Think my tranny is screwed

[Aaron Bakos]

Pretty sure I hosed my transmission over the weekend, and I'm still kicking myself.

Twas time to change the fluid. I ditched the dual-mass flywheel a few years back so I run a mix of Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF and Redline MT90, thickens it up a little bit and keeps things quieter.

Anyways, I removed the fill plug and then the drain plug. Big splash...empty tranny. Put the drain plug back in and filled until fluid came back out of the fill hole. It didn't take as much as I thought it should (took maybe .75 liter), but since nothing came out of the fill plug when I removed I figured I was okay. I was wrong.

Did the fluid swap on Sunday, drove it for the first time really on Monday. Shifted and ran fine but started hearing a whining sound, like a high pitch gear whine (almost like an electrical whine). Got home after about 80 miles, put the E34 back up in the air and drained the fluid again, didn't find as much as I was expecting, but I found a lot more metal shavings/flecks than I was expecting.

I converted the drain plug into a magnetic drain plug (shavings counter-measures) and filled it up again, this time it took closer to 1.25 liters. The only thing I can figure is that I didn't have it level on Sunday and that's why it didn't top off properly. Still don't understand why fluid didn't come out of the fill hole if that's the case...but the damage is done either way.

Shifts and runs great now, but still an ugly whine under acceleration in gears 1-4. 5th is fine, no noise that I can hear. I have no idea what the inside of the transmission looks like, but it may be time to find another transmission.

So now that you've read or at least skimmed my story, are rebuild kits available for my Getrag or shall I find another tranny? If I'm better off finding another tranny, does anyone have any leads on where to look?

Also, other than some light rust along the bumper and bottom of drivers side doors the car is in great shape. Make me an offer :)

[Aaron Bakos]

No thoughts?

[DanDombrowski]

How were you lifting the car? The angle of tilt can make a big difference in how much fluid comes out since the drain plug is near the center of the casing.

Im sure there are rebuild kits out there, but I've never seen one.

When my trans went south, I bought a remanufactured unit from Vines auto in Alabama. The unit had a crack in the case which I had to patch, and so far, they've been pretty unresponsive to giving me a discount on the unit (and refunding my core charge). They haven't been nasty about it, but they're taking way too long to get it done, so I'm not going to recommend them just yet.

BTW, my trans was $750 (shipped) for a reman unit.

[Aaron Bakos]

How were you lifting the car? The angle of tilt can make a big difference in how much fluid comes out since the drain plug is near the center of the casing.

Im sure there are rebuild kits out there, but I've never seen one.

When my trans went south, I bought a remanufactured unit from Vines auto in Alabama. The unit had a crack in the case which I had to patch, and so far, they've been pretty unresponsive to giving me a discount on the unit (and refunding my core charge). They haven't been nasty about it, but they're taking way too long to get it done, so I'm not going to recommend them just yet.

BTW, my trans was $750 (shipped) for a reman unit.

Nose was higher when I changed it the first time. The thing I can't figure out though is why fluid didn't come out of the fill hole if that was the case.

I think I found a used unit from a guy up here, still waiting to hear back. Bavarian Auto Recycling out in Cali wanted 900 for a used tranny (not rebuilt or anything) with a 1yr warranty. That was a bit high for my tastes, I can buy used engines for that much let alone a transmission that is common to some e36's.

Thanks for the contact info in bama, if I can't get the one I'm going after I'll give them a call-