Transfer case leak

[Mopar1973Man]

Can the transfer case be just removed. Then split the case and reseal it? It looks like it sealed with silicone. Is it?

[Marcus2000monster]

3 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Can the transfer case be just removed. Then split the case and reseal it? It looks like it sealed with silicone. Is it?

Yes you can. We use right stuff gasket maker. Works very well. Try to let it dry for an hr or so before filling with fluid. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Thanks! @Marcus2000monster

I was hoping it was a easy fix. I power washed it off, Filled with ATF. Then went down the road with a few hard pulls to 85 MPH. About 8 miles pulled over and it was leaking from up on top. Like where the case half come together. Forward is of this seem is clean and dry. Runs down the passenger side and scatters in the wind.

 

[Marcus2000monster]

Part of owning a CTD they like to leak. I can put up with leaks though for reliability and longevity. Good luck getting that fixed!

[portlandareae28]

I may have a similar challenge, I will be paying attention here Mike

[AH64ID]

Could it be a cracked breather line? I know it's hard to see some of the spots on top, and throwing ideas out there that may keep it in the truck for fixing. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Power washed and checked twice now. Your right you can't really see up top. Slowly looking for oil with a finger tip you can feel it at the seem but forward seems to be dry. Vent hose I can't confirm as of yet.

 

[Mopar1973Man]

Today I've started this project. Thought it would be easy but its not. Pull the rear drive shaft. Then remove my AirDog fuel pump. Then drain all the ATF out of the transfer case. I've got the bolts out and the cover started off but no dice. I stopped right there and quit. 

 

Checking the FSM and seeing that you have to remove the tailshaft cover and there is a snap ring in the tail area holding at a bearing.

 

[dripley]

Good luck old chum!!!

[Mopar1973Man]

I had so much ATF leaking by this point everything from the transfer case back is covered in ATF soaked dirt. I had to power wash the entire under side of the truck just so it didn't rain ATF on me. Still had a quite a bit of fluid in the case but leaking out the top still. I've got sealant and time today hopefully finish this up. 

 

I'm going to leave the Cummins down for now too. I've got other things to do as well. Brake fluid flush, new fan belt, coolant flush, power steering flush, oil change, and rotate the tires as well. 

 

When I went down to move the 1996 Dodge the battery was dead. Looking back on the fuel logs it was 4 months ago (April) I got fuel in Little Red. Maybe I should get it a lap or two down to Ontario. 

[AH64ID]

17 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

I had so much ATF leaking by this point everything from the transfer case back is covered in ATF soaked dirt. I had to power wash the entire under side of the truck just so it didn't rain ATF on me. Still had a quite a bit of fluid in the case but leaking out the top still. I've got sealant and time today hopefully finish this up. 

 

I'm going to leave the Cummins down for now too. I've got other things to do as well. Brake fluid flush, new fan belt, coolant flush, power steering flush, oil change, and rotate the tires as well. 

 

When I went down to move the 1996 Dodge the battery was dead. Looking back on the fuel logs it was 4 months ago (April) I got fuel in Little Red. Maybe I should get it a lap or two down to Ontario. 

 

Any answer as to where it was leaking yet?

 

It's always nice have a spare rig!

 

Do you put ethanol-free in the '96 when you plan to leave her parked?

 

I always top my rigs off with ethanol-free when they will be parked more than 3 weeks, and it does make a noticabe difference when I get them back on the road. I'd hate to see what ethanol fuel does sitting for 6+ weeks in the fuel system. I know what it does to small engines... and that's not fun.

[Mopar1973Man]

2 minutes ago, AH64ID said:

Any answer as to where it was leaking yet?

Where the case halves come together on the passenger side on top. Not the vent hose I've double check hose and it on the driver side. 

 

3 minutes ago, AH64ID said:

Do you put ethanol-free in the '96 when you plan to leave her parked?

 

I don't bother with spending high price fuel to store. Ethanol free fuel is super expensive up here and doesn't do much. Still goes bad too. Just the first tank of fuel is really poor on MPG like my fuel logs on the last tank is like 11 MPG. Mostly idle time, sitting, start move out of the shop and parked in the yard. Next tank will be back to normal again. 

 

5 minutes ago, AH64ID said:

I'd hate to see what ethanol fuel does sitting for 6+ weeks in the fuel system. I know what it does to small engines... and that's not fun.

