t-case leak

[brett76]

my transfer case is leaking. my companion flange at the t- case has approximately 1/16 to 1/8 of play. i thought this might be normal but have recently found out that on these cruisers it is not. it looks like the leak is coming from there. is this possible?

when i thought the play was normal, there was no fluid left in ithe case!!!! I actually drove 600 miles with no fluid in it after i bought it before i changed it adn found out there was nothng in there.
i feel soooo lucky

 

[BigSur]

Yes it is possible it is leaking there. Make sure to get the seal, stake nut and pin.

 

[BigSur]

Plus you could have a leak between your tranny and t-case. Check the level of fluid in your tranny. Upon removing the tranny fill plug, if fluid is pouring out big time then the seal between the tranny and t-case is out.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Brett-Play here is very abnormal. You need to fix it asap. If you are lucky, the stake nut has backed off a bit allowing the movement and gear lube to leak between the output shaft and the splines of the flange. If that's it, pull the flange, install new seal, put some gray permatex on the splines and bolt back together. I think it takes a 32mm socket and 90 ft/lbs of torque. Stake the stake nut carefully.

If that isn't it, then the big bearing on the output shaft is shot, allowing movement and a leak at the seal. If that's it, you need a transfercase rebuild, since the one of the main ingredients of the rebuild kit is the output bearings. Either way you need to fix the problem before your t-case self destructs. If it was just a leak, I wouldn't sweat it, but play is very, very bad.

 

[brett76]

thank you all. to big sur, its not a leak from the t-case to the tranny. it was a little low to when i changed the fluids.


cruiser drew- so i wouldnt need a new flange if its just the stake nut? thats good to hear. hoping htats all it is. really dont want to rebuild the t-case already.

 

[brett76]

sooo yah. got my seal from toyota today. got under it took it apart. ther gears have slop. seal is wrong. tap old seal back in. seems to work better than it did.
rebuilding a t-case isnt that hard is it??? really.

 

[dd113]

You need to be clear on where the play is. You will get a little bit of rotational play but not much. it will be enough to feel then you get gear play. You can feel the difference between the 2 with the rear shaft dropped. ANY side to side/up down play is bad. Much more than 1/8" rotational is bad but more difficult to fix.

If you dont have up down/side to side play stick in a new seal and go with it.

Dbl check the sealing surface on the flange is not grooved and make sure you grease the inner seal surface.

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Rebuilding the split case was suprisingly easy. Did you see if your output shaft had play when the flange was out? If it did, you have no preload on the output bearing. That means it is worn out and needs to be replaced. Do a search-I posted several pics of my t-case rebuild prior to the H55 install.

 

[brett76]

yah there was play in every direction with the flange off. its weird though cuz you dont notice it when your driving except for the whine. kind of looking forward to doing the rebuild cuz i have never done one. but it kinda scares me cuz i dont want to fark it up. im glad you said it was easier than you thought. cuz i was looknig at the rebuild kit thinking "it cant be that hard". i dont know and thanks for tipping me to your thread i will search cruiser, do you happen to remember the name of the thread?

 

[brett76]

WHOOOA. is that last post legible. sorry about the weirdness in words there.

 

[brett76]

ahhhhhh!!!! found the thread. thats awesome. already helped loads. i think i will take photos of mine to and post them for people like me.

 

[RoddQLD]

I have only just stripped down my original 5 speed transfer case. I'm just waiting for my gearbox and transfer case kits to arrive. The cruiser had done 420000 km's when I removed it and so far the t/c looks pretty clean and not a huge amount of wear. Mines a 1986 model so has the larger idler shaft in the t/c. Can take pics if anyone wants.

 

[brett76]

I have only just stripped down my original 5 speed transfer case. I'm just waiting for my gearbox and transfer case kits to arrive. The cruiser had done 420000 km's when I removed it and so far the t/c looks pretty clean and not a huge amount of wear. Mines a 1986 model so has the larger idler shaft in the t/c. Can take pics if anyone wants.

any pics i can get of the guts are much appreciated

 

[Cruiserdrew]

any pics i can get of the guts are much appreciated

Here's a guick one

 

[brett76]

yah man thats awesome. helps sooo much already

 

[RoddQLD]

When I removed the drain plug from the transfer case oil ran out in a rush, obviously overfull, yet the gearbox had barely any oil in it.

Front of transfer case (still attached to gearbox).
I'd reckon that the seal on the gearbox mainshaft is the main culprit that allows oil to leak into the transfer case. There is an o-ring type seal on the idler shaft where it fits into the transfer case front half, also, that could leak a bit:

Rear of transfer case:

Gearbox mainshaft; there is visible wear here where the 'transfer input gear' sits, and I can feel it with my thumbnail. With the wear in the input gear as well this results in about 1mm of freeplay between it and the (non-worn) PTO gear.
This might be where you get a lot of your freeplay at the output shaft:

Transfer input gear and spacer and PTO gear; in Australia you can actually buy these as one complete unit (the splines run all the way through!!).
http://www.mcnamaradiffs.com.au/driveshaft1.html
A few hundred bucks, but might be worth it:

This is the idler shaft. Looks like wear but I cannot see or feel any grooves. A new one comes as part of the T/C kit anyway.

Interesting note:
Before I disassembled the transfer case I found that the staked nut (on the end of the mainshaft) was not 'snug' and I could easily wiggle it with my fingers.
Something had worn over time and the ONLY thing holding the nut in place was the fact that it was staked!!!

Rodd

 

[brett76]

wow rod thanks for the pics. those are great

 

[brett76]

can i get input from people on a timeframe for doing this. also= good rebuild kit suggestions. i see the one on man-a-fre. but the one on cruiseroutfitters is 35$ bucks cheaper. not a big enough difference for me to put inferior product in but if its as good then by all means.
if anyone has suggestions id be much obliged.

also thank you. youve all been great

 

[RoddQLD]

It's going to be a little difficult for me to give a timeframe as (like Cruiserdrew) I have another gearbox/transfer case in my cruiser, so there is no rush for me to repair this one. I'll be taking my time.

Just a quick note: in the photo above of the spline gearbox mainshaft the wear is difficult to see.
The wear that I was referring to can be best seen on the third spline from the right. If you look at the valley between the third and the fourth spline you can see a ridge on the side of the third spline.

Here is another interesting section on Marks 4WD Adaptors where they use tapered bearings on the idler gear. Not sure of the benefit of this setup; maybe it's good for rockcrawling (?).
http://www.marks4wd.com/lc-tc-trb-conversion.htm

 

[Cruiserdrew]

Good pics Rod, I wish I had taken more detail shots when I did mine. My idler looked exactly the same yet still was smooth. Like you I replaced it. That looks like the t-case that came with the autotranny here in the US, the difference being the spring loded base of the high-low shift fork. THat also looks like the 38mm idler shaft which I have and was an upgrade here starting in mid '86.

For Brett-the rebuild kits are widely available. Kurt at Cruiseroutfitters is a good guy and will treat you right. I got mine from Mudrak's Custom Cruisers in Sonoma-he was very helpful to me walking me through the rebuild before I did it. I also think David (dd113) at Urban Landcruisers has them as well.

When you get into this project, post up-there are a few places you must be extremely careful but most importantly you must get the preload right on the output bearings or you'll be right back where you are now. Also, be careful with the shift fork lever placement when you put the case halves back together-it is easy to put it together wrong.