WP Gearbox Oil Leak - Reverse Switch

[Mattis]

Hi guys,

First post so please be gentle

I have recently purchased an 04 manual WP zetec fiesta which has thus far been a great little car.

It has, however, got a slight gearbox oil leak from the reverse sensor switch at the front of the box. I tried to tighten it up (22mm bolt) but it looks as though at some point someone has perhaps stripped the thread (maybe overtightening it) as it just keeps spinning and doesn't seem to get very tight. So I'm going to have a crack at taking it out and running a few layers of thread tape on it or even possibly re-tapping the thread.

My question is though, these are sealed boxes yeh, so how do I go about re-filling/checking the level of the gearbox oil?

I checked over the box for an inspection bolt but can't seem to find one. Is it perhaps behind the plastic cover that goes over what I assume is the speedo cable? I read on the uk fiesta forums that there should be an 8mm hex bolt somewhere for re-filling the box?

The leak is similar in location to the one below (this isn't my car, got the pic from the uk fiesta forums):



The plastic case lid I am talking about is just to the left of the reverse switch.

The car also has a slight miss at idle (nothing huge but you can feel it not sitting at stable revs) so Im thinking that it might have had the plug change done at it's 35,000km service (it has 38,500kms on it atm).

[Mattis]

Just an FYI for those that might have wanted to know the answer to this question.

The inspection hole to check and refill the gearbox is under the plastic cover that protects the gear change mechanism where it runs into the box.

[Als_Zetec]

Originally Posted by Mattis

Just an FYI for those that might have wanted to know the answer to this question.

The inspection hole to check and refill the gearbox is under the plastic cover that protects the gear change mechanism where it runs into the box.

Might you have a picture to refer to?

Cheers

[Mattis]

Originally Posted by Als_Zetec

Might you have a picture to refer to?

Cheers

Will get a pic for everyone when I get some time to address the issue.

[Mattis]

Ok, had a crack at the leak this afternoon and got a pic of the setup.

Circled in red is the gbox filler hole/bolt (it's an 8mm allen key btw) and circled in yellow is the reverse sensor switch. As you can see the filler hole is covered by a black plastic panel that is removed easily with about 6 clips.



Basically it looks to me as though the apprentice at the dealer has filled the gbox via the reverse switch instead of the filler hole. Then when he has refitted the switch he has cross-threaded the bolt (easy as the gbox is soft alloy) and now the bugger of a thing won't do up tight enough.

I tried unscrewing the bolt to get it out and have a go at re-tapping the thread but the thread seems so damaged that the bolt won't unscrew the whole way so I couldn't get it out. I have instead resorted to some plumbers tape to see if that seals it for the time being until I can think of what to do about it next.