craigw1

installed tii engine/tranny into my first gen and towed it today to driveshaft place for driveshaft to be made up. $125 later and i have custom fitted, balanced shaft with new joints. Got a mate to tow me home....tranny in neutral...then while being towed i remembered that I drained the oil out of the tranny...should just be very little oil still in there...and here i'm being towed at 35 mph

question : have i done any damage to the tranny ???

paulied3

chances are you may have done mimimal damage. usually the load of the engine
will cause fatigue to your trans. get some synthetic fluid in there immediately
put the car up on jackstands. fire her up put in second gear up in the air and let
the fluid work in. your probably ok
pauli

craigw1

thanks for comments....can't fire her up cos only a short block in there.

first wanted to get driveshaft and exhaust done before fitting everything.

before i tow this thing to the exhaust place I will be filling that tranny up with oil

but i take your point re engine load....there was none cos it was towed...the only pressure was coming from the diff turning the driveshaft and then turning the spline that way

Hades12

Even if you had fluid in there it would not have mattered, The Fluid is not moved in that way and does not lube when just the output shaft is turned. that is way they say NOT to leave the drive shaft in when you dolly a 7. I have done it many times and not seen an ill effect yet.

So you should be fine.

craigw1

whew...thanks a lot...was beginning to think i had stuffed the tranny !

steve84GS TII

It doesnt matter if your in neutral,1st,2nd or any other gear.The trans is a constant mesh type.If the output shaft is turning,then the counter shaft gears are turning.Granted,nothing is locked together and some of the the gears are freewheeling on the shaft(hence you are in "neutral")....but the countershaft gears will be turning and the oil will be climbing and flowing into the upper bearings and gears.Thats how they work,no matter what gear your in.

Now if you have no oil in there,thats another story.The heavy gear oil film will remain for a while,but more than about 20 miles and you could do some damage in there.

I work with tow equipment for a living.There are VERY few RWD manual trannies that need to have the driveline disconnected.Old Datsuns are one of them.Most manuals are OK to tow in neutral because of the constant mesh design,its the automatics that will be damaged because unless the engine is running,the trans pump isnt moving oil around.If you leave the engine idling,then you can tow an auto in neutral.Old school automatics are the exception since they have output shaft pumps on them.

craigw1

it was towed about 5 miles....top speed was 45mph (i had the speedo cable connected so could see a reading that way)

geez...i am pissed off about this now. this is a stupid error on my part if i have messed this tranny.

only time will tell...i assume that once i get it running and tranny is very noisy/grinding noise then i have done damage

TiViD

i can see where that would be an easy thing to overlook. From what I understand I wouldnt worry about it too much. If the tranny previously had oil in it and then was emptied, i think you would be surprised how much was still in there. (sticking to gears etc..)

steve84GS TII

Agreed.

5 miles,it shouldnt be a problem.Worse that might have happened would be a little scuffing or overheating in the output bushing or tailshaft seal.The rest of the trans is ball or roller bearings which require very little oil and with no load on the shafts,there should be little/no gear scuffing.If it doesnt howl or leak out the back when you drive it,then dont worry.