Gearbox end cover & bolts

[andy_casey]

Bit of an odd one. A mate noticed a pool of gearbox oil under my car (annoyingly it was new too) and on investigation, it seems that the black end cover had shed 2 of the 3 bolts holding it in and the plate has subsequently worked itself loose, resulting in a fairly decent leak! Good save, as it's not lost much fluid but worrying and annoying at the same time. A bit of a search didn't yield any other instances of this happening but then I might not have been searching for the right thing... not sure if there's a seal that's been replaced in the past and the bolts have been over or under tightened.

My question is, what length are the 3 bolts that hold the plate in place? I know they're an M8 thread but want to get replacements sorted out and as they're blind holes, the thread length is rather important.

Cheers in advance, AndyC

 

[Jay Payne]

had this happen on my old track car whilst tearing around Bedford.

Spiiiiiiinuuuuuuuu!

 

[andy_casey]

LOL. Glad it's not just me then.

 

[mark123]

Think they're about 25-30 mm from memory. I had mine spring a leak due to corrosion.

 

[andy_casey]

To answer my own question. The bolts are about 20mm long but the thread on them is only about 15mm. New bolts fitted with a little threadlock and done up nice and tight. Funnily enough, whe I went to fill up the gearbox, it still had oil spilling out the fill plug, so must have been a little over-filled anyway. Happy days.