Whine post transfer case fluid change (1 Viewer)

[Z3ppl1n]

Hey folks,

I recently did a change on all of my diff fluids (front, rear, transfer) on my 2000 LC. I drained each of them and filled them with the VOLUME of fluid listed in the repair manual. Some people I have watched fill them until the fluid runs out of the fill hole (question on this later). Anyways, After that, a few days later it got cold. Like -20 cold (up in WI). I noticed a whine coming from my transfer case I can hear during the first mile or so of driving. After that is goes away. It also does no really happen on hot days. This whole ordeal brings up two questions from me.

1) Is it fine if I put in the required volume of fluid from the service manual and nothing came out of the fill holes (other than front diff)

2) What is that noise from the transfer case a result of? It sounds like gear whine to me. Did I not put enough fluid in? Is it just because it was cold? Although it does it more often now at the same temps as before I did the fluid.

I think I have a video somewhere I can scrounge up of the noise.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

P.S. - No, I did not put in the wrong volume of fluid ((in a measurement sense). Especially with the transfer case having such a small amount of fluid (1.4q) I triple checked and even tallied how many full and partial 500cc shots I added. If I stick my finger in I can feel fluid before my first knuckle as well.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I always fill until it seeps out, diffs and t-case. The gear whine is normal in cold, every winter we get posts here of "what's wrong with my t-case???"

 

[Bisho]

IIRC, the manual says the fluid volume should be within 1/8" of the fill opening. I know I read that somewhere, so hopefully I'm not spreading bad info. That's a lot fuller than your first knuckle, unless you are a four year old, in which case you couldn't reach the pedals for a test drive I would add more oil, you can't hurt it with more oil, but you can hurt it without enough.

I'm also guessing you used 75W90? It sounds like the viscosity at the very low temp is too stiff, and its not wicking up over the gears. This might also be solved by adding more oil.

 

[Bisho]

Obviously (or not) I'm trying to be funny - if you meant the oil touches your fingertip pad when you put your finger in straight to the first knuckle, then you should be good.

 

[Z3ppl1n]

I always fill until it seeps out, diffs and t-case. The gear whine is normal in cold, every winter we get posts here of "what's wrong with my t-case???"

Sounds good. I have plenty of crush washers still. I may just crack the fill plug and add some more until it comes out.

I completely understand it in the cold. I was just a bit concerned that it started happening after I did my fluid. I'm thinking that maybe it's because I did a synthetic oil and it stays a bit thinner in cold weather than more conventional gear oils. More of it runs down off the gears with gravity overnight, etc.

 

[Z3ppl1n]

IIRC, the manual says the fluid volume should be within 1/8" of the fill opening. I know I read that somewhere, so hopefully I'm not spreading bad info. That's a lot fuller than your first knuckle, unless you are a four year old, in which case you couldn't reach the pedals for a test drive I would add more oil, you can't hurt it with more oil, but you can hurt it without enough.

I'm also guessing you used 75W90? It sounds like the viscosity at the very low temp is too stiff, and its not wicking up over the gears. This might also be solved by adding more oil.

Correct. 75w90 synthetic.

 

[toyuda]

Also interested in a good answer because the exact same thing happened to me. And I went back and filled to spill level but the noise when cold persists. Like yours, it goes away within about a mile.

There are plenty of threads here discounting the xfer case noise when cold as a normal thing. What I would like to know is why the new fluid of proper viscosity caused it, which it definitely did. In my case it happened a long time ago with my first fluid change from the original factory fluid. Maybe some kind of detergent effect like they used to talk about when switching to synthetic oil late in the game?