Update on Pork Chop.

Stopped into S M F to find out what the prognosis was and yep, I was right; it was a seal.

You see what had happen was: When Matt pulled the cover off to expose the sprocket that drives the chain, the retaining nut and the lock ring fell out. The sprocket itself was on the threaded part of the spindle free floating. There is a bushing that fits over the spindle and is used to hold a seal in place. This bushing in turn is held in place by the sprocket and lock ring, which was not in place to hold the bushing in place so the bushing had migrated towards the end of the spindle. The oil pressure then proceeded to blow out the seal which used the bushing as back up to hold it in place so that the seal could hold the oil inside the transmission.

Pretty clear, huh?

I had planed on when I got home that monday morning to do a thorough maintenance on Pork Chop which would have the oil and filter changed, every nut and bolt I could put a wrench to checked for tightness, a few items fixed and/or rerouted and a detailing. But I don't believe that I would have pulled that cover off to check that nut that held the sprocket on.

I looked over at Matt and was about to asked how often would something like this could happen and before I could start my utterance he said to me, "I have never seen this happen before. This is a first one on me."

But it is under warranty and now I have just one more thing to add to the list to MAKE SURE I CHECK every time I do an inspect and tighten maintenance.