ZF Window Cover is it Necessary?

Theory says you put the cover on any time you're working in the engine bay to prevent small objects from falling in there and ruining your day. Lots will advise not to run the car with it in place in order to allow heat to vent. I'm sure others will chime in as well.

If the car sat for 20 years I sincerely hope you changed the transmission fluid first.

thanks Rick.

From where I sit (in a hotel, in Bisbee AZ), it is really hard to think that the fluid came out of the top,,, that would imply the bell housing was full?

Maybe came out if the intake manifold gasket on top and ran down the bell housing?

Or accumulated and drained out the bottom of the bell housing?

Anyway, good luck on the fix!

Rocky

Any chance you filled up the cooling system right before you left, and when you stopped, the car "peed" (seriously, it happens when you shut off a hot motor, and fluid is forced out the cooling system)?

Figure out where the overflow line is. I'll bet it's near some part of the puddle.

Rocky

Taste the fluid on the floor, just on the tip of your tongue. Gross, I know, but soon you'll learn to taste whether it's engine oil, trans oil, clean water or coolant. In the winter I also taste the dirt on my car, if it's salty, I wash it.

Nothing, oil or water or…should be coming out anywhere.

quote:

From the top it looked like it came out of the Bell housing window

No. It didn't come out there. You either have a rear main seal leak, or the back of your oil pan gasket is leaking. This will cause oil to pool in the bottom of the bell housing and drip out. The windage caused by the rotating flywheel and clutch assembly will whip some of it into an airborne mist and you can get some oil coming out of the top inspection hole, but it will appear as a mist coat on the outside of the bell housing - not enough to drip and create a puddle.

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Lots will advise not to run the car with it in place in order to allow heat to vent.

This is a Pantera myth. It's just a plain old clutch and pressure plate! Nothing special! There is absolutely no need for a 2"x3" "vent hole." How many Mustangs, Camaro's, Cobras, or other cars have such a "vent hole"? NONE! The purpose of the inspection hole is to measure clearances to properly set you clutch operation. You can run with our without the cover - doesn't matter. But it will save you a LOT of headache if you drop a socket or wrench back there and it finds its way into the bell housing.

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Or accumulated and drained out the bottom of the bell housing?

I had this same scenario with my engine and found the rear of my oil pan gasket was allowing oil to weep through which pooled in the bottom of the bell housing and dripped out onto the garage floor. This is most likely what happened. Check the torque on your pan bolts, or if you have a removable cross memeber, replace your oil pan gasket.

Thanks everyone, this web is a great resource for the nvice owner....turns out it was a gasket leak underneath the ZF. When I rebuilt the motor all motor gaskets were changed. Trans fluid purged and refilled into ZF......now another question for the group. Simple yet complex for me. Where do i find a ZF bottom gasket? I assume it is not something i can get at a local store? Thanks everyone!

RBT.

Gaskets are one of the few things from them that you won't choke when you hear the price.

Note that removal of that bottom cover is a very precise job. The two long bolts that go through the cover have shims on both ends that are required for precision alignment.

As you take things apart on your ZF, note where EVERY piece came from, and what order they came out. Take lots of pictures, and go by ACE and get a bunch of the little spring steel "wave" washers. I had a bunch of them that had cracked into little pieces.

Rocky

You cannot remove the bottom cover without removing the ZF (or at least doing some major hoisting to gain clearance to get the 2 long bolts out that go through that cover from one side to the other, but probably easier to pull the ZF). Getting the ZF out is not hard if you have a shop crane or a helper. We can talk you through it or you can search it here.

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Where do i find a ZF bottom gasket? I assume it is not something i can get at a local store?

I'm sure all the Pantera vendors have then, but I bought mine from Hall (approx. $40 for an entire ZF gasket kit a few years ago). However, the gaskets are paper thin and after a week of two of refilling the ZF with fluid, the gaskets are wet as the fluid weeps through them. Many advised me to toss the gaskets and use a thin coat of gasket sealer instead (Yamabond was one of the recommended sealers) for a leak free ZF - wish I followed their advice.

quote:

Originally posted by dave cantagallo-canada #4072:Where do i find a ZF bottom gasket? I assume it is not something i can get at a local store? Thanks everyone!

Bottom of page at link - $10.95

http://www.ipsco.org/Pantera.htm

Best,
K

wow, thanks for all the advise. I tried tightening all of the nuts around the pan but they are pretty tight. Looks like I have to remove. Any suggestions if i can open the pan and put sealant around the parameter? I am really dreading having to pull the tranny....Thanks Panterror for the gasket vendor, never bought anything from this one before.....interesting items they have...