how long can i last w/o tranny fluid?
 

so i just found out that a hole in the bottom on my tranny means no tranny fluid. after really thinking about it, its probably been a while since its been empty. question is....am i lucky or what that my tranny didnt go out.

I'd think it would get some kinda hot. But wtf do I know about transmissions. You should just cut off a little square piece of steel and jb it over the hole. That fix should last you months at a minimum.

Drill it out and tap it. Install bolt. Refill trans.

is this thread real?

Where though? if its on the bell housing there is no fluid in there...

+1 for JB and -1 for no fluid.

Just check, the fill plug should come off with a...16mm 12pt socket IIRC?

Wtf.

I've heard 2 trannies run out of fluid and die while I was riding in the car. Not my cars. It makes the most awful screaming screeching fingernails-on-chalkboard noise for a few mintues before something fries/seizes and the rear end locks.
Is there a puddle underneath where you normally park it?
Is there gear oil all over the underside of the car?

Even if it drained itself in a parking lot somewhere and you happened to drive away and not notice, the residual would be sprayed all under the car, and some would remain in there to leak out onto your driveway. If it was dry, it would be impossible to shift once moving and you probably couldn't get it into 1st or reverse in the first place to get it moving. In short, I suspect as stated earlier that your crack is in the bellhousing and you've got nothing to worry about.

Check out my first pic. If the hole is forward of the yellow arrow, you're probably fine. Remove the bolt circled in yellow and stick a Q-tip in there... if it comes back covered in oil, you're fine.
The second pic shows you just how deep the bellhousing is.

BrillianBlack, you owe me the last 10minutes of my life back.

ok, i removed the center console and shifter and there is still fluid inside...woohoo. i guess next question, just to make sure, the top isn't like a special reserve place and is totally seperate from the rest of the tranny fluid is it? i know that sounds dumb but my friends got me REALLY paranoid about this, and the guy at o'reily (i know, dont trust these guys) said he drove his truck without tranny fluid for a month before he suddenly broke down. here's a pic, notice the jb weld in between the two big bolts
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/2...y002cj4.th.jpg

fluid in the shifter turret is not any indication of fluid in the trans.

Is the jb not holding back the oil? It should be able to, it sealed up my oil drain perfectly. If it is leaking through the jb I think you need to drain the tranny, scrape off the jb you have there, and use some super high strength something or other chemical to clean the metal before reapplying. I see no reason jb wouldnt be able to plug up that small of a hole indefinately.



EDIT: Now that I look at that again, that jb is under the bell of the tranny. I put my money on a leaking front tranny seal.

i have no problems in shifting in any gear or loud screeches thankfully. I htink i'll try to be on the safe side and not drive it tomorrow, then jack it up after work and check the lvl from the fill bolt. So if the fluid in the tranny is empty, the fluid in the shift turret doesn't drain downwards?

The two are not connected.

the picture looks to be your bell housing.that you jb welded.there is no fluid in there.

but jb weld should hold.my friend did it to a oil pan and it lasted.

man i love this forum, you guys are great when anyone is in need.

I really can't tell where the jb weld is from the pictures(old eyes);but if it is on the bell housing and not the transmission, you DON'T want to keep oil from running out of there.

Yeah, look at SamNavy's second picture, inside the bellhousing. You can see where the hole you plugged is from the inside, and that it is in fact an intentional hole. Everybody with a Miata has one.

:rofl: at this guy it's like he discovered he had a penis or something. While i understand your paranoia. A simple unscrewwing of the fill bolt and work around with your finger would have confirmed or denied said holes leak ability also if you had ever done your clutch or seen someone do a clutch on a miata i would think you could have notice how far back the bell housing go's still it is better to be safe than sorry and i am glad you figured it out. At least i got a chuckle from it. :D

Dude...you just JB welded the weep hole that Mazda put in the bellhousing at the factory. The entire reason that's there is to drain any tranny or engine oil that happens to get in the bellhousing.

Better get to drilling that thing out :)

wait...what!! that hole is intentionally there? are you kidding me? it didn't look like an intentional hole and thats why i jb welded it. having a hole in my tranny isn't the time to mess around with me; i feel as paranoid as i did in high school joking the gonja

Put down the bong and listen to what people are telling you.

Yup, that's what I said...I'd have to double-check, but I believe that's precisely where the weep hole is...Mazda put it at the bottom of the bellhousing so that you wouldn't turn your dry clutch setup into a wet clutch.

alrity, well i guess i'm gonna find out exactly how hard jb weld gets.....thanks for saving my tranny; i'm kinda anxious to see how much oil comes out.

Probably not much. This would just be the bit of tranny oil that leaks past the tranny seal (behind the input shaft) and whatever engine oil leaks past the rear main seal.

My guess would be more engine oil past the rear main than tranny oil.

Late to the party...

I was thinking someone stole your tranny fluid...

Still haven't ruled that out...

Hmmm, maybe the old Buick "Dynaflow" wasn't originally intentional.:gay:

HAH!! I opened up the hole and removed the level bolt and the fluid dripped right out onto my forehead. I couldn't help to feel joy while the tranny fluid creeped down my face.:yippee:

lol @ this thread. Honestly I wondered what that hole was myself, now I know thanks.

Sounds like a transmission money shot. Glad you are happy.

So...the tranny is STILL leaking...no?

:inout: :gay:

there's oil around the engine-tranny area. i know i had a oil before from my sensor in the back of the engine so i replaced that seal, but i'm pretty sure there's oil leaking from someplace else though. there was a tiny tiny bit of oil in the bottom of the bell housing when i opened it, not enough to come pouring out. as for the other leak, its not major enough to worry about it now. i usually have to add less than a 1/4 of a quart in 2 weeks so i'm not worried. i'm just glad there's no leaks from the turbo

if you are getting oil dripping out of that weep hole that you jbwelded up, it is 99% of the time going to be either the rear main seal or the front transmission seal. Do you know if it was tranny oil or engine oil? You can tell by the smell ... tranny/diff oil has an oddly sweet smell to it compared to motor oil which you can get a whiff of by taking off the oil fill cap off after driving and sticking your nose down thurr