Driving with limited gearbox oil....

[gavinm]

I need to drive my 944 about 45 minutes down the motorway with not very ,uch oil in the greabox to deliver it to a garage...

am risking any serious damage?

 

[mik_ok]

Yes.

 

[tref]

I would say that should be far enough to take a serviceable gear box to scrap by the time you get there...if you get there...

But give us some further background - if the oil level is low, but not changed from what you have been driving around on for ages, then you will probably get away with it.

If you have made the mistake that many have, i.e., drained the oil only to find that you cannot get the filler plug out (don't be ashamed, you aren't the first, and I gaurantee, you won't be the last!), then I would say that driving it to the garage will kill it.

 

[944 man]

Opening the filling plug first is a hard-learned lesson...

 

[Mike_Pollock]

I'll go with Tref - if its been in use and ok the you should be ok - if you've started draining it - dont drive.

Where are you, I've got some heavyish kit in Leicester

Mike

 

[awattam]

I had to fill mine through the speedo sender as I couldn't get the filler pllug out. It's VERY slow and I had to use one of those garden pesticide sprayers to do it but it's very possible and a hell of a lot better than destroying your box.

 

[gavinm]

cheers for the replies and the offer of help...

I'm in Amsterdam so pretty far away []

the car has been leaking from the gearbox while stood after it did the long drive over from Lancashire last month.

I've scratched the idea of driving it to the mentioned location now, have too many things on my plate for now so it's going to go into storage about 15 minutes away from here until I have some more time and money to throw at it....

I've been trying to find a garage space to rent big enough to work in here but it's proving very difficult as they are like hens teeth...Amsterdam is very anti car so very few people have their own parking spaces or garages....the waiting list for a parking permit in the city centre is over six years!!!!!!

it's going into caravan storage in a barn outside the city to be warm and safe for a couple of months....[]

 

[gavinm]

hhmmm.....

well, having reversed the car out of the garage to drive it to the storage site I fouind a nice puddle of power steering fluid keeping the gearbox oil puddle company on the floor.......

drove the 15 minutes to the storage, on arrival, pulled up in front of the owner, pulled on the handbrake and ....woosh.......the little bugger dropped it's load of coolant all over the floor.....

could this be waterpump? it had been crusiing at 50 on a dual carriageway most of the way and the temp gauge wasn't above normal.....

 

[Mike_Pollock]

How much water - small puddle maybe pump, lake probably hose but could be any bit inc rad. Has it been standing for a while?
Mike

 

[gavinm]

hasn't been standing for more than a week or two......puddle came from under the expansion tank which is why I thought it might be overheating?

 

[pauljmcnulty]

puddle came from under the expansion tank which is why I thought it might be overheating?

Could be as simple as an airlock, mine chucked water out of the expansion tank and only needed bleeding properly.

 

[gavinm]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

puddle came from under the expansion tank which is why I thought it might be overheating?

Could be as simple as an airlock, mine chucked water out of the expansion tank and only needed bleeding properly.

hhmmm...encouraging!

it's all going to get taken apart anyway so am not too bothered at this stage...going to get a major overhaul of all the working bits over the next 12 months and come out of the garage pheonix like sometime next year all shiny and working properly....

thats the plan anyway!

 

[Mike_Pollock]

Maybe a trailer for the 45 min motorway would be a good idea!

Good luck with it

Mike