funny split case gear wear

[dieselDaryl]

I rebuilt my t/case on the weekend and once I started driving it, I noticed that its a bit noisier than before. It's not insanely loud, but definately more 'bus-like' than before. I took the PTO box off the side and noticed that my idler gear teeth have a ridge worn in them about 1/3 towards the front of the gear. I don't rememebr seeing this when I had the whole thing apart. I drained the gear oil at 1000k and found a bit of metal filings on the drain plug but no big chunks.

Has anyone seen wear like this before? I put a feeler gauge in behind the rear thrust washer and it seemed to be within specs (it was kind of hard to get the gauge in there).

I used the rebuild kit from 4 wheel auto and replaced all bearings, seals, etc.

The other thing is that the t/case seems to run a lot hotter than before.. After an hour or so I can only hold my hand on it for a few seconds. This seems too hot but I never checked before so I don't have anything to go from.

Does anyone have any ideas before I pull the back half of the case?

 

[cruiser_guy]

Something is too tight would be my guess. Are the dimples on the thrust washers in the recesses in the transfer case halves? Did you check bearing preloads when reassembling?

 

[dieselDaryl]

Something is too tight would be my guess. Are the dimples on the thrust washers in the recesses in the transfer case halves? Did you check bearing preloads when reassembling?

No, the one thing we didnt check is preload but with the rear driveshaft off the other day it seemed fine. The tabs on the thrust washers were in the recesses when we put it together but I'm wondering if they slipped out.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

No, the one thing we didnt check is preload

Hmmm-This is like the most important thing in the rebuild. Everything else can only go one way! If your pre-load on the output is too tight, the bearings will run hot. Those thrust washers are a problem too, but I suspect you would have funny noises or metal in the gear oil if the tab slipped out of the notch.

Transfercases do run very warm, though. Maybe it isn't a problem.