So yesterday I took off my UIM so I could try to free up a stuck APV (which is now nice and easy to turn thanks to a mix of Seafoam and WD-40). I have 99,988 miles and this the first problem I've had, so no big deal. Anyway, I look down at the engine where it mates to the transmission and see a hole! I'm 95% sure that it is not supposed to be there, as it looks like a chunk of iron has been ripped off of it (see pics).

To my knowledge, the only time anyone has touched my engine there was when I got my clutch replaced at an independent shop out here. I would just go and yell at them right now, but the work was done way back in November 2008 and 20k miles ago so I'm not sure if I could even hold them liable anymore. It hasn't caused any issues so far, but I still find it concerning to have an opening into my flywheel/clutch area.

I've never dealt with something like this before. What would you guys do in this situation? Is it even worth pursuing, or does anyone have a suggested way to patch the hole so crap doesn't fall in it?

Thanks!

 

wow lol.

thats a first.

that is something unlikely to happen naturally.. im thinking they screwed something up when installing your clutch.

 

Yeah no joke, I'm baffled as to how it could have even happened...

 

Hard to see properly but looks like a piece is broken off the bell housing - likely caused by an impact while taking the g/box in or out ......

 

Holy ****!
That 4th pic where you see the "N3H..." identification is the flywheel.
Yeah... likely occurred during the clutch install.
I would be concerned with any fluids running down there, especially with the oil filter right there!

BTW... no need to remove the UIM to access the APV since its on the lower part of the LIM.
But at least you got to find this!

 

Haha yeah I know where the APV is, I just wanted to dump some Seafoam into all the chambers of the LIM in case any of the other valves were getting carbony. So yeah, oil hitting the clutch is my main concern. Any ideas how to cap the hole to prevent that?

 

good call , ray. cranking on it to align everything would seriously stress it . enough to crack it and then over time it just fell off

 

There is an access hatch there.......



****...looked at the picture again...It is broken

You likely can make the access cover a bit bigger to cover it..it isn't structural...but part of the iron is broken off

 

Ah, that definitely sounds plausible. I wish I had looked it over in more detail right after the service was done...oh well, hindsight is always 20/20.


It's definitely broken, but that makes me feel better about it. I was thinking that whole section was busted off, but at least now I know that the amount of iron that broke isn't as much as I initially thought.

I think I'll try to finagle a way to cover it with some sheet metal or something to at least give it a little more protection from foreign objects/fluids.

 

wow ... simply wow !

 

I think they ply the tranny out without removing that bolt.

 

There is just a small thin casting there that isn't structural....the nearest bolt is the one on the lift hook. Damn shame someone was careless...but it could have been a lot worse

 

Learn something new everyday...

 

It likely won't ever be a problem, the clutch area isn't sealed even when that piece isn't missing

 

I've seen that before...