Should take a peek at my 20+ year old chain saw. Never seen ethanol free fuel. 6kw generator, nope. Lawn mower, nope, power washer, nope. Never had one issue with ethanol fuel. Everything starts as it suppose too. 

 

Done several tests on ethanol vs non-ethanol. The only difference is it drives up the cost of operation. Ethanol free fuel typically is about 20 to 22 cents per mile. Versus ethanol fuel as low as 13.6 cents per mile. Not worth it to run ethanol free fuel for the cost of operation. 

Like biodiesel vs petroleum diesel cost of operation is lower on petroleum diesel (13 cents/mile).

[AH64ID]

3 minutes ago, Mopar1973Man said:

Should take a peek at my 20+ year old chain saw. Never seen ethanol free fuel. 6kw generator, nope. Lawn mower, nope, power washer, nope. Never had one issue with ethanol fuel. Everything starts as it suppose too. 

 

My 15 year old chainsaw was the only thing that never cared about ethanol fuel (thou it hasn't seen it in 5+ years). I was rebuilding carbs in my all 3 of my generators, pressure washer, ATV's, lawn mowers, etc every year with treated/un-treated ethanol fuel. The carbs were always plugged up on ethanol fuel. 

My rigs would get 2/3, or less, mileage on 3+ week old treated ethanol fuel and normal mileage on un-treated ethanol-free after sitting. I only run it when they will sit, my testing shows similar results running it tank to tank.. there just isn't a gain for me outside of storing a vehicle. 

 

I've got 13 carbureted small engines, so for me the amount of time and money it has saved has more than covered the little added cost for 30-40 gallons a year, at most. 

 

 

[Mopar1973Man]

12 minutes ago, AH64ID said:

The carbs were always plugged up on ethanol fuel. 

 

 Don't know what to say. Never rebuilt a carb or had anything plugged up from fuel. Always starts every time and never had any fuel system related issues. No stabil, no ethanol free fuel, just use and store as usual. No problems. 

• 2 Stihl chainsaws
• 3,000 PSI power washer
• Lawn mower (zero turn)
• Wood splitter 20 ton
• 1996 Dodge Ram 1500
• 2008 Honda Rancher
• 6kw generator
• 2kw generator
• 4kw generator
• Stihl weed wacker

I think that all of them.

 

As for the transfer case. I'm going to get that snap ring off the shaft and open it up clean the lip and reseal it. There is ZERO sealant left on the face from the little 1/2" gap I can the sealant is gone. Just a machined flat face, no o-ring, gasket or anything. Just flat machine edge.

Edited August 12, 2019 by Mopar1973Man

[Dieselfuture]

[Mopar1973Man]

Yes, you can reseal the transfer case without removing...

 

Everything out of my way. AirDog 165 removed, skid plate removed, transfer case drained.

 

Once you take off the tailshaft cover. There is a snap ring but there is no holes for the snap ring. It looks like the silencer ring snap ring. 

 

I made a tool to remove that snap ring super easy. I took out my typical snap ring tips and took 2 nails and cut them to length. The beat the tips flat and filed then slightly to make them even. 

 

Then with a bit of light rubber hammer tapping the back cover came off. 

 

For all the years of running ATF+3 in the transfer case it looks good in there. (Yup, I didn't follow OEM specs) The magnet is in the bottom below the pick up screen for the oil pump. Just light graphite dust. No metal per se. The case was sealed with black RTV from the factory. I upgraded from black to Ultra Grey RTV. Lightly coated the edge and then reassembled.

 

Closer inspection of where the leak was at the case is a bit thin looking between the faces. The RTV was gone. This go around I made sure to make that area just a bit thicker with RTV and made sure it oozed out some. 

 

I'm leaving the case alone at this point to dry and cure completely before filling with fluid. Project stopped at this point with the case assembled. 

 

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by Mopar1973Man

[Dieselfuture]

So it was leaking on that seam then where case split? And not where it meets transmission. Originally I thought it was leaking at tcase. But this makes sense now. Pictures worth a 1000 words. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Yes sir. Forward at the transmission was dry. The two case halves where they meet was the leak right on top passenger side.

[Dieselfuture]

Glad you got it figured out, got a look inside at same time. Chain looks good yet, stretched a bit but nothing bad. Looks straight forward on how to, seems that most here turning ranches can do this job no problem. 

[Mopar1973Man]

Actually the chain is tight. Its a pain in the rear to get the cover back on. The main rear shaft when you lift the shaft the slack comes right out.