Technical Can’t locate filler bolt on gear box

[Fiat kris]

Hi ,

I’m just wondering if anyone had any clues where I put the transmission fluid in
( Fiat 500 1958) ?

And also any tips for getting in .

I think I may have put some fluid in the wrong bolt as oil went in then came out everywhere.

Cheers kris

 

[Fiat kris]

Hi ,

I’m just wondering if anyone had any clues where I put the transmission fluid in
( Fiat 500 1958) ?

And also any tips for getting in .

I think I may have put some fluid in the wrong bolt as oil went in then came out everywhere.

Cheers kris

I did drain it before putting new oil in .

 

[smart51]

I jack up the car and remove the right rear wheel when doing this. It allows for easier access. Look at the gearbox from the front of the rear wheel arch. The filler plug is something like half way up, in a slight recess, near to the bell housing.

I use a hand pump with a long tube attached. Pull the handle on the pump and suck up the oil out of the bottle, put the tube in the 'box and push the handle on the pump. It's too far in to the car and too high up to poke the spout of a 1l bottle into the box and squeeze the bottle.

Undoing the plug can be a challenge. Mine needed a lot of force the first time I did it. A 1/2" socket extension fits over the square head on the bolt. Grip the square end of the extension with some grips and turn that. I used 4 long extensions connected together so that it came out past the side of the car.

 

[Toshi 975]

I jack up the car and remove the right rear wheel when doing this. It allows for easier access. Look at the gearbox from the front of the rear wheel arch. The filler plug is something like half way up, in a slight recess, near to the bell housing.

I use a hand pump with a long tube attached. Pull the handle on the pump and suck up the oil out of the bottle, put the tube in the 'box and push the handle on the pump. It's too far in to the car and too high up to poke the spout of a 1l bottle into the box and squeeze the bottle.

Undoing the plug can be a challenge. Mine needed a lot of force the first time I did it. A 1/2" socket extension fits over the square head on the bolt. Grip the square end of the extension with some grips and turn that. I used 4 long extensions connected together so that it came out past the side of the car.

View attachment 444740

Smart man, I may be wrong but from your picture you may be running a 126 gearbox without the support bracket to the rear of the starter motor?

 

[smart51]

Smart man, I may be wrong but from your picture you may be running a 126 gearbox without the support bracket to the rear of the starter motor?

My car is a 1975 500R. I don't know if it has its original gearbox or not, but I know is doesn't have synchromesh. There was no support bracket when I took off the starter motor recently, but it doesn't seem to need one. It's possible that it had one when it left the factory, I guess, but has been lost since. On the other hand, by 1975, Fiat may have tired of making two versions of everything for the same gearbox, so started to use more 126 parts when making them for the 500R.

 

[the hobbler]

My car is a 1975 500R. I don't know if it has its original gearbox or not, but I know is doesn't have synchromesh. There was no support bracket when I took off the starter motor recently, but it doesn't seem to need one. It's possible that it had one when it left the factory, I guess, but has been lost since. On the other hand, by 1975, Fiat may have tired of making two versions of everything for the same gearbox, so started to use more 126 parts when making them for the 500R.

With regard to the 500R---I think that it is more likely that Fiat had a pile of 500 bodies to use up---a bit like the Ford 107E, which was the old 100E body (that had the 1172 side-valve engine in it) but with the new 105E 1,000cc over-head valve engine slotted into it. Due toitslighter wieght (than the 'NEW'126 it turned out to be quicker than the 126,so Fiat put the small24LMB carb on it toslowit down. The 500R used the 126 594cccrankcase,so it had to use the 126's starter layout.The 126 starter has a small brace that goes from the back of the starter (2 x 10mm screws) across to the upper-front nut of the housing for the drive-shaft boot, which therefore had a slightly longer stud. These braces are available 'over thecounter'---i would suggest that you obtain one and fit it.
I found that the easiest (and least messy) way to refil/top-up the gearbox oil was to obtain a length of clear plastic tubing (so you can see the oil going down into the gearbox) that is just thin enough to go into the drain/filler plug of the gearbox and long enough to vome up through the engine bay---that way you candribble the oil in whilst standing up, and not laying on your back on the ground. I don't take the wheel off, just use a short 1/2in drive extension

 

[smart51]

One of these?

 

[the hobbler]

With regard to the 500R---I think that it is more likely that Fiat had a pile of 500 bodies to use up---a bit like the Ford 107E, which was the old 100E body (that had the 1172 side-valve engine in it) but with the new 105E 1,000cc over-head valve engine slotted into it. Due toitslighter wieght (than the 'NEW'126 it turned out to be quicker than the 126,so Fiat put the small24LMB carb on it toslowit down. The 500R used the 126 594cccrankcase,so it had to use the 126's starter layout.The 126 starter has a small brace that goes from the back of the starter (2 x 10mm screws) across to the upper-front nut of the housing for the drive-shaft boot, which therefore had a slightly longer stud. These braces are available 'over thecounter'---i would suggest that you obtain one and fit it.
I found that the easiest (and least messy) way to refil/top-up the gearbox oil was to obtain a length of clear plastic tubing (so you can see the oil going down into the gearbox) that is just thin enough to go into the drain/filler plug of the gearbox and long enough to vome up through the engine bay---that way you candribble the oil in whilst standing up, and not laying on your back on the ground. I don't take the wheel off, just use a short 1/2in drive extension

Apologies, computer decided to put my comments through before I had finished! As I said, I use just a short 1/2in drive extension, used (as Smart81 described) 'backwards' and a socket on the 'male' end of the extension---you might have to use a metric socket on the 'male' end. These plugs are VERY tight on the first removal---thay are a tapered thread and done up at the factory. The plug doubles up as both the drain plug and the re-fill/oil-level plug so you continue to put oil into the gearbox until it runs back out of the drain/re-fill plug. . Remenber to put the car on stands when you do this job---NEVER work under a car on a jack. You don't want the car jacked up too much---if you do, the gearbox will be at a big angle and you will put too much oil into the gearbox. Use the same method, with a 'reversed-extension,' to refit and tighten the plug