ZFQ - Oil leaking from driveshafts seals

R

OliveR

Hi Everybody,

I've just bought GT40P/2193 - it's a SPF MKII with a Roush 427IR.

Yesterday when leaving I've seen in my garage that oil is leaking from the gearbox (Quaife - ZFQ). The leak is coming from each side of the gearbox and exactly from the seals where driveshafts are inserted in the ZFQ.

Has anybody already replaced this seals ? I've seen that I could remove the flanges from the gearbox but I think I'll have a problem with the upper screw of the flanges on each side... these screws are just in front of the chassis.

Any ideas for me please ? I don't want to disasemble the gearbox from the engine if it's possible.

Thanks for your reply,

OliveR
 
R

OliveR

@PL: I already have the old documentation of the ZF, thanks.

@MICK: As I thaught leak was coming from the drain plug I decided to drain all oil and changed it. But still same problem....

You're right Mick I have a leak too from the breather. I removed it put some teflon around it and reinstall it but it still leaks !! I don't know which type of breather you have but mine is in plastic. I think a steel one would be better and with teflon will avoid oil leak.

OliveR
 
A

Seymour Snerd

Lifetime Supporter
ROBY427 said:
You're right Mick I have a leak too from the breather. I removed it put some teflon around it and reinstall it but it still leaks !! I don't know which type of breather you have but mine is in plastic. I think a steel one would be better and with teflon will avoid oil leak.
Click to expand...

Dennis Olthoff warned me the ZFQ breather is located in line with oil thrown from the ring gear such that it is forced right through the breather. In my case a 7-mile drive at no more than 40 mph blew enough oil through the breather to leave a 1" pool on the floor, not to mention the mess on top of the transaxle (I was not using the stock Quaife-supplied breather, however, but rather a simple mesh industrial breather). A solution Dennis suggested is a hose from the breather location (1/4" NPT on my unit) to a remote breather attached near the top of the rear shock absorbers. There is a K&N breather filter that is the perfect size to clamp onto one end of an 8-AN bulkhead adapter, which in turn can mount in a 3/4" hole in (say) an inverted L-shaped bracked bolted to the frame with one of the 7/16" bolts that fastens the upper cross member. Two holes, one bend.

Here's a picture of how it was done on SteveC's P2125 (thanks again, Steve, for all the great pictures):

100_0147%20(Small).JPG

Olivier -- is it possible the oil you are seeing is in fact coming from the breather, and not the axles?
 
Last edited:
P2164

Jack Houpe

GT40s Supporter
If you put full synthetic oil in it may have found a way around the seals. I know it sounds strange but I have had two different cars which never leaked a drop of oil from the transaxle till I changed it out to Mobil 1. Could be just my luck but I think that stuff finds a way to leak out, but that being said my ZF doesn't leak in my GT40.
 
R

OliveR

Jack I put 75w90 Full synthetic Motul gearbox oil (2,5 liters) as SPF dealer in UK told me.

As it's my first ZFQ I'm learning every day.... Thanks to you all.

OliveR
 
R

OliveR

Alan I'm in doubt now !!!

Tomorrow morning (it's 11:00 pm here in France) I'm going to clean all the gearbox and run the car 2 or 3 miles and check leakage just after. :thumbsup:

I'll let you know about the result.

OliveR
 
TA152

Grady

P2164 said:
If you put full synthetic oil in it may have found a way around the seals. I know it sounds strange but I have had two different cars which never leaked a drop of oil from the transaxle till I changed it out to Mobil 1. Could be just my luck but I think that stuff finds a way to leak out, but that being said my ZF doesn't leak in my GT40.
Click to expand...


I'm with Jack. I had a new case install with synthetic oil and it pooled under the car. Changed to non-synthetic and no more leaks. Wouldn't believed it if I didn't see it myself.
 
C

Cliff Beer

P2164 said:
If you put full synthetic oil in it may have found a way around the seals. I know it sounds strange but I have had two different cars which never leaked a drop of oil from the transaxle till I changed it out to Mobil 1. Could be just my luck but I think that stuff finds a way to leak out, but that being said my ZF doesn't leak in my GT40.
Click to expand...

Jack, you're not alone. Every time, and I mean every single darn time, I put a synthetic oil into a car which has run on non-synthetic oil, there's a number of oil leaks that pop up almost immediate. It's like the engine just converted itself into sieve and decided to wee itself all over the place....
 
R

OliveR

Hi Jac Mac,

I put Synthetic oil because Nigel Hulme (official SPF dealer in UK - and I'm sure that he knows what he's talking about) told me to use this type of oil.

Sunny today in south of France I'm going to try the car and check if oil leaking is only coming from the breather.

Let you know in 2 hours.

OliveR
 
R

OliveR

Well before leaving this morning I decided to add a sort of pan between the gearbox cover and the breather in order to get oil in it instead of everywhere on the gearbox. Of course I put a cover with a small hole on the pan.

I've drove the car 20x miles and it's strange but I have nothing in my temporary pan ???? Moreover I have now little leak on the ground but I think it's the old oil that I had on the chassis that I didn't clean.

Next step is to jack the car and perfectly clean all old oil and try again.

I think or I hope I'm in the good direction...

OliveR
 
A

Seymour Snerd

Lifetime Supporter
ROBY427 said:
I think or I hope I'm in the good direction...
Click to expand...

I think you are. I've nearly gone crazy sometimes trying to find a "pinhole" leak when the oil is new (i.e. clear). There is a leak like that in a weld on my car's oil sump that produces about one drip in several hours. I've had to spray the area with solvent and scrub it so it is dull so that then I can see the shiny trail left by the oil as it runs down.

If you are patient "all will be revealed." :thumbsup:
 
K

Keith

Moderator
Hey Alan, patience indeed. I used to paint my engine blocks black as heat transfer was alleged to be better. Gloss black just doesn't cut it for oil leaks but matt paint or natural cast iron/aluminium does.

However, all that pales into insignificance when trying to find a drip leak in a 32' boat.

No wonder I lost all my hair....:uhoh:
 
R

OliveR

Well just to let you know that my problem is solved: in fact the leaks didn't come from the gaskets of the flanges but from the screws that tighten the flanges !!!

I unscrew each of them (6 on each side), clean them and add some sealant on each screw.

I drove the car this morning all is ok now no leaks all is dry !!!

Now I've seen that the rear main seal is leaking. It's a 2 pieces seal so I should be able to replace it without removing the trans nor the bellhousing. I think that just removing the oil pan and the rear main cap will allow me to replace the 2 half seals.

Has anybody already done this job ?

Thanks,

OliveR
 
R

OliveR

Alan You're right I forgot to specify that I was talking about the Rear main seals of the Engine NOT the ZFQ.

OliveR
 
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