Hi All,

Newbie here. I have spent the last hour or so going through all the info on changing the fluid in the transfer case. My 2004 X Type 3.0 with auto tranny has about 63K on it so this is a job I definately want to tackle.

I don't have powerpoint, however, so can't access the procedure from the FAQ section. In addition, from my reading it seems some of you are rocking the car by alternating ramps/jacking etc while others do not.

Here are some questions before I get myself into too much trouble by diving into this job:

If I do follow the rocking procedure, is the hole side elavated to fill the TC? Seems to me that would get more fluid into the unit.

Is the home made filler left in place rather than the OEM plug?

How is the extra fluid "pumped" into the TC to go above the fill hole?

What type of flush fluid is used? If used, how do you ensure all flush is removed if TC cannot be fully drained? Won't excess flush fluid dilute proper TC fluid?

I guess that's it for now ...

Thanks in advance!

Rob

 

Sorry cant answer just reading everything as I am a newbie also.

Good luck

 

A lot of these questions are answered if you actually read all the prior threads, but here goes:

If I do follow the rocking procedure, is the hole side elavated to fill the TC? Seems to me that would get more fluid into the unit.

No, that's the crux of why the TC is a pain the in the *** to fill, and why people have to resort to creative solutions.

Is the home made filler left in place rather than the OEM plug?

Yes

How is the extra fluid "pumped" into the TC to go above the fill hole?

With a pump. Or gravity filled from above the engine using a long tube

What type of flush fluid is used? If used, how do you ensure all flush is removed if TC cannot be fully drained? Won't excess flush fluid dilute proper TC fluid?

Can't help you here...others may chime in. I'm not planning on flushing, mainly because I don't want to have to deal with the hassle of getting all of the flush fluid out. Instead, I'll just put new gear lube in there in the Spring and get in the habit of replacing it every 20K miles or so.

 

Thanks for the info. This job is starting to become clearer to me. I'm going to get under the car this weekend and "see what I can see!"

 

I just did mine for the second time. The first time was about 1.5 months ago and I found back then that my TC was bone dry, with about 1/2 inch of standing gunk on the magnetic backside of the access plug.

This time I jacked up the passenger (right) side of the car to drain, and thankfully a decent amount of gear oil came out. It looked pretty cruddy, and I found yet more sludge buildup on the back of the access plug.

I then lowered the passenger side of the car and jacked up the driver's side of the car to refill. I have seen recommendation on here to jack the car up 24 inches to perform the fill, this is supposed to give enough tilt to refill to the required amount. Let me tell you, 24 inches is a hell of a lot higher than you might think! I had my jack and jackstands sitting on 4x4 blocks and was still only able to achieve 20 inches of lift.

With the 20 inches of lift on the driver's side I was able to pour a full 600ml of Royal Purple gear oil in there using my 90 degree street elbow in the access plug hole. We will see how much comes out of the vent when I go back to work on Monday!

See my previous posts for details on my first go `round including pictures.

 

Well, I did it! After experimenting with several fittings, including Thermo's radiator petcock (which I found at Pep Boys) I ended up using a 2" brass nipple. The nipple is male threaded 1/2" NPT on both ends with a hex in the middle. I actually had Thermo's set-up all ready to go but couldn't get my hose pump fastened to it. Not enough clearance for the hose to slip on.

Once the nipple was in place I pumped in 425 ml of Royal Purple 75W140 Synthetic Gear Oil. Liquid gold at $18.99 per quart! I put in extra figuring I would lose some getting the cap in place. I simply used a 1/2" NPT brass hex cap. Did lose a little fluid trying to get in screwed on. Man that gear oil is slippery!

At any rate, I got about 100 ml out when I pulled the stock plug. Oil did not actually look that bad. About the color of molasses. There was a good amount of gunk on the drain plug though.

All in all, I'm glad I did this. Will have to work on a better way to get the gear oil in though. As everyone has said, the problem is space. I definately like the idea of a check valve.

In fact, here's one I found from a company called Check All Valve in Iowa.
http://www.checkall.com/valvestyles/BU/BU.htm
I'm going to get in touch with them to see how much!

BTW, I also changed the differential and lubed the prop shaft bearing while at it.

Rob

 

Nice job Rob, and nice find on the bushing valve. You might be interested in the other TC oil change thread that's been active the last couple of days. Sounds like you used a similar approach to the one I'm proposing. A fitting that was 1/2" on one side and 3/8" on the other would have likely resulted in less fluid loss, but the important thing is that you did it!

