that have shield/baffle(my model A Ford has this set-up).   Wondering if there is a better bearing with a shield available?

MY B3B is a bit grabby in reverse. I was able to basically eliminate it by adjusting the clutch with a little more pedal free play

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Input shaft bearing must be shielded.

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Thanks dodgeb4ya, that seems like the problem, no shield on the bearing.  Next question:  Easy job to pull the input shaft and replace the bearing or do I need to disassemble the transmission to get this done right?

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Guess i should have taken pictures when i had trans out. 
input shaft housing will likely hold bearing,and shaft will have a snap ring either behind or in front. I should look for a parts manual. 

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I had an oil fouled clutch disc on a 70s 318/883 setup. I bought it like that and after running 15s at the strip put in a stroker smallblock and found the oily disc when I pulled the driveline.

 

Turned out that the splined section and center steel piece in the disc was spiderwebbed with cracks, and missing a cushion spring too. I think that slippery disc probably saved me from a nice clutch explosion! 
 

The moral of the story is that oil on there is not good but the car kinda drove fine for a while even oil soaked. It would even still do a nice burnout, and didn’t slip on downshifts. But you should probably take a look and see what’s going on in there. If it’s just oil you can probably get away with it for a while- brakleen is your friend. And a flatty clutch is not as dangerous as a muscle car since at least on my 230 I shifted at 3200- no high rpm grenade is possible.

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Radarsonwheels, thought I would try brakleen and maybe get through the summer.  Now I'm wondering if anybody has input on where to find a replacement bearing with a shield?  Thanks...

 

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Yeah, with a little searching I did find part# and sources:

Found original Mopar part# from Pilothouse web site(PDF of truck parts manual)  619167

Found cross reference part# from this site  Timken or Federal Mogul   1207SL

 

 

 

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  • 11 months later...

Almost a year later:  Finally got into to the oil leak issue, fixed now!!!   I did replace the input shaft bearing with a NOS Mopar one if found on EBAY, the bearing I took out seemed OK and was shielded, had the idea it was not shielded and that was causing the leak.  What I did find that I think was the cause of this leak had to do with the spiral oil channel cut in the bearing retainer.  Made a modification to the relief at the end of the channel based on information I preened from a thread on this forum, see attached image.   When I got this vehicle and started working on it found the inside of the bell housing caked thick with oil and dirt, pretty sure this had been an issue for a long time for my truck.  So nice to have a smooth clutch and no transmission oil leak.

 

transmission input shaft retainer modification.jpg

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My clutch is grabby too. I find it has to do with pedal shaft being attatched to bellhousing, and the way i get truck rolling. 
im in the process of solving it. 
360/727. Then my wife can drive it, i dont think it will be very often, but if i partake in one too many cold snacks, its comforting to know i will have a driver available. 
 

still have my flathead, and it will get re-ringed and ready to go in another build. 

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