Tcase extremely hot to the touch. Where to go from here. (1 Viewer)

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I was wheeling months ago on easy dirt roads in 4Lo and I felt a lurching or rocking when letting off the gas. I thought it felt tcase related and did not look into it.

Fast forward to this past weekend of rock crawling and on the drive home the transmission shifter and shifter base was super hot. At the gas station I used my cheap IR temp gun to spot check the transmission and tcase. The temps were around 200°F. My A440F has a nice big cooler and was shifting fine. Torque converter locks up so I don't believe the trans is the issue.

The shifter was reading around 160°F. I have 2 layers of dynamat, 1 layer of reflectix, and some jute mat so the heat isn't coming in on the transmission hump, just the shifter and it's base.

I get home and unload the truck and I am perplexed by this new odd heat. I get under the truck and the tcase is super hot to the touch. I could not leave my hand on it.

I am going to assume something is loose or unhappy in there. Fluid level was full before the trip, I pulled the fill plug and checked before leaving.

Other than pulling the rear driveshaft and the rear part of the case, is there anything else I should be doing?
 
Did you check the oil level afternthe trip?

How hot was the transmission?
 
Transmission was around 200°F which is normal for my truck up the grapevine. In extreme circumstances it can get to 230°F which I try to avoid by letting off and slowing down should I see it get above 200°F. I have not taken apart the tcase yet to check fluid for chips etc.
 
Mine in my 62 is the same way i figured it was heat transfer from the transmission temp. I didn't notice until i rebuilt my tcase that it actually gets hot to hot to hold your hand on it. I rebuilt my tcase well over a year ago. Dont take my word for it i was going to ask when i first noticed it. Hope it is just heat transfer.
 
Since you've never measured the t-case temperature previously, there's no way to know if it really is overheating. A normal t-case temperature after driving on the highway for a while is way too hot to touch, but within normal operating temperature.

If you're concerned, drain the oil from the transfer case (and save it if it's relatively new) and examine the magnetic plug in the drain plug. If it's clean with just a few shavings and the transfer wasn't making weird noises while driving, it's probably fine.
If you see a mountain of metal filings on the magnet or chunks of metal- tear down the transfer case and find out what mayhem is lurking inside
 
Good point. A fluid change at the very least.

Does anyone else have experience with their tcase getting hot? 4 hours driving home at highway speeds.
 
Hi, Ous does. Rebuilt transmission and transmission cooler. Mike
 
No I was not. Switch on dash was out and hubs were free. At the gas station I went under truck and turned the front driveshaft to make sure.
 
I'm going to drain the fluid when i have time and assume it is ok then. Looks like a hot tcase is somewhat normal from the comments above.
 
Could your inner shift boot be badly torn or disintegrated? I drove for 20 minutes with my transmission hump & carpet removed and I thought my dash was going to melt. For reference, my tcase normal operating temp is 160 F measured with an IR thermometer aimed at the idler shaft.
 
boot? The auto doesn't have a boot for the shifter that I know of. 160°F is what I was measuring on my IR gun as well so I guess the tcase may be good.

It just occurred to me that I got a major exhaust leak from rock crawling this past weekend coming off one of the y down pipes. I am wondering if that could play into this?
 

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