Gearbox oil dipsticks

[mangocrazy]

As I swap bits and pieces between carb and i.e. engine/transmissions I'm discovering a number of little differences. Yesterday it was the oil breather pipe diameter (larger on i.e.) and orientation, today it's the size of the gearbox dipstick orifice (it's bigger on the later ones, again).

The i.e. gearbox dipstick is a fiendishly log thing that pops out by the flywheel end of the exhaust cambox. This would certainly make checking the gearbox oil level far easier than on the carb model, except for the fact that on mine the dipstick resolutely refuses to go any further down than about two-thirds of its full travel. It looks like the dipstick tube has been roughly treated at some point in its life and some non-standard kinks are stopping the dipstick's full travel. Has anyone had anything like this happen to them? I've tried bending the tube back into shape but it's resistant to change and I'm wary of making matters worse.

[Neil-yaj396]

Sadly, I have no recollection of checking the gearbox oil on my ie, or the dipstick being different from my other Betas. The obvious solution is a new stick, though I imagine it would be a devil of a job to get one.

Is the orifice in the ie box definitely bigger than standard?

[mangocrazy]

Yes, the orifice in the i.e. box is bigger than that in the carb box. I tried to swap the short carb dipstick into the i.e. box and it just waggled about. I guess I could get a sleeve machined to make it work, but there's no-one I know in the village with a lathe. I'll take some measurements and get one made up when I'm back in the UK.

[mangocrazy]

I'm reviving this old thread as I'm still chasing my tail on differing gearbox dipstick (and orifice) sizes. The gearbox on my S2FL carb Beta has a 16mm diameter dipstick/orifice, whereas that on the gearbox that has been overhauled by Day & White and is fitted to my rebuilt 2 litre engine has a 12mm diameter filling orifice. And on reading my comments from 5 or 6 years ago, it would seem that the dipstick/orifice on the gearbox fitted to my donor engine (originally out of an i.e.) has a different size again (i.e. larger than 16mm).

Does anyone have any definitive knowledge on what was fitted to different model years, or am I asking the impossible? Certainly, if anyone has a gearbox dipstick of 12mm diameter (whether long or short) that they don't need/want, then name your price... They appear to be about as common as rocking horse droppings.

[Neil-yaj396]

The gearbox dipstick fitted to the ie cars is completely different to that fitted to the earlier cars. It sits in a long tube so you can access it from the upper part of the engine compartment without delving under the battery tray etc. From memory the tube is narrower than the short early dipstick.

I'm guessing you have an ie box without the tube fitted?

[mangocrazy]

The gearbox dipstick fitted to the ie cars is completely different to that fitted to the earlier cars. It sits in a long tube so you can access it from the upper part of the engine compartment without delving under the battery tray etc. From memory the tube is narrower than the short early dipstick.

I'm guessing you have an ie box without the tube fitted?

I believe that the box I've fitted to my carb engine did come off an i.e. but when I bought it there was no dipstick fitted - something I never thought to check for at the time. I've had a word with Mark W and he reckons he can sort a suitable dipstick for me from his collection of spares, so all is not lost. The elongated dipstick and holder would make it easier to check levels, but I'll be happy if I can just find one that fits...