Transmission Whine/Leak after Manual Swap

[EatsHondas]

Just finished my manual swap the other day and have had a blast driving my "new" e30. I've put about 30-40 miles on her and now I have audible transmission (G260) whine. I know that's not good, but does it mean I've already killed my trans? It hasn't been driven since the whine started yesterday (maybe only 1-2 miles of whining).

I'm fairly certain it's leaking trans fluid because I've smelled the 80w-90 Mobil1 the last few times I've gotten out of the car. The only seals I replaced during the swap were the rear main and the input shaft because they're not possible to replace with the trans in the car. I also didn't use any grease on the input seal because I didn't know you were supposed to. Lesson(s) learned huh?

Before I installed the transmission, I removed a piece of metal that hangs from the very bottom of the trans that was held on by two bolts. Do those bolt holes need to be plugged? I thought it might be an exhaust hanger or something, but it was mangled so I took it off.

I looked underneath the car and the area under the bellhousing looks clean thank God (probably not the input shaft). The car sat in the parking lot overnight, but there's not a single drop of fluid underneath.

I'm at school right now which is about 20 miles away from all my tools, so I was planning to top off the fluid and limp her back home this weekend.

This is my daily driver so I'm kinda freaking out about permanent damage that may have occurred. Any thoughts?

EDIT: Piece I removed is number 4 on this schematic:

http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...70&hg=18&fg=05

[jlevie]

A whine from the transmission is a sign of wear in the transmission. A leak has nothing to do with that unless the fluid is gone. The most likely places to have a leak are the input seal, the shaft seal plug in the bell housing, the output seal, or the selector shaft seal. If the transmission came from a ETA you could have a leak where the sheet metal shifter bolts up.

The part you removed is a brace for the exhaust. There won't be a leak there.

[EatsHondas]

It turns out the trans is definitely leaking, but the spot shouldn't be a nightmare to get to. Fluid is coming out of the back and getting on the exhaust and trans crossmember. I suppose it doesn't matter which seal it is, I'm just going to get both and install them like I should have in the first place.

I also remembered that I forgot to tighten the spline nut on the driveshaft, so that could explain the whistling sound if it came off the threads and is now touching the back of the spinning CSB.

Funny how I actually took my time on this swap and made sure to double check all my work, but sh*t happens anyway if you let it. At least the trans doesn't have to come out!

VIN on the trans said it came from an '89 iS, so I think I'm good there. Thanks for the reply jlevie, I'm so relieved there's no serious problems.