Sweet.. The trans is out, clutch going in shortly..

[emi325i]

I replaced the input shaft seal, output shaft seal, selector seal (that was leaking badly). I'm ordering a backup light sensor tomorrow, and the clutch kit is sitting in the box, patiently waiting to go in.

There's another cap/cover under the input shaft inside the bell-housing. secured by a this ring-thingamacallit. Is there anything I need to replace there?

I'm also redoing all the shifter parts... I also have a bunch of seals for the engine, which brings me to my next concern: There was a lot of gunk and oil all over the bell housing, however, the input shaft seal wasn't leaking.. When I take the flywheel off, should I expect a mess on the engine side? Like I said, I already have a bunch of seals for that stuff, as well as the pilot bearing..

Oh, of course, I must boast about being able to remove the starter with the bitch nuts from underneath the car without removing a single part from the top to get to it.. :pimp:

[Mike325]

I removed my trans once and there was that black stuff all on the inside of my bell housing too. I do not know what it is. It is hard to get off too. When I took my flywheel off, there was nothing back there that looked bad. The rear main seal was still in good shape. Don't forget to replace yours.

[NC325iC]

yeah inside my bell is black too
i hope you have better luck with yours than ive had with mine
i hope to get it back in for the second time in as many weeks tomorrow

[DJB]

The plug under the transmission input shaft covers the layshaft front bearing. You can replace the spacer under the circlip to adjust the layshaft end play, which you can supposedly check by removing the fill plug.

I've tried to measure the layshaft play by removing the plug and moving the layshaft to and fro with a screwdriver, but I can't figure out how to accurately get a measurement. The most you can do is detect that there is some free play, and move the end plug in until the obvious play goes away, then measure how much thicker of spacer you need. A newer spacer ring is about $1.

Doing this might help reduce the "Getrag rattle". I'm hoping someone will try both this approach (which doesn't require opening the transmission) and slightly shimming the reverse shaft (which requires splitting the transmission case) and let us know what the effects are.

[mitch500]

im pretty sure the black shit inside the bell housing is dust from the clutch disc. it just cakes on the inside kinda like brake dusts on your wheels/.

[emi325i]

dust, yeah, makes sense, but it's all greasy. I took the flywheel off, and found not leaks from the engine seal. There was some oil trickling down from the valve cover, which made it down into the bell housing, but that was it. Not much wear on the clutch, but the flywheel has a brown tint on the surface, as if it was baked, as well as a grove going all around. I'm definitely getting it machined tomorrow.. It's not a dual mass, tho.. when i ordered the clutch kit, the guy told me that my car has a dual mass flywheel.

[Lobstrosity]

It's not a dual mass, tho.. when i ordered the clutch kit, the guy told me that my car has a dual mass flywheel.

Only a few 325i's did have dual mass, and I don't think 1990 was one of the years.

I do believe there is a different clutch/pressure plate depending on whether you have dual mass or not, isn't there? And if that's the case, then they would have given you the wrong one :(

[emi325i]

i'll be checking the parts.. one more question: When I took the rear crank seal carrier off, a piece of the oil pan gasket come off with it.. After getting it out I noticed the small note in the bentley manual saying that might happen and that I should use a sharp tool to separate them. Should I replace the oil gasket? looks like a loooot of pain

[NC325iC]

the dual mass has a solid center if i remember correctly