4l60 / Transfer Case Grinding / Is this normal? (1 Viewer)

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Don't see how it could be related to the tcase if it's been the same through 3 different ones and now different axles and driveshafts.
Thats what im saying! haha i am stumped on it. The only thing that has remained the same back there is the big sealed bearing on the Advanced adapter

Sounds like transmission to me

I thought it was the trans at first but i havent been able to find any videos online of other people with the same whine on a 4l60.
 
I'm telling you those microphone things would be great for this as you can switch between multiple microphone locations as you deive.
 
I'm telling you those microphone things would be great for this as you can switch between multiple microphone locations as you deive.

There’s a hill that’s like a mile and a half long at 5% grade in my neighborhood. I was able to get the tcase in neutral and trans in neutral and no noises while coasting or accelerating.

T case in neutral and trans in drive gave me some crazy noises.

Afterwards I let my truck cool down and parked in my garage. Tcase in neutral and trans in drive and it sounds like the whine is coming from inside the advance adapter. There’s no bearing on the trans output. Just the one large sealed bearing inside of the adapter. I verified the location by literally pushing my ear/face on the adapter. And also the trans. And also the tcase. It’s loudest from right in the middle of the adapter, not even the hex part but the giant adapter part. I was able to talk to Georg and he thinks since I’ve literally had 3 transfer cases and it’s not changed the noise at all, the only logical thing would be that gear in the adapter being bad. Which sucks because it’s not even 2 or 3 years old and it’s whined since I first installed it

Here’s the bad noise going down the hill. Tcase in neutral and trans in drive. It sounds very similar to when my skateboard bearings go bad




The test hill:

IMG_6920.jpeg
 
There’s a hill that’s like a mile and a half long at 5% grade in my neighborhood. I was able to get the tcase in neutral and trans in neutral and no noises while coasting or accelerating.

T case in neutral and trans in drive gave me some crazy noises.

Afterwards I let my truck cool down and parked in my garage. Tcase in neutral and trans in drive and it sounds like the whine is coming from inside the advance adapter. There’s no bearing on the trans output. Just the one large sealed bearing inside of the adapter. I verified the location by literally pushing my ear/face on the adapter. And also the trans. And also the tcase. It’s loudest from right in the middle of the adapter, not even the hex part but the giant adapter part. I was able to talk to Georg and he thinks since I’ve literally had 3 transfer cases and it’s not changed the noise at all, the only logical thing would be that gear in the adapter being bad. Which sucks because it’s not even 2 or 3 years old and it’s whined since I first installed it

Here’s the bad noise going down the hill. Tcase in neutral and trans in drive. It sounds very similar to when my skateboard bearings go bad




The test hill:

View attachment 3599171

Is yours the sealed bearing or open one in the AA adapter?
 
I've tried both the sealed and unsealed bearing from AA. Same result. Though, when I swapped the sealed bearing in the noise seemed like it was gone then came back. Now it is definitely back.

If I can get my PS system put back together this weekend I'll give the 't-case in neutral tranny in gear' test a try and see how it sounds. That's a good idea.
 
ok i got the bearing out and popped the seals off of them but cant really notice any weird wear or anything in them. New bearing is in now and spins freely. The spud shaft is not bottomed out on the cut output shaft of the 4l60. Not really sure what else there is to look for. This bearing is the only non brand new part out of all of this besides the 4l60. So now the only non brand new thing is the trans itself. The black stuff on the bearing is just toyota black fipg. I was out of orange the last time i did this.


vxPmq6ph.jpg

WZWAuUWh.jpg


New bearing

etcN1Vth.jpg



So one thing i noticed was that i had zero ATF in my case. Not a single drop... until i pulled the idler shaft and then it came pouring out. Also the old bearing was filled with atf. I sealed the hell out of all the splines on the spud shaft and spacer the last time ihad this apart and it seems to have worked. I believe the 2wd 4l60 is supposed to have some fluid back there to lubricate a drive bushing or something like that. Im wondering if its building up some pressure and pushing on the idler shaft from behind or something. I sealed the idler shaft super well with FIPG as well the last time i did this. I forgot to check if the new bearing was filled with grease or not. Maybe the atf is washing out the grease

Im going to put it back together later tonight, i should know pretty quick if the whining is still there.
 
ok i got the bearing out and popped the seals off of them but cant really notice any weird wear or anything in them. New bearing is in now and spins freely. The spud shaft is not bottomed out on the cut output shaft of the 4l60. Not really sure what else there is to look for. This bearing is the only non brand new part out of all of this besides the 4l60. So now the only non brand new thing is the trans itself. The black stuff on the bearing is just toyota black fipg. I was out of orange the last time i did this.


