rear main seal/core plug gone

[Tony500]

Only thing I can add is follow the prosedure as says above......
I was helping my dad with his and when I wasn’t there he tried to assemble and crushed the gearbox oil pump.

Take your time and read up on a few different ways how to install

Good luck

[JamesG1980]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

Good work - I've done three gearbox changes on XC90's on my drive using basic tools as you are doing. It is possible with a pragmatic approach and a comprehensive tool kit of different types of sockets, spanners and wobble bars. However it is a long job - probably 20 hours.

One thing I would say is that you should have unbolted the torque converter from the driveplate and removed it with the gearbox. You can access the TC bolts (six in total) from a small aperture at the rear of the engine. The TC bolts are a shallow Torx head so a good idea to replace them unless they come out perfect. You may get more old oil out of the gearbox if you leave it stored bellhousing down. You will get another litre or so out of the TC if you leave it face down over night over an old bowl or similar. Then pick it up, move it around and leave again. Its surprising what will come out over time.

A word of caution - you may know this but it is really important so I will say it anyway - when you re-assemble it you must load the torque converter onto the gearbox correctly and then install the gearbox/TC together as one unit and re-bolt it to the driveplate once it is in the car. To load the torque converter to the gearbox, you pop it on to the drive shaft and then turn the TC clockwise whilst spinning it and gently pushing it towards the gearbox. When it is correctly loaded you will have heard/felt it drop on to the gearbox TWICE and the gap between the TC bolt flanges and the bell housing flange will be 13mm (1/2 inch). You might have to spin it 15-20 times to get there. You then need to make sure that the TC does not slip at all during re-assembly.

The consequence of not following the above process exactly is at best a destroyed oil pump in the gearbox and another 20 hours work. When I do it I also put an extra ratchet or two strap around the engine and beam when working under it.

Good luck! A lot of work but you have saved yourself a fortune, which you can invest in other renewals such as your wishbones etc.

Thanks, i actually spent a lot of time reading then rereading the thread you started on transmission refit to get an idea of the steps involved.

The torque converter was unbolted from the drive-plate prior to unbolting the gearbox, but i didn't hold the torque converter in place when i removed the box, and it was firmer stuck in the centre of the drive plate then onto the splines of the input shaft. no bother though, will be refitted and carefully checked as per your advice and kept in place when the box goes back on.

actually got round to taking the drive plate off today and can confirm it was the core plug that had gone. as expected it was the original rubber coated one which will be replaced with the revised design.

one question i did have, which is to do with the front subframe mounts on the body - on the passenger side there is a tube protruding from the body,which the subframe slides up on, but on the driveside its just a flat surface (pictures below) is this correct? i assume this tube is just a guide for the frame and serves no structural/reinforcement purpose or there would be one on both sides?
passenger side
driver side

[Tannaton]

Yep its the same on mine...

[Bigjimknickers]

A good read, I’ll be sure to let my mate know about this “core plug” issue.