The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support ExtremePSI
Please Support Fuel Injector Clinic

2G Are all 2g transfer cases interchangeable?

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

If you happen to have the trans out it is possible to swap a ring and pinion on the front diff and use a 91-96 tcase.
 
What is the 1g auto count? I have a spare auto 1g (I hope) case that I want to make sure of.
 
Regarding transmission front diff ring gear tooth count vs. transfer case ring and pinion tooth counts:

1990-1996 5-speed transmissions had 58-tooth front diff ring gear; 1997-1999 had 57-tooth front diff ring gear.

OEM 2Gb 1997-1999 DSM transmissions that have not been fooled around with will have the transmission code of W5M33-2-MUZT. This one will have the 57-tooth front diff ring gear. There are others, but they are found in things like the Evo 3 (63 tooth) or RVR (57-tooth) that would use a 1997-1999 transfer case as well.

The 1997-1999 transfer case is a 1.074 final drive ratio and consists of a 29-tooth driven gear (pinion shaft to driveshaft) and 27-tooth drive gear (side cover gear).

Now, if you are dealing with a transmission that is from 1990-1996 OR using a front diff ring gear swapped from a 1991.5-1996 transmission with 58-teeth and the tooth profile matches the pinion shaft profile, you can simply swap the ring gear by itself, BUT there were two early variations before 1991.5 that had different tooth profiles or pitch angles and had matching output pinion shafts that need to be swapped together to be used.

The 1990-1996 transfer case is a 1.090 final drive ratio and consists of a 24-tooth driven gear (pinion shaft to driveshaft) and 22-tooth drive gear (side cover gear).


Now, the easiest way to check is to simply unbolt the 5x 14mm head bolts holding on the side cover. Then, hit the input sleeve with a dead blow hammer and the cover pops off. Count the teeth on the drive gear; it will be 22 teeth for an auto or 5-speed 1990-1996 transfer case; and it will be 27 teeth for an auto or 5-speed 1997-1999 transfer case.

If you are too lazy to take off the cover and you have a spare transmission output shaft sitting around, then use a sharpie marker and mark a starting point on the input sleeve and the tail shaft, then count your revolutions until the markings match back up. 12 revolutions = 1990-1996, 14 revolutions = 1997-1999.

If you need to do the same with the transmission, that can be done as well by counting revolutions of the front diff ring gear; 4 revolutions = 58 teeth, 5 revolutions = 57 teeth.

Now, if you put on a transfer case with the wrong final drive, your car will act very squirrelly. Your front wheels will be spinning at a different speed than your rear wheels by about 4 mph at speeds. Handling will feel awkward, the car will feel like it is loading up alot and you can overheat or kill a head gasket or other components. You will also nuke your transmission viscous coupler for the center differential and can damage other components.
 
Thanks, very informative Tim!!!!
 
Regarding transmission front diff ring gear tooth count vs. transfer case ring and pinion tooth counts:

1990-1996 5-speed transmissions had 58-tooth front diff ring gear; 1997-1999 had 57-tooth front diff ring gear.

OEM 2Gb 1997-1999 DSM transmissions that have not been fooled around with will have the transmission code of W5M33-2-MUZT. This one will have the 57-tooth front diff ring gear. There are others, but they are found in things like the Evo 3 (63 tooth) or RVR (57-tooth) that would use a 1997-1999 transfer case as well.

The 1997-1999 transfer case is a 1.074 final drive ratio and consists of a 29-tooth driven gear (pinion shaft to driveshaft) and 27-tooth drive gear (side cover gear).

Now, if you are dealing with a transmission that is from 1990-1996 OR using a front diff ring gear swapped from a 1991.5-1996 transmission with 58-teeth and the tooth profile matches the pinion shaft profile, you can simply swap the ring gear by itself, BUT there were two early variations before 1991.5 that had different tooth profiles or pitch angles and had matching output pinion shafts that need to be swapped together to be used.

The 1990-1996 transfer case is a 1.090 final drive ratio and consists of a 24-tooth driven gear (pinion shaