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MG TD TF 1500 - Speedo pinion housing removal

Although not on the road yet (at least not legally) I have discovered that I have a fairly bad oil leak from the speedo pinion housing. I cannot get this thing out of the gear box! Both screws are out and it will not budge. I see no sign of a gasket. I think the PO must have used super-glue of something like it when putting it back. Has anyone had trouble getting this housing out? I want to send it to Doug at 'Fromtheframeup' to get it fixed. Am I missing doing something? I would think it should just pull out. Any ideas to get this thing out will be greatly appreciated...

Is it 5 o'clock yet? Must be somewhere. A couple of cold ones are in order - right now!!......

Thanks John 54TF
J Ostergren

John - The pinion housing, along with the pinion should just slip right out. There may be some corrosion between the pinion housing and the transmission case that is making it difficult to get out, or someone may have added an 'O' ring to the mix, which would also make it difficult to pull. try heating the case around the pinion housing a bit and do some light tapping on the ears of the housing (emphasis on light tapping - you don't want to break one of the off. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

John,
I have removed the speedo pinion housing from the transmission, many times over the years. It has not been an easy removal, due to the close tolerances of the brass pinion housing, and the steel transmission casing. I can recall at times, I have had to use a very thin, sharp knife to wedge between the pinion flange and the transmission casing. This is much easier if the transmission is out of the car. Try starting from the top or bottom and not the longer flanges around the holes. I caution you to be gentle with the brass pinion housing, as it is no longer available. There should be a gasket between them and it is very easy to make one up.

Have you established where the leak is? If it is coming from around the flanges, then removal would be necessary. If coming from the speedo cable, a round gasket inside the connector may be the answer. Let us know how you make out.

George
George Raham [TD4224]

John,
With the two bolts out try tapping around the edges of the housing. Over time the pinion housing can stick and be very hard to remove. There is an easy fix to the leak...order a modified unit from Doug Pelton http://fromtheframeup.com/Documents/TT%20GE185%20Speedo%20Pinion%20Housing%20Modification.pdf

If you have access to a machine shop they can cut a groove in the pinion gear housing at about the area of the o-ring shown in the pdf file. My shop used to charge about $30 to do the modification.
Gene Gillam

Sorry John, just tried that link and it didn't work by clicking on it but did by cutting and pasting it.
Gene Gillam

Thanks all for the quick responces. I have tried all of your suggestions already and cannot get it to budge. Was not sure if I was missing something. If I had known this was prone to leaking when I had it all apart and had I known about Doug Pelton and his fix I think I would had taken care of it back then... so a word to the wise - if you have your transmission out send your speedo pinion to Doug which is what I am/was going to do.

George, the leak is comming from the cable.

Gene, I have been in contact with Doug. He has them even if you don't have a core. Extra $100

The two cold ones didn't help either.

I'm thinking I might have to take out the floor board to get better access to it. Not really what I want to do..

Thanks again to all.... John
J Ostergren

John
I had Doug Pelton do his thing to my pinion last fall and it took care of the leak 100%. Highly recommended. No more leaking along that right side frame rail.
I too had trouble getting mine out. It helped to loosen the floorboard screws on the passenger side. That allowed me to raise the floorboard a half inch or so. More wiggle room. I got it moving by tapping on the housing "wings" one side, then the other. I used a dull screwdriver against the housing and tapped with a small hammer. That got it moving. Once there was a 2 mm gap I got a flat blade in there and gently pried on it. It did no damage of any significance.
A second point: I have been seeing these pinions on ebay all the time recently. Usually for little dough. I have though of buying one for "parts".

Good luck
Tom
'54 TF
Tom Norby

Try making a 50/50 mix of Acetone and Automatic Tranmission fluid....
Shake the mixture, in a jar, and brush it onto the edge of the flange, where it meets the tranny...
Don't be afraid to gob it on....
let it alone, overnight, and then try tapping the edge of the flange , with a small hammer....
That mixture has never failed me....It is literally 10 times better than any other penetrating oil.
Edward
E.B. Wesson

Edward, gave it a try but no go. Brushed the mixture on several times over a 24 hour period. I think this has about done me in. The pinion flange is tight up against the gear box surface. I can see no sign of a gasket at all so don't know what was used when this was last put on. Does anyone know if there is some wiggle room (side to side movement) when the pinion goes into the gear box or is it a tight fit so there is only in and out movement? There is not much room to work around the housing when everything is in place under the car. I would like to be able to grab the flange with something to twist it but can't do it. I am close to getting 'on the road' so this might have to wait and become a winter project. Close meaning a couple of months if I ever get the rest of my panels back from the painter who has had them for 2+ months.

John
J Ostergren

John,
As I mention above, if the leak is not coming from around the flange, I see no reason for removing the pinion housing. As you mentioned, the leak is coming from the speedo cable and I am assuming by that, you mean the speedo connection to the pinion housing. I have had this problem and was able to almost stop the leakage by making a tight fitting felt gasket to fit inside the connector housing around the cable. When the cable connector is tighten up against the pinion housing, it will compress the felt. I would certainly try this first and see what effect it has on your leakage. It may be that the steel shaft of the pinion gear has worked on the brass housing, then I don't think there are other options for you but to work on the removal of the pinion housing.

George
George Raham [TD4224]

John, I just had an idea that you might want to try to remove the pinion housing. It's almost too easy, so probably won't work, but if you just remove the two bolts and then screw the cable back into the housing, you will have something to pull on to hopefully force the housing straight out. Of course there is the danger that the cable could break, but might be worth a try. Cheers Phil
Phil Atrill

This thread was discussed between 22/08/2011 and 26/08/2011

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