Let us know what you find out about the bushing valve. Ideally, it should have 1/2" NPT threads on the male side that screws into the case, and should accept a smaller NPT plug on the other side. Looking at the photo, it seems like the biggest problem will be hex nut on the valve (probably too large to allow the valve to be screwed into the case.

 

Next I'm going to try this: 1/2" NPT reducer to 3/8" reducer to 1/4" street elbow. Removal barb off elbow for pump hose. Seals with a 1/4" plug.

I think the 45 will give me enough room to get the hose on and the opening reduction will limit the amount of fluid loss.

Maybe in 25,000 miles or so

 

Sorry -- I'm trying to post pictures but can't seem to figure out. Not sure if they're showing!

 

:-) They're not showing. Try uploading the images from your computer first, or providing links to web pages where they're shown.

 

Get some photos up, man. I will be ordering the TC Kit from Bill soon. I would like to see what I will be up against.

 

can someone help me understand something? I am curious as to the correct amount of fluid to pump into the TC. I read on here 600ml, 575ml, 550ml, 450ml, and 400ml. Which one is correct?

 

read my thread (my x-type projects and installs) it has pics
dont bother rocking the car just drain and fill ..my cousin and i open tc at the dealer all day

 

dennis, can you explain what you mean?
if you have opened this transfer case you would certainly know that the plug is not near the bottom....

 

I just read through your 10 page thread, and see that you pulled your TC plug,
drained about 200ml, (this leaves about 400 behind)
you filled it with 700ml
then lost 150ml during the plug/valve swap.
this will leave you with 400+550ml=950ml in the Transfer Case... the max fill is 650ml.

or am I missing something?

 

from opening cases we usually find 100-150ml left in
so we fill 700ml loose 150ml that leaves us around 650ml
there is also a vent if ther there is to much
like i said my cousin does this all day everday
without returned customers with a blown tc
he also tells the customers to purchase redline gear oil
it is now bullet proof

i will be doing a write up with pics of internals
of the tc so everyone can understand how it works if you are
a newbie
to save you getting ripped of at the dealer...shhhhhhhhh

 

A vent is part of EVERY gearbox....
anyway the problem with overfilling is that is drips on the exhaust.. and stinks..

putting the correct amount of oil the goal, not a side effect.

Dennis, I read your procedure.... not your cousin's.
According to what you did, you overfilled it. That is the point of discussion.

I have had the case apart a few times, and a spare one in pieces on my workbench. Just talking about your past post and the amount of oil...

 

i understand your concern but its not overfilled due to the fact
ive tested and taken out boxes with my cousin tons of times
we documented it over and over again to make sure we did not overfill

that was one of the reason we did this because alot of members overfill and end up with a leak

no leak hear no drips ever

but if you feel im wrong go with what you feel is right ,
just wanted to help
due to i have the bay to my disposal
so i get to do alot of testing with my cousin over there

 

Thanks Dennis for the reply, I did send you a PM also.

But do you understand my question?

the case needs 650ml when filled from empty.
I know that if you remove the plug that only about 200-250ml comes out, leaving 400 inside.

Your post seems to say that you put in 550ml, so that would mean there is 950ml inside after you fill it. I am calling this overfilled based on comparing to the original spec of 650ml. If you doccumented it, can you tell me how much oil you put in? But maybe I am not understanding what you are saying.

I am questioning your math, and the process to understand what you did.
I am not saying you are wrong or right. I am just trying to understand HOW much oil you put inside the transfer case.

Doing it many times over and over should make this an easy question to answer. I dont know why you are feeling challenged on this?

 

Sport30, From all the posts about draining and filling the TC it seems most people have TC's that are or are about dry which accounts for the low volume level of fluid that is drained when the plug is removed. Depending on the way the car is tilted I would imagine some fluid would remain in the TC but not a great amount (400ml).

Dennis, Without opening up the TC but just removing the drain plug, how much fluid would remain in the TC? Will tilting the car one way or the other really remove that much more fluid?

According to the JTIS under the 2003 X-Type: "Remove the transfer case fill plug. Using a suitable syringe, add 550 Ml of SAE 75W140 to the transfer case." The picture that goes with this has an arrow that looks like it is pointing to a fill plug on the top side of the TC. Is there such a plug? Did the capacity of the TC change at some point to increase the capacity to 650ml? The JTIS shows draing the TC by removing the Pinion Housing, not the drain plug at the bottom of the TC. Maybe this means 100ml is left in the bottom of the TC if you don't remove the drain plug?