98 AWD transfer case in a 97

[rizzjc]

Guy working on my truck found a decent BW4404 for an OK price. I told him several times that it needs the 6-bolt front flange and the SPEED SENSOR PORT. He gets it from a guy, and its from a '98, with no speed sensor.

Do I have any options? Could I swap the cover from mine and that's it? I'd hate to crack it and not rebuild it, but that's probably not going to happen right now. I could make him find another one, but this one supposedly has only 85k on it, which is a lot less than anything I've found for the price.

 

[410Fortune]

yes install the parts from your 97 case into that 98 case
I do it all the time to keep old 96-97 AWD 5.0 on the road

I also do similar to keep 95-97 control trac t cases on the road for the V6 guys
Just because the 98-02 t case had no speed sensor in the tailhousing does not mean you cannot use your parts to add one
Split both cases and it will become clear how to swap it over

 

[rizzjc]

Thanks. The downside is that I'm going to have to do it, which means he pulls it and has to store my truck until I get it done. But if I'm just swapping parts and replacing the gasket, I guess it'll be a quick job. I've done the swap myself before, but just don't have the time these days.

 

[CDW6212R]

Interested, I hope that's an easy swap for you.

I have the parts to rebuild my TC, the chain and rebuild kit were about $150. The viscous clutch is still hard to come by, and odd brand imports are all there are, those run about $275.

I hope your new 98 TC is in good shape and doesn't need anything. MY 98 Mercury TC is still working with 206k on it, that's the one I'm going to rebuild first. My 98 Explorer TC is lock up fairly tight, it wore out my front differential and I took the front DS out to save the next one(from my Mercury). Good luck,

 

[410Fortune]

There is no gasket just silicon, it is a pretty straight forward job and takes less then an hour to complete once you have a space setup to work on both cases

 

[rizzjc]

There's a place out of California that sells the viscous coupler on EBay, rebuilt. They seem to have pretty good reviews and it's $175. The 98 case is supposed to be good, and fluid looks good. It's a nice clean case. Just wish it was a 97 like I told him. Have to wait until this weather blows through, but if he doesn't find another one, I'll tell him that I'll swap the covers. He said it only has 85k on it, which is awesome!

 

[rizzjc]

So, he was able to swap it out from the same place with the correct one, with the same mileage. What are the odds of the same place having TWO 20+ year old transfer cases with less than 100k miles?? I'd say zero. On the bright side I can rebuild the old one if it dies again.

 

[410Fortune]

Well they did sell ALOT of these trucks
I have several transfer cases for these trucks collected over the years and I am not even a wrecking yard just a small custom RBV shop.
Luck happens!!

 

[rizzjc]

Oh, I can find them. I just find it hard to believe there are too many with under 200k miles.

 

[rizzjc]

Picked up the truck, and it's nice and smooth. No clunk on takeoff, and no vibration on the highway. The downside is that there is already a drop under it, so it was NOT just the valve covers leaking, but the rear main as well. I think I need to fabricate an oil absorbing plug to replace the inspection plug on the bottom of the bell housing to catch the oil before it drips on the cat, and call it a day.

 

[410Fortune]

What I did on a leaky truck or two (5.0 are known to drip oil from the rear main onto the cat converter) is I built a simple shield out of tin that re directed the dripping oil around the cat, and acted as a second heat shield between cat and bellhousing.

 

[rizzjc]

That's one idea I had, and haven't tried it yet. I should, but leaks drive me crazy. Like nails on a chalk board. The other thing I thought about was taking out the rubber inspection plug, and putting a piece of sponge in there. Then I just repose the sponge after several months, or when I change the oil.

Darn engine has probably less than 40k miles on it, so it really aggravates me. Odometer is flaky, so not sure exactly.

 

[Theodoremartinez]

What I did on a leaky truck or two (5.0 are known to drip oil from the rear main onto the cat converter) is I built a simple shield out of tin that re directed the dripping oil around the cat, and acted as a second heat shield between cat and bellhousing.

How did you make the new shield? Where did ya put it?

 

[410Fortune]

tin, tin snips, it attached to the front bottom bolts on bellhousing where the torque converter access plate bolts
it just hung over the exhaust and deflected the dripping oil
that was many years ago I do not think I have any pictures