vxPmq6ph.jpg

WZWAuUWh.jpg


New bearing

etcN1Vth.jpg



So one thing i noticed was that i had zero ATF in my case. Not a single drop... until i pulled the idler shaft and then it came pouring out. Also the old bearing was filled with atf. I sealed the hell out of all the splines on the spud shaft and spacer the last time ihad this apart and it seems to have worked. I believe the 2wd 4l60 is supposed to have some fluid back there to lubricate a drive bushing or something like that. Im wondering if its building up some pressure and pushing on the idler shaft from behind or something. I sealed the idler shaft super well with FIPG as well the last time i did this. I forgot to check if the new bearing was filled with grease or not. Maybe the atf is washing out the grease

Im going to put it back together later tonight, i should know pretty quick if the whining is still there.
nice. i've got all my fingers and toes crossed for this to fix it.
 
nice. i've got all my fingers and toes crossed for this to fix it.
Same. I did notice that the new black bearing is ever so slightly different in size to the orange one. The snap rings aren’t in the exact same spot when I had them on the welding yablr. It’s a very small difference. It was also easier to tap in the new bearing than it was to tap out the old orange bearing
 
nice. i've got all my fingers and toes crossed for this to fix it.
Got it all back together but didnt have time to take it for a test drive. I think I found why my adpter had so much ATF in it. The breather end of the hose for the 4l60 was completely clogged.

Another weird thing is that georg sent me a new snap ring with my new bearing and it was too big. I had to use my old snap ring with the new bearing in order to get the case to mate properly to the adapter.

none of the gears had any wear on them and after a year still look brand new. The idler shaft did have some wear on it. It is weird the wear is on opposing sides. the front roller bearing wore one spot and the rear roller bearing wore the other side of the shaft 180* flipped. Idk if this is a normal wear pattern or if its trying to tilt or something. I dont see how it could. The idler shaft and the roller bearings arent from a rebuild kit. Theyre from Toyota

KUomhrQh.jpg


the other side 180* flipped

RVoQYRZh.jpg
 
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Got it all back together but didnt have time to take it for a test drive. I think I found why my adpter had so much ATF in it. The breather end of the hose for the 4l60 was completely clogged.

Another weird thing is that georg sent me a new snap ring with my new bearing and it was too big. I had to use my old snap ring with the new bearing in order to get the case to mate properly to the adapter.

none of the gears had any wear on them and after a year still look brand new. The idler shaft did have some wear on it. It is weird the wear is on opposing sides. the front roller bearing wore one spot and the rear roller bearing wore the other side of the shaft 180* flipped. Idk if this is a normal wear pattern or if its trying to tilt or something. I dont see how it could. The idler shaft and the roller bearings arent from a rebuild kit. Theyre from Toyota

KUomhrQh.jpg


the other side 180* flipped

RVoQYRZh.jpg

I had to use the AA snap ring when I put in my sealed bearing also. The snap ring that came didn’t fit the ID of the housing
 
I had to use the AA snap ring when I put in my sealed bearing also. The snap ring that came didn’t fit the ID of the housing
I believe he sent me the smaller snap ring with the new bearing. We talked about it on the phone, but it wouldnt let the two halves mate. My kit is an older new old stock kit i had to source when they were all out of stock during covid. Im wondering if they are different?
 
Thats the one. Maybe i misunderstood him on the phone. Oh well the old snap ring worked out anyways.


So i just test drove it. Sounds still there. Im kind of out of things i can replace now besides the transmission itself

The sound is quieter now by a little bit, and it doesnt make the noise from 0mph - 20mph... but as soon as you hit 20 it comes back. Still has a little bit of a scratchey noise but its different than it was before. Still sounds like its coming from the tail of the trans/the adapter area.


Idk what else to do on this lol
 
Thats the one. Maybe i misunderstood him on the phone. Oh well the old snap ring worked out anyways.


So i just test drove it. Sounds still there. Im kind of out of things i can replace now besides the transmission itself

The sound is quieter now by a little bit, and it doesnt make the noise from 0mph - 20mph... but as soon as you hit 20 it comes back. Still has a little bit of a scratchey noise but its different than it was before. Still sounds like its coming from the tail of the trans/the adapter area.


Idk what else to do on this lol
s***
 
Yeah i have no idea what else it could be to be honest. Im about to toss a bottle of lubeguard red in it and Just deal with the whine i guess. Everything is new now. Adapter bearing, entire tcase, rear drive shaft, rear diff, rear wheel bearings.

I cant find anything online about 4l60e whine. I think the adapter is just not right or something im at a loss.
 
Sucks dude... have you tried the hill test? Not saying you're going to find anything out by that but maybe.
 
Sucks dude... have you tried the hill test? Not saying you're going to find anything out by that but maybe.
I actually did. significantly less scratchy noise anymore in Tcase neutral drive neutral. Also it doesnt whine. It only whines in drive with the tcase in gear. Im wondering if theres not enough spline engagement on the cut output shaft or something causing the spud shaft to deflect and thats causing the weird wear on the idler shaft? Who knows. I really dont think its the trans but cant rule it out
 

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