Ok I need some immediate help. I own a 76 280z 5 speed transmission, the transmission is making a lot of screeching noise, which I know it is die'n for some fluid. However I dont know who or what changed the tranny fluid before I had it but the fill plug on the side of the transmission is horribly stripped. Does any one have any ideas of getting this off.:tapemouth :mad:

Assuming you get it off, how will you get it back on?

If you have a spare one, and the stripping is not thread related, perhaps you could dab in some JB Weld, and attach whatever tool you wish to be rid of to it. Let it dry (cure), and detach.

If you think that it just needs more tranny fluid, why not just pour some down the check tube until you can figure out where the leak is at?

Vice grips, or a small pipe wrench? It would be a lot easier if the tranny was out of the car, but I think there should be just enough room to get something on it.

An alternative would be to remove the shifter from inside the car. Put one end of some clear tubing on the nipple of the tranny oil, and put the other end in where the shifter goes. Use 2 quarts after draining.

Are you saying the threads are stripped? Or are you saying the head is rounded off? If the head is rounded off some you (MIGHT) be able to drill a hole and use a long pin punch or something like that to get some leverage on it so it will unscrew...

webdawg1

Whining or whirring indicates poor tolerances between the gears and comes with age. Screeching however is NOT good. If coming from the tranny it would indicate a possible locked or skating bearing. Tearing down and changing bearings in these trannys is fairly straightforward. Hope the bearing is only chewing itself and not spinning in the bore that it rides in. IF you have shavings/crunchies running through things all of the ball bearings need to be changed regardless. The bottom countershaft bearing swims in crud and is the weakest link when debris is present. Hope to God the needle bearings that the gears ride on haven't done any skating.

I once opened up a dry tranny and found the gears had heated up to a point that they turned blue. Most of the bearings had popped out of their races and the shafts were cocked so that things wouldn't turn.

On the bright side you can find used trannys for $100-$200.

I'm assuming vise grips can't cut it for this one. As a last resort you can heat the tranny case with a torch which will make it turn easily. Ally will expand a thou or two at 300-400 deg while steel remains almost unchanged. Before torching try whacking the head of the plug hard as this can also loosen things up and also possiblt improve the gripping surface/head. (Hit straight on) I once heard of a crazy guy who took apart cars with a hammer. His principle was to tap the edges of fasteners with the hammer to turn them. You might be able to tap the edges using a screwdriver as your contact point. Heat the case with a propane torch then tap using a screwdriver driven by a hammer. Try the hammer tap trick w/o heating first.

One other option is to use a cutoff tool to notch a slot for a flathead screwdriver or piece of plate to nest in.

Having a bolt welded to the plug would be the last resort. As soon as the weld cooled the case would be hot/expanded then the bolt could be turned.

Unscrew the reverse light switch and pour fluid in through there, It's the one that's on the same side as the filler plug and a little forward. But like previously mentioned if you have screeching this probably means the tranny is gone. Pull the drain plug and check the magnet for debris.

Vise-Grip makes a version especially for bolt heads. It works really well and doesn't leave teeth marks.

Hi Guys:

The man said the fill plug is - horribly STRIPPED.

To me that means that he can turn the plug (it's not frozen in place) - but it simply turns in the hole without moving in or out. It's not a matter of getting ahold of the plug, nor turning it to begin with.

Since the case is aluminum and plug is steel... it's a good bet the threads are stripped in the case... in which situation, the hole would have to be drilled out and re-tapped to a larger diameter.. Not something easily done in the car.

ZTEC - time to start looking for another tranny. If you hear a standard tranny screeching .. changing nor adding oil is not going to make much difference...

At any rate - to extract a stripped fill plug, you have to apply an outward force while turning counter-clockwise. Lock a pair of vice-grips on the fill plug, then put a prybar (old screwdriver) between the vice-grips and the tranny case..pry outward with the pry bar while you turn the plug. If your real lucky, once you move the plug outward a couple of turns, it may pick-up some good threads and unscrew the rest of the way..

FWIW,

Carl B.

Well thanks guys you all made great points. However I fill it is tyme to get another tranny because this one runs a tab bit sluggish and simply, its old. I put trnny fluid through the reverse switch and I still Hear screeching, so it is that time. If any of you guys are selling a 5 spd trany or know of one pls let me know.

Thx all!!!!

Tony,

Where you are will dictate shipping or not, I have an extra, but how close are you to Savanah, Ga. ?

Will

Iam in Long Beach,California shipping may be quit expensive from there

:cross-eye

Iam in Long Beach,California shipping may be quit expensive from there

:cross-eye

When I had mine shipped, it was about $65 IIRC.

Hey!! I just had a thought. Are you absolutley sure it's the tranny? A bad throwout bearing on a misadjusted fork could make a nice screeching noise. You would feel the vibes and it can be very loud. Try pushing the clutch in a few times and listen. If the noise changes when the clutch is in then maybe it's just a T/O bearing.

I once drove my Z from FL to Oklahoma. Halfway there I hit a giant truck tire which cracked my speedo line. Speedo worked but I was dripping 90W. (5spd tranny also) In Dallas I noticed the gears were getting hard to shift and 50 miles from the destination it started popping out of gear and whirring really loud. I got in town, called a relative, picked up a J.yard tranny and two hours later had it swapped and was back on the road. Total cost for the detour...$125.00. When the old tranny came out you could hear lots of crunchies inside. The inside smelled really burnt. Go figure...

I've had bearings inside the 4spd go out with only a few warnings. Usually the tranny noise was very pronounced before it failed.

Fingers crossed.