My clutch started slipping so had it replaced, along with the cable, fork bearings, gearbox input seal/carrier and diff seals.

When I got the car back I noticed some oil on the drive. It's engine oil rather than gearbox oil. I also noticed a rectangular hole in the bottom of the bell housing so the new clutch was visible. I have never noticed a hole here before. It's between the reinforcement ribs in the bottom of the housing.

I took it back to the garage and they told me the hole is there to allow alignment of the forks as the clutch is a pull type.

In terms of the oil leak, they believe it is from the sump, which I guess would have been disturbed when the box came out, as there are sump bolts in the gearbox.

My questions are; have they cut a hole to make the clutch replacement easier or to sort out an issue they had while doing the job? My concern with this hole (if not there normally) is the potential for crap to get in the housing and contaminate the clutch. If the sump seal was broken by them during the job, should they be putting this right free of charge or at my cost?

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Chris - Phase 3 Moonstone GTi 6

Here's a picture that shows both the hole and the oil leak. I have added the URL for the pic in case it doesn't post directly:

https://flic.kr/p/ZEPmGK

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Chris - Phase 3 Moonstone GTi 6

Yeah, that's the conclusion I have come to now after a second look. You can see where it has been drilled to start and then cut from that point. There doesn't seen to be any swarf inside from feeling around, so think it has been cut while the box was off to aid with alignment when put back on.

Good point about jacking from the sump causing the oil leak. They would have done this to support the weight of the engine while the box was off wouldn't they?

The question is; what to do about it now???

The oil leak needs sorting first as there is a fair bit on my drive already.

In terms of the hole, what could this lead to in terms of issues? My first though is that it allows for contamination to get into the clutch area but whether this is a big issue or not is what I am not sure about? To properly rectify it's a new housing or as a very minimum a plate to seal it up somehow.

Do I let them try and sort it all? Should I be seeking a refund? They charged my £528 in labour to do the clutch, cable and all the other bits, so not a cheap job.

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Chris - Phase 3 Moonstone GTi 6

it wont cause any issues, there are other holes into the bellhousing.

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need a part number? get on here - http://public.servicebox.peugeot.com

Bring on the Trumpets.

I would not accept it, they’ve cut a hole in for no good reason, and now it has a oil leak normally they ring you or state that work needs doing so that implies the leak was caused by them. Take it back cause a fuss

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Old pugs don't die they just get faster

The oil leak has definitely been caused, or at best, been made significantly worse by them. There was some oil around that area but not the constant slow drip that is present now. The oil is not coming from the cut hole. It seems to be from the joint between the box and the sump/engine.

I took the car back to them for a very quick look on Saturday when I first saw the leak and hole. They actually told me the hole is there to line the fork up as it's a pull clutch but implied it was there already for that purpose but I did not push them further on that at the time as I wanted to confirm definitively that it was not normal!

They said that they saw a line of oil from that region and it should have been added as a note on the invoice (it wasn't). I just said if they had told me of an oil leak on the sump, I would have asked them to sort it before returning the car. They said they could sort it next week and will call me on Monday to arrange to have it back but didn't say either way if this was additional work or rectification work.

I'm pretty p*ssed off by the whole thing and could do without the hassle but will not be accepting it!

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Chris - Phase 3 Moonstone GTi 6

That is unbelieveable!

Absolutely no need to be doing that AT ALL. If it were me, I'd be going back and demanding a replacement gearbox. You did not give them authority to modify your gearbox - what a bunch of cowboys!

£528 for the job and they do that? It's easy enough to know whether the fork is lined up just by the feel of the release arm when you push the box home.

As for the oil leak, most probably caused by them too. Name and shame I reckon...but I'd be going in there and causing merry hell to be honest.

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"Supercharged - 454.1bhp/317.5lb/ft"
Peugeot 306 GTi-6
2000 (X), Moonstone

I'd not bother going back tbh, sorting a sump leak shouldn't be too bad a job, can be done on axle stands though its a little faff with AC.

unless its the crank seal, but the garage wont have taken the flywheel off so wouldn't have been caused by any work they did.

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need a part number? get on here - http://public.servicebox.peugeot.com

Bring on the Trumpets.

hope they realise that the casings are all line bored and the bellhousing is unique to the 6 speed box, you wont get 6th if you use a 5 speed housing

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need a part number? get on here - http://public.servicebox.peugeot.com

Bring on the Trumpets.

I'm panicking a bit now!

I did make the point that the casting needs to be from a GTi6 and they acknowledged that but there was no mention of line boring anything! Can you give more details on what is line bored and what will happen if this is not completed?

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Chris - Phase 3 Moonstone GTi 6

Well they said my internals will be transferred, so I don't know if they would fit the replacement box complete (on the basis I wouldn't actually know) or do as they said and transfer everything. If replacing the casing could lead to more issues I'd be tempted to call them and tell them not to bother but I need to fully understand the implications first. Hopefully they are not just after pics of a six speed to compare to the five speed.

Out of interest are you 'picupspares' or '206gtiparts' on eBay? Could you let me know if they do buy your gearbox?

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Chris - Phase 3 Moonstone GTi 6

Spoke to the garage again this morning and the replacement casing is coming in today. They confirm they are aware of the casing alignment need (line boring) and should have the car back to me tomorrow. So crossing my fingers that all will be well when it's returned, as the whole saga is stressing me out big time!

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Chris - Phase 3 Moonstone GTi 6

it's not actually that difficult!

just a bit fiddly and a pain!
if you have a 2 man team it's much easier as 1 needs to be underneath when getting it back into place
or a hoist for a 1 man team
most difficult bits are the pivot spring clip for the upper arm if it's not been removed for some time
and making sure the clutch fork slides in behind the release bearing while sliding back onto the splines
you dont even have to get it the whole way onto the splines before tightening the bolts on
as long as you can get it far enough on the bolts bite then systematically tighten the bolts up crisscross pattern to make sure it goes on strait!

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Proud Member of the ASTOR Owners Club