Do I need to drain the trans before swapping the T-case?

[bronchole]

Hey all, a quick question. I am about to swap out my broken 4406 transfer case on my 97 Monsterneer. It has the 4R70W transmission in it. I can't remember if there is a seal in the transmission that will keep my driveway from getting a transmission fluid bath when I remove the extension housing from the back of the transmission. Is there a seal there?

I'll come back in a couple hours and hopefully one or more of you have the 411!

Thanks,

Dan

 

[Blee1099]

there might be a little fluid loss between the t-case and the rear output shaft of the transmission.. I'd throw a drain pan and maybe some cardboard or a tarp in case of any spillage. There is a gasket between the t-case and the tranny.. I think Ford calls it an extension housing gasket. Should run around $15-20 for one at the dealer or thru Torrie at Fastpartsnetwork

 

[Turdle]

Expect about < a quart to dump out when you break the seal. Definitely drain the t-case though. Even then it will spill some from the rear output, so be ready with some cardboard. If you get some in your hair, leave it in for an hour or so, it will make your hair soft as a bunny's tail.




I just used RTV instead of a gasket. 2 times with no issue.

 

[Blee1099]

No Jon, you dump all the fluid from the t-case into a pan and shower with it.. Then you go around chasing the neighborhood kids covered in the red mercon fluid like your a murderer Years of child therapy in 3-2-1

 

[bronchole]

OK so the back of the trans has some type of seal or is at least high enough to keep a large voulme of fluid from leving the transmission to my arm, down my back and all over the driveway , got it. I should expect some small volume of fluid to be in the extension housing.

Draining the old transfer case was taken care of by the PO:

Either not tightening the front driveshaft bolts correctly or at the very least not using loctite:

Just glad this didn't happen to me on the drive home when I stopped off in Moab.

I still feel good about the deal I got, just a little more nervous about the work that Jim did.

 

[xpolice-explorer]

Ouch !!!

 

[bronchole]

What a PITA. I didn;t realize that you had to pull the carpet up in order to access the passenger upper bolt that holds the case to the trans extension housing.

I am ready to drop the t-case tomorrow morning. Jus the upper 2 bolts holding it on. I called it quits for the night once I ripped the interior apart and verified that I can access the bolts thru the cover.

 

[Turdle]

I was in the process of removing my console when stang5lgt said " whoa boy--slow down, what are you doin'?" and I say, "I'm gettin the console out to get the top 2 bolts" and he says " I got something for that."

He then took the bolts out from under the truck. Ask him to show you the wrench he used--

 

[bronchole]

I was considering dropping the trans crossmember and doing it from underneith, but then I said WTF, I will never get them properly torqued when I reinstall it like that so I bit the bullit and ripped apart the interior.

Besides, I really wanted to know how to remove the center console anyway. What a fun project that was. Wont be near as bad next time though, now that I know how it works

 

[bronchole]

Short day of work today. Just got the new T-case bolted up and the wireing back on. I need to pict up a couple of the correct size bolts to hold the shifter on. Jim used a couple 1/2-13 bolts but the holes are tapped for a 9/16 coarse bolt.

I also re-modified the front gas tank bracket so it has more clearance to the T-case.

I should be able to wrap it all up by Wednesday evening. I'll keep you all up to date.