HELP! I have a hole in my Transmission?!?

[vtecDave]

UPDATE EDIT: That hole is supposed to be there. Vent for Clutch housing :tehe:
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Hi Guys, I need a little help here. I found a hole in my Transmission hiding behind the connection with the Intermediate Shaft. Is this supposed to be there? [Hoping this is some sort of vent :)]

Backstory: Transmission started to whine a few weeks ago (car has 126K miles on it) so I knew it was due a fluid change. Replaced MTF with Pennzoil Synchromesh drove around and the whine is now gone. While under the car cleaning up from what I thought was a bad Transmission Oil Seal (between tranny and intermediate shaft) I found this hole, which definitely looks to show some gear teeth through the opening. I have no idea where this hole came from... no misshifts, and I can count on my hand how many times I've hit redline in the last +10 years of owning this car. It's my daily and I'm kind of old so I don't dog it around at all.

Here is a video which shows the hole pretty well. Any input you guys can give is greatly appreciated. I assume this hole is NOT supposed to be there. Just looking for another opinion. Will probably try and JB putty it next weekend to seal it off after a good cleaning of the area. Thanks!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KceokvA4PUs

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[vtecDave]

Ok, so I found this image on SHG_EasyE's build thread over on honda-tech (https://honda-tech.com/forums/appearance-build-threads-122/shg-back-easys-ep3-goes-under-knife-2748948/page74/#post46381419), dude is a beast for details!

From the looks of it, I think that actually is a vent for the clutch bell housing area (directly right of the output shaft opening). I'm still going to remove everything and clean it to verify... but that looks like a designed in GAP in the housing. This brings me back to my original suspicion that my passenger side tranny oil seal has gone bad which has flung MTF all over the place causing road crap to cling everywhere.

7139

[vtecDave]

A little update. I tore everything down this weekend... having patience, a good impact wrench, and a heavy hammer helped a ton. The right tools make work easier.

After removing the steering knuckle and pressing in new lower ball joints I moved onto the leaky oil seal. Here is a few shots of the Intermediate Shaft removed from the Transmission and then the new Oil Seal in place. Pry out the old seal with a flat head or a small pry bar. I used a 3/8in extension and a lightweight hammer to tap the new seal down in place working my way around the rim until you hear it seat. You will know by the tone change, kind of like hitting plastic vs hitting metal.
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I hit a major snag when reinstalling my passenger side knuckle for the 2nd time (had to remove to change the grease fitting on the Moog Lower Ball Joint... the Moog 90deg fitting does not clear the driveshaft! Pre-fill with grease then use the flat nut to cap). The u-joint axle bearings on my drive shaft came unseated from the cup elongating the boot, etc. Had to take the driveshaft back off the car and open up the inner boot to re-seat the bearings. Found an informative video from Marcus over at Heeltoe Auto (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPJUivyB2fY&t=222s) which showed me what was going on inside the boot. I got lucky, the bearings easily found their home and I was able to reuse the inner boot band by using some beefy needle nose pliers. I would have been screwed if this was the outer boot, those bands are not reusable and need a special tool to properly fasten the new ones.
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It was a real pain to get the driveshaft to separate from the intermediate shaft. I followed the Honda repair manual and beating it outward with my 4lb sledge hammer. It took a lot of hard hits, rotating it around as I went to get to get it loose from the retaining clip. If this method does not work for you, you can remove both intermediate and driveshaft together and try [B]the "socket method" shown in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2-nJAi58v4) to separate them as shown here. Good luck if you run into the same issue!

So this ended up being a how-to post. Mods if you prefer, I can clean it up and move it somewhere else.