Well after pumping in new tranny oil tonight the little plastic nozzle piece from the filler tube fell into the tranny. I've tried to fish it out with no luck. I really dont want to have to remove and dis assemble the transmission to get a little piece of plastic out.... Would it hurt the gears if I drove around enough to grind up the piece and change oil again.?? So frustrated!

Sorry to hear that.

I had the same thing happen to me and thought for a second of doing the same thing you are suggesting, afterall it's plastic, made of petroleum...right?
I chose to drain the oil, remove the side shift console and shift forks and was able to fish it out. Felt better after that and did't have to worry about ing.

Good luck.

Drain the box and fish it out through the drain hole. You don't want it squishing in between two gears... really you don't. To give you an idea...

Even tranaxles that have oil coolers can't have oil squirting in between the gears (called the "mesh") because at speed, the oil will separate the gears enough to cause enormous stress (shear) on the gear shafts and bearings.The same applies to the ring and pinion as well. Get the plastic thing out.

Good luck.

So sorry. I don't think U'll like the answer. Probably time to learn how to pull the tranny. It's about a 2 hour job by yourself the first time. I know from experience.

Dr Evil the resident tranny Obgyn will tell U for sure.

Crap! I did drain it and try to fish it out through the drain plug but keep losing it. Would it be easier to get it out through the speedo drive hole? Dont really wanna pull the tranny. Just bought the car a few weeks ago and not too familiar with it quite yet. Its has a SBC conversion btw....

How hard is it to remove the side shift console etc...? I'm pretty sure mine has the side shift even though its a '72 its not at the "tail" but the lower back half before the tranny mounts. Thats a "side shifter" right?

I read about a few VW guys that lost there speedo drive gears and did'nt get the plastic gear out and never had issues? Just don't really wanna risk it. I think the tranny is in good shape. It shifted good with the old worn out oil it had in it. Was in the process of replacing it with the recommended "201" stuff. This sucks

If worse comes to worse and you cannot get it out, Pull the stack with the tranny in place in the car. It can be done.

Can I pull the rear plate off and have easier access? The last time I tried to push it toward the drain hole I lost it... The problem is that the little spout piece that fell in had two prongs that pushed out to hold it tight " yeah right " so I'll have to get a good grip on it to pull it back out.

What are you using to try and grab it? You might go to your FLAPS and get a flexible shaft, retracting claw tool. Maybe you can get a better grip on it.

Do you have hemostats? Or as the kali's say a roach clip? They have curved ones.

One of these tools has saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

Hmmm. Dont have either of those tools yet.... I hope I can even get it toward the drain plug hole again to attempt to pull it out. I'll run to autozone and grab some more tools. I didn't plan on pulling the tranny or engine so soon (still have a 951 in the shop as it is). If I pull the speedo drive cable will I have access to that same area?

Thanks guys..!

Do you know where it is, just can't get to it? Or are you flying blind?

You may want to see if anyone you know has an inspection camera to get a better look and slowly work it closer to the drain plug.

Kinda flying blind now. Last attempt to push it toward the drain hole I think I pushed it toward the front of the tranny. Just hard to feel around the tranny with the space and through the little filler hole. All I have right now to try and move it is a bendable piece of wire....

No.

Use chop sticks

Is the shifter rod/mechanism hole larger than the filler/drain holes if I pull it for easier access?

Yes, approx 2x.

Cool, Maybe I can fish it out through that hole. Thanks.

What ever happened to him? Poor kid was his own worst enemy.

Hole for side shifter console is larger. If you can't fish it out via drain hole that might help. You might want to jack up the front to keep it from working it's way toward the front (differential).

I that that with the right tools and some good light you should be able to make this work without removing the transmission.

Feel free to give me a call if you need help. Just click on the BSM link.

Richard

Thanks.

This is just a thought, and if it's a bad idea I hope some of the tranny experts will say so, but could one flush the tranny with some light weight engine oil and possibly wash the plastic cap out? Then refill with tranny oil.

When I change the oil in my 2005 Nissan Frontier I am always impressed with how thin 5-30 weight oil is.

If I could get the side shift finger out I think I can get the piece out. I removed the hex screw from the shift bar and removed the two shift support bolts that hold the finger support to/in the tranny but the shift arm wont come off the linkage that goes into the tranny. I'm sure if I could get this out then I could just feel around and pull the piece out. Shouldnt I be able to pull the side linkage out while still connected to the linkage?

Getting the side shifter console out is one of those hold-it-exactly-right tasks. It'll come out. But it's gotta be lined up just so....

Should I be able to get it out without removing the linkage? It comes out so far then catches. I have wiggled the shift arm around, back and forth and it just doesnt wanna come out..... Guess I'll keep trying..Thanks.

You have to walk it out. Rock it back and forth as the shift comb comes out.

Richard