1979 Ferrari 308 Gearbox Issue

Well.. My first thought on what you can expect from this, is a lightening of your wallet.
Does it still shift smoothly into all the gears? Looks as if someone got quite aggressive shifting and possibly ground a Synchro or two judging from the particles. No idea what type of gear oil comes in silver.

 

Just looked at the picture closely.
Lol Yeah.. we're being trolled.

 

If the fluid is completely silver, this indicates there's some sort of contamination from the secondary crankshaft fluid pump. Start by checking the sparkplug gaps - this usually happens if the gap is 002" too small (if it's a Euro model, or a US Model with the smog controls removed). So I'd pull them all and check with a metric gap tool to ensure the gap is correct. Afterwards, bleed the crankshaft system and refill it from the reserve plug on the right side (NOT the left side of the engine). Keep your RPMs under 1200 for around 20-30 miles, and after that recheck your fluid.

 

Someone used a Teflon additive...

I would switch to Royal Purple.

Only 2nd gear synchros wear out, no one gets to forth gear, in town.

 

No, that's more work than you need to do at this stage. Remove the plenum and check for silver flecks on the liner.

 

Look at the picture closely. It's a photo of melted lead.

 

I did not want to tell him the Factory machining was so poor in the '70s that there was that much metal left in the oil journals of our crankshafts....LOL!

 

Oh my! Did something broke in there or fell something in there?

 

Taking you at your word that - as a 24-year-old new member five posts in, and you're attempting to diagnose a serious problem on a DIY basis - you can take apart a transmission case but don't know what shrapnel in the oil indicates , I've got good news and bad news for you. Wait, never mind about the good news.

If that's how your pan came off, it looks like either a securing your linkage or came loose and chewed up your internals (I don't recall a bolt of that size - maybe the shift shaft rod or fork, but looks like a suspension bolt to me). Or a previous Luigi dropped a bolt in your transmission case. Either way, THIS - exactly right here - is the point where you flatbed your car to a professional (dealer or independent shop) and get a proper assessment. The obvious guess is you've chewed up some gear and/or synchro teeth. That much particulate indicates, if you haven't merely shaved down some inner case from that bolt rattling around, then you're in for some new gearbox components.

 

One thing that surprises me a little is that the drain plugs are supposed to be magnetic, and this particulate doesn't seem to have accumulated around the plugs. Maybe you got lucky and it's just aluminum housing.

 

Something went amiss when I was editing post #14. First line of second paragraph should read either a BOLT securing your linkage came loose...

When you pulled off the pan, did three springs and little balls the size of peas pop out. I don't see them in your pic. If you've been grinding up the inside of your aluminum case because something is rubbing or shearing, enough fine aluminum particulate might add a silver hue to your oil. Just a thought. So long as you've got the pan off, perhaps snap a few photos of what you see inside? That could be even more telling.

 

Differential ring bolt.. seen this before.. absolutely wrecks the gear box. The aluminum it's most likely from the ring gear grinding away on the diff cover, then any other boots the loose parts knocked about on. At this point the engine and gear box come out to be separated and then address whether it's worth rebuilding or finding a used box. Good luck, as boxes are hard to find and parts are eye wateringly expensive, oh and the diff bolts are NLA.. I have a gear box in need of those bolts as well.

 

Come on guys. He is so full of **** it's unreal. Look at the internals of the case not even a smidge of particles on any of the components yet the cover is in that condition. He owns an independent shop and he comes here asking what to do? This guys an a-- clown

 

I think you have to pull out the engine and separate the gearbox, removing all the shafts and gears before you destroy the gearbox case. There is something that it's eating out the gearbox case, a rotating steel thing that touches the gearbox or some broken pieces of a gear or of a synchro that is thrown against the aluminium case: you just have to remove all the pieces and see where the problem is. The diff (if the problem is the diff) is available at a fair price here in Italy

ciao