T-case woos wohs woose?

[K85 Octane]

Drove the blazer some today, make sure things are good for BB.
Drives good in 2wd. Nothing weird, steering is good, shifts are good, etc etc.
Hubs unlocked and in 4H and it’s ok but there’s some clunking or rubbing noises mostly on decel.
Put in 4L and it’s a horror movie. It grinds and clunks with each up shift and again on decel. Put the trans in 1st and it’s better. The noise is lighter and on decel mostly. Still has a sporadic clunk.

This 241 has been flawless since install some years ago. Got the linkage modified for the clock and it’s been perfect, butter smoothish. Hasn’t seen rocks in a couple years and now she’s throwing a fit.

Could this be low fluid? Or something else? Because it’s clocked, I’m not going to be able to get fluid on the finger. The check bolt is way higher now and would be over filled if it came out of there. How much fluid should be in a 241?

 

[BoondocK5]

Check all the associated U-joints.

 

[nvrenuf]

I agree, I’d look at the joints - double cardans first.

 

[muddybuddy]

Take off front driveshaft and drive again in 4lo, that will confirm if tcase related or driveshaft related

 

[Blue85]

"Woes".

That is all.

 

[scouthead]

"Woes".

That is all.

whoas

 

[frankin5]

Could this be low fluid? Or something else? Because it’s clocked, I’m not going to be able to get fluid on the finger. The check bolt is way higher now and would be over filled if it came out of there. How much fluid should be in a 241?

Holds 2 quarts

 

[scouthead]

Holds 2 quarts

yup - I ran into this after I clocked mine. when i actually found a printed spec somewhere, it was measured in pints, and was around 2 quarts -i think?

but, most important part is keeping the sump area submerged so the pump can do its job. I might go a little more than 2 quarts in mine the last couple times I had it drained - with case getting clocked, the fluid that was in there will spill out into the new wider volume of area that is now avail, and will not be as deep in the area where the pump pick up is.

at one point I used something similar to a feeler gauge to stand in for my finger and give me an idea of where the fluid line was.

if you overfilled it, I'm guessing the only major side effect will be a hell of a mess when it finds its way out of the vent?

 

[scouthead]

actually, since i had some of these that i was planning on posting in my build thread, check this out.
in stock form, the output on the 241 hangs down really low.
-the front output shaft and bearing are submerged.
-the main shaft and planetary assembly are NOT submerged and get their oiling from the oil pump

at one point I found some of these pictures on a SYE tutorial here on CK5, and just found a few more on Pirate.
in the interior shot, you can tell what part of the case was submerged in oil because it is not oxidized.

 

[scouthead]

if clocking the case 100 percent flat, the fluid line will change as the oil settles out into the case - you have essentially increased the sump area...

when i was clocking mine, I noticed the front output shaft and bearing might be sitting partially out of the oil bath...

I guess you could keep adding oil, but then you would be exposing the front and rear seals on the main shaft to a lot of oil - maybe potential for more leaks???

not sure you could really damage the transfer case by overfilling it? i would think as a worst case it would leak, or get whipped up by the chain and pumped out of the vent ?

whoops - i dont know what an "outout" is, but this was supposed to say output shaft

 

[scouthead]

the way my 241 came to rest was with the "sump" area and casting on the pick up for the pump almost level to the skid plate (which is all of 3/4 inch below it)

mine is not 100 percent flat, and I STILL had to cut the floor of the cab, build a hump for it, and redesign my passenger seat mount.

I tried to make sure the front output was exposed to the bath, but not necessarily have the oil line so high that the main shaft would be "underwater" at all times.

this also weighed into my decision on whom/ which SYE kit to purchase. some of the HD kits eliminate the needle bearing in a few places, and allow a larger shaft to turn directly against the casting in the case itself??? especially if that shaft may now be partially out of the the oil bath, or completely out of the oil bath?? did not sound like a good idea to me with the case clocked up. I would rather have some bearings starved for oil and potentially needing to be rebuilt or replaced sooner... than to have case damage and failure?

 

[K85 Octane]

Nice add. Thanks for that. Mine is clocked like yours as well. The sump is dead parallel with the ground, like this last picture. I really don’t think mine is more than that. I will have to try the “dipstick” level check and also pull the front shaft off. I think those joints got replaced when I re-tubed it a few years ago. (No use in last few years) I’ll have to check.

 

[scouthead]

Nice add. Thanks for that. Mine is clocked like yours as well. The sump is dead parallel with the ground, like this last picture. I really don’t think mine is more than that. I will have to try the “dipstick” level check and also pull the front shaft off. I think those joints got replaced when I re-tubed it a few years ago. (No use in last few years) I’ll have to check.

I had to do quite a bit of clearancing to the cages and bases of the front CV to get the driveshaft to turn with the front axle dropped all the way down... even after the driveshaft retubed, it would bind and the axle would be hanging from the transferase- if you rotated it, you could feel the center cage and the end castings "bumping" as they made contact, cammed over, and then released. unless the truck was off the ground and bouncing hard, my axle would rarely be bouncing down that low, so im happy with the end result, but without all the cleanup work on the cv, I was worried the aluminum transfer case would get yanked and broken in half. I have the sm465, and this truck never had the support rod coming off the bellhousing. I have a couple and thought about adapting one- but now that the case is clocked, there is very little room between driveshafts, frame and transmission. I will just try not to jump the truck, and enjoy the low gearing of the 241- fingers crossed i never have to dig out my spare 241

Im surprised by that picture i found with the frame and drivetrain- these things REALLY hung down there at the stock angle! with 4-5 inches of lift up front, and the case clocked up - thats one heck of a stretch for the stock driveshaft parts!

anyway- you have inspired me- I will have to go through the rest of my photos and post some more on my build thread.

 

[K85 Octane]

I did a 1” body lift. Still cut a small amount of the floor out, covered it with rubber bed mat