so i was just gifted a 96 accord 2 door ex 2.2l vtec 5 speed, i was under the car and found a half dolor sized hole in the trans bell housing how worried should i be? were do i find just the bell housing replacement. I've tried to look it up on line but just keep finding whole trans when all i need is a bell housing. Oh this is my first honda and ive only ever worked on suzuki samurai's. so i have clue on how bad this is.

 

the "bell housing" is not a seperate piece from the transmission (transaxle). it's integrated into the left half of the gearbox case. post a picture of the damage so we can see the severity and location. if it's not a critical area there are some shade-tree fixes to close up the hole as an option to replacement.

you're best bet for replacement, if that's what you decide to do would be to pull a complete transaxle from the junk yard. then you could either:

-throw it in as-is and hope for the best
-open it up, give a good look over for wear and tear, replace items as needed then throw it in
-swap the case half with your damaged case half keeping your "known good" gearbox guts
-give it a full rebuild and run it until the end of time.

 

If it just a hole in the bell at the bottom, and there are no cracks or leaks emanating from it, I would just verify that the torque converter does not have a dent or other damage. If the TC is fine, just use some Gorilla tape to cover the hole to prevent intrusion of water and road debris.

On the H4A the bellhousing is the main component, like the engine block. The outer case is merely a cover. To replace it would require a complete teardown, not worth it if the transmission functions correctly.

 

A 5 spd car won't have an h4a or a torque converter. If there are no other signs of damage, gorilla tape it and drive it like crazy. Is it a broken out hole, or maybe a factory hole missing its plug? See how much clearance you have behind it, and if you have a little bit of clearance and the hole is nicely round, go to a parts store and get a rubber freeze plug, insert it just enough for it to hold and tighten the plug up until it is tight and won't fall out.

ROb

 

yeah, that's one of the "shade-tree" fixes i was thinking of. another is fine wire mesh (aluminum preferably) or fiberglass drywall tape plastered with jb-weld. true story.

 

Another possible way: grind around the edges of the hole to make sure there are no stress cracks developing, then cut an aluminum plate a little larger than the hole. Drill and tap some small holes and attach the plate with small screws. Or you could use pop rivets. Put some good sealant between the plate and the trans.

 

We still need to see a picture of this hole to make an accurate determination. If it wasn't so cold outside I would crawl under mine to see if I can see anything similar to what he described on my trans...

ROb

 

ok thanks for all the help it is not any were that would leak or hurt anything no stress cracks just a small hole i would post pics but no cam as of yet