So, I have taken apart the transfer case and don’t see any physical signs of damage... any specific areas of this part I need to pay close attention to for problems?

 

Candie, may want to look at the viscous coupling. If there is going to be something that needs some refreshing, it will be that. As for parts that may/may not be damaged, most will say that the bearings are the big thing. From the factory, the bearings in some cars had too much load put on them and this caused them to essentially become squished between the casing and the various gears. This would lead to a bearing failure. Also because of this over loading of the bearings, this would cause cracks to show up in the case of the transfer case. So, I would give the case a good looking over and may even want to consider putting some dye penetrant on the case to bring to light the cracks. But, if all that checks out, then you should be good. make sure to get the right amount of pre-load on the bearings and you should have something that if you want to up the power, should handle it.

 

Thoroughly clean the planetary gear set, I have come across some that were run low on oil and overheated the bearing surfaces where the outer gears rotate. Mine was full of very small metal particles throughout the whole case, I ended up spraying the planetary gearset with brake cleaner ( lots of it) behind the gears and all sorts of metal particles came out. All of my bearings were damaged from the amount of metal in the oil.

Check the condition of the seals, the ones inside the planetary shaft are available (SKF 10181) But the two larger ones in the case side with the rod in it are not available. The two outer seals that are pressed into the case are dealer only, part numbers C2S4875 and C2S 11506 The splined shaft in the centre of the photo can be pressed out of the planetary housing, but you will destroy at least one of the inner seals in the process.

I was not able to find most of the bearings in North America, but they were off the shelf in France at 123bearing.eu. Shipping was fast and postage was quite reasonable.

A complete list of all the bearings in the case is:
32911
32912
HK3516
HK4516 (2 req'd)
32204
AXK4565
CR-0499
HM88510 (2 req'd)
HM88542
HM88547

The last 4 (the HM numbers) are available cheaply at Rockauto.com. I also got Motorcraft gear oil there, use 75W-140 synthetic.

What was the reason you removed your transfer case? That's a big job.

 

Hi
Well, all my problems started when I had my front axles replaced. As I started to drive away, I heard a thump sound. I was immediately alarmed because I thought that was the reason for replacing the axles in the first place... later that day, I try to back down my driveway and heard noises again. I stopped, tried to pull back in the yard and something seemed to have grabbed my tires and wouldn’t let them move. Ol’ man got the car back up the driveway claiming it to be ok... I kept driving it!!! Well, until the day at the red light when I tried to pull off and all I did was roll.. I was told my clutch was bad... bought and had it replaced. Car still won’t go. I found a 03 on a yard in WS, NC and went to get some parts from it. And after reading in some of the forums that the transfer case could be the culprit, that’s why I went that way. But none of the problems occurred until after the axles were put in. Think they did something wrong?

 

 

I know that when the axles were replaced, if you dont separate the intermediate shaft from the R/F axle, there is an issue with a piece breaking/falling out. I was specifically told if you cant separate intermediate from R/F axle shaft, dont pull it.

 

There is a snap ring on the end of the intermediate shaft, if you pull the shaft out of the transfer case there is a possibility of tearing the seals inside the planetary gears set.

 

If this started after having the CV joints replaced, I'd be looking those first. Specifically with the right CV joint, if the intermediate shaft was pulled out of engagement with the transmission when the CV joint was pulled out and then not seated properly back into the transmission when the new joint was installed that could be the problem. I'd also look at where the CV was seated in the wheel hub, make sure the splines are corrctly engaged and the retaining nut is tight.