Ouch bo...how many mL or rather L are supposed to be in there again?

 

600 ML

 

Oh I'm thinking the tranny not the transfer case...I was like 600mL is all???[sm=wtf.gif]

I guess it's better to have at least some...rather than none! LOL

 

Wow that is an awesome thread, nice ppt! Makes me wonder even more how much fluid is left in mine.

So you refill the tc by back filling thru the drain hole? I saw aquills post about removing the refill aparatus and getting the drain plug back in there. Is there a trick to it or should you expect to lose a little fluid and compensate for it when filling?

Aquill did you ever get around to doing yours? If so how much fluid did you find in there?

 

I think you answered your own question...

 

Honestly I don't know what thread you are talking about......perhaps you meant bojangles because I never did anything outside of changing my oil...

Perhaps someone else could help you out as I'm no use...

 

aquill, that's why I was asking. I found a thread out there while searching the forum where you made an attempt and then backed off. Based on that I was curious if you did eventually change the fluid andwhat levels you found in the tc? Hope that clears things up a bit!

 

You sure it was me? I think I was asking about tc before but I never even looked under there for the tc so I don't know...maybe I'm getting early alsheimers but I don't think it was me...

 

Its probably not you man! Sorry about all of this, maybe it was Dennis then - lol!

 

Well good luck with it either way! No big deal man!

 

After looking at the power point and my car, just checking with this. I have heard how accessing the fill plug for the transfer case is so hard. Looking at the power point, it seems that the fill point it right there on top, inboard of the driver's side motor mount. Am I wrong? Just checking. Weather hasn't been cooperating and would hate to drop fluid into the wrong opening and cause who knows what. It appears to be a standard 1/4" NPT fitting.

Thanks

 

Looking at the forum about the transfer case being torn apart, I now see where the fill plug is. For those that accessed the plug, how did you do it? For those that used an adapter on the drain hole, did you leave the valve in place or did you do something else? If I go with the adapter, I am tempted on installing a valve and just keeping it there for future use. I would install a cap on the outlet of the valve to provide a double barrier to prevent any gear lube from leaking past the valve seats.

 

i drained and filled mine this summer and ever since i've been leaking fluid in the vicinity of the right seal. i had my mechanic take a look several months ago and he*thought* it was coming out of the overflow, and that maybe we overfilled it. i now think it's the right seal as i can't possibly think of why it would still be overflowing 4 months later - even if it was overfilled. odd that the leakingall began when it was refilled though...drips conveniently on the manifold to generate a raunchyodor in the garage...

 

One thing I can't wrap my head around is why there is an overflow in the tc? Can someone explain? To me it just doesn't make sense - what about the debris that can get in there?

 

Christo, the "overflow" is the vent for the transfer case. It is there because as the transfer case changes temps, the air trapped inside of it would also heat up and then expand. This expanding air would be trapped inside the transfer case if there was no vent. This causes a build up of pressure and would therefore push on the seals, causing them to unseat/getting blown out. Either way, you would loose fluid.

Most of the vents that I have seen either make a 180 degree turn or they have some sort of filter on the end. Either method is fine for keeping dirt out of the item being vented. The only time it is an issue is when you drive the vehicle through deep enough water that the water level gets up to the vent opening. Due to the water being cooler than the item vented, it will cause the air to cool and therefore shrink. This will cause water to be sucked into the item. As we all know, mixing water and oil is bad. I know this first hand as I have driven my truck through 4 feet of water. I have since extended my vent lines to a much higher point to allow me to cross water like that in the future without having to do complete fluid changes on the truck.

 

lovely...

Thanks Chris, I can appreciate the relocation of the vent lines now - lol! I would imagine the fluid mixing with water cause it to raise above the vent and leak out?

 

Christo, the issue isn't the fluid coming out the vent during operation, it is the fact that during operation, the oil mixes with the fluid (75W-140 for my axles and tranny fluid for the transfer case) and the water gets emulsified into the lube. When this happens, the lube pretty much looses all its lubricating properties. You can imagine what can happen from there. I didn't feel like replacing 2 axles, a transfer case and what all else because I got into some water that was way deeper than I was expecting. That could have been a $5000 repair easily.

 

Gotcha, thanks for clearing that up! I am waiting for your results on the valve... It appears that it is a 1/2 inch from the ppt but not sure.

 

Ok, after doing some looking around on this site, I found out that the drain plug is a 1/2" NPT fitting. Loaded with this knowledge, I went to Home Depot and did some shopping. $19 later, I think I have everything needed to do the transfer case oil without making a serious mess.

Items bought:
-1/4" Male Hose end barbed fitting (Husky SKU 251-781, found in the tools section with all the air tool fittings)
-1/4" Full Port Ball Valve, brass body (Husky SKU 252-140, found in the tools section with all the air tool fittings)
-1/4" MIP square head plug in brass (Watts part number A-737, found in the plumbing section)
-1/2"x1/4" galvanized bushing (aka, reducer fitting with 1/2" male threads, 1/4" female threads, part number 311 B-1214, found in the plumbing section)
-1/4" (ID)/3/8"(OD) clear tubing (minimum of 4 feet)

Do you need the square head plug, not really. But I know from working inside a power plant that ball valves are not necessarily the most leak proof valves. So, installing the plug after I am all done, even if the valve fails completely on the inside, the plug will keep all the oil in the transfer case.

The setup will be the bushing screwed into the transfer case with the valve screwed into the bushing. Overall, this will only stick out the side of the transfer case about 2". So, it will all be tucked up under the car. So, the ability for anything to hit it and knock it off is next to impossible. To drain, you simply will remove the plug and open the valve. Collect all the fluid in a pan (same as if you had to only remove the factory plug). To fill, you will use 4 feet of the clear tubing shoved on to one of the barbed fittings. This will get screwed into the valve and you attach the other end of the hose to a funnel. Pour in the desired amount of fluid (plus an extra 20 ml of fluid to account for that trapped in the tubing) and shut the valve. Remove the tubing/barbed fitting from the valve and install the plug.

As I install everything I will make sure to take a few pics. I am going to pipe tape all the joints to make sure that I don't have any leaks. But, should be pretty easy to install. I included the part numbers so incase anyone else would desire to do this, they can find the parts fairly easy.

 

OH, one thing I will note with this setup, doing a flush of the old fluid will be desired as this will leave an additional 1/4" of fluid in the bottom of the transfer case. This will amount to about 50 ml of fluid. Is it a lot, no, but if the case is already holding on to 50 ml, that is removing that much less fluid. I figure I will dump in 500 ml of fluid to do the flush and then the other 500 ml of fluid left in the bottle to fill the transfer case back up. That should flush most of the bad stuff out.