Manual Transmission Vent

[tmontague]

I replaced my MTF the other night and was on a mission to find this mythical "vent". I did not notice any air hiss or release when I opened up the fill hole but none the less I still wanted to make sure that I knew where this vent was to make sure it was functioning fine. Ideally I wanted to get GL-4 fluid for the cold start ups here in Southern Ontario but I couldn't find any and I didn't have enough time to order it online. I ended up getting Motomaster synthetic which I put in before and is pretty smooth but not the absolute best in -45 degrees.

I removed the battery and airbox out of the way (you don;t really need to do this) as I didn't really know what i was looking for. On top of the transmission is a cylindrical silver metal shaped part. On top of this (under the battery tray to the middle of the car a bit) are 2 or 3 smal 1/4"-1/2" diameter cylinders that poke upwards about 1/2". One of them has a big nut on it that fits a large >24mm socket or spanner wrench. I thought this was it and I started loosening this. *This is not the vent and it is extremely hard to loosen. Don't touch that bolt.

Further to the back about 2 or so inches is another smaller cylinder poking up about 1/4" diameter and sticking up about 1/2". It has not nut around it and you cannot put a socket on it. This "cap" should be loose and spin freely with your fingers. It will not loosen or tighten when you spin it. This is the vent. If it does not move then you can take it off with vise grip (be careful) and clean it out and maybe spray a little lithium grease in it if you need. Then snap it back on.

I didn't bother removing mine as it is working fine and I couldn't remove it by hand. Unfortunately I didn't have time to take pictures, but hope this helps explain what to look for. If you know what you're looking for you should be able to reach your hand in and jiggle it to check if it's still working.