Transfer Case Diagnosis Help Requested (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Jun 15, 2016
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11
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Location
Colorado Arkansas Valley (Salida, Buni)
Have a rattle that gets worse with RPMs, and it seems to come through the TC shifter knob. I know that really means nothing since the shifter sits on the tranny, but now that I have it all out I can diagnose.

Doesn't matter if its in hi or lo or which direction it turns, its got the rattle. Is it normal? I'll probably rebuild it either way but I'm curious what a bad TC sounds like.

 
Going to take one more stab at getting feedback on this. Considering running out to get a HF press and tear into it, but would really rather not if its normal gear noise. Is there anyone with a TC sitting around that can verify gear noise when rotating one of the outputs? Any general advice on whether or not to rebuild it? It has about 200,000 miles on it.

***Edit***
I drained the gear oil a week or two before posting, likely still plenty of lubrication, but thought it worth noting.
 
It doesn’t sound normal to me, but it doesn’t really sound like gear noise or bearing noise either. I don’t think I would bother finding out why; I would just get a good used one.
 
Not normal.

To me it's gear or bearing noise. Wither way, as @Pin_Head stated, get a good used one. They're cheap and easy.

@slow95z
@arcteryx
 
If you want just the case without the sensors and motor on it I can do 125 plus the ride.
 
That is with the transfer case empty, correct?
 
Is the VC still in there? I have a rebuilt case in my garage with no VC and no gear oil. Seems to have a similar noise to your video. You didn’t take a video of the rattle while driving?
 
Is the VC still in there? I have a rebuilt case in my garage with no VC and no gear oil. Seems to have a similar noise to your video. You didn’t take a video of the rattle while driving?
Its a non-vc transfer case (never had one). No video of it driving, but the sound is similar.

Edit - Interesting that it has the same noise after being rebuilt. Trying to find one locally so I can just verify myself. Really don't want to put anything back in the truck unless its perfect.
 
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Thanks for the responses - @Pin_Head for pointing me in the right direction and @BILT4ME for hooking me up with some options. I didn't know transfer cases could be had without spending a small fortune. Im looking at a couple of options including the TC offered by @slow95z. Does anyone know if the 'rear transfer extension' of the hf2a is exchangeable with that of the hf2av? Basically wondering if swapping the viscous extension out and installing the non-viscous (shorter) extension from my current hf2a is a possibility.
 
it's easy enough to pull the rear extension and take a look. If I was digging in, I would first drain the oil and see what it looks like, then pop off the rear extension to inspect the bearing. Beyond that, what the others said, swap to a use one or if you want to refresh the one you have now will be the time. Who knows, maybe you will get luck and its just the rear bearing.
 
Played around last night with my case on the bench, I can replicate the exact noise as your video by spinning the front or rear output shafts. But when I spin the input shaft by hand, the noise disappears and it’s smooth spinning of the output shafts. This simulates correctly how the t case is driven. Were you spinning the rear output or input by hand in the video?
 
@Shoredreamer Thanks for taking a look at your TC and confirming! I agree that my rotating the rear output is probably not the best test. So it sounds like Im in for more diagnosis. I already found a good local deal on a hf2av, and out of pure curiosity I think I'll go for it and swap transfer extension with my hf2a. I don't see anything on Mud confirming that this will work, just looking at partsouq diagrams and part numbers and it seems doable.

As much as I hate throwing money at parts, my next steps will be new u-joints and getting some solid bushings on the TC shifter. Whatever I can while everything is out. If that doesn't work, I think I'll invest in a better stereo system.

I'll update here on how the extension swap works out. Figure at a minimum it will be good to have documented for the next guy.
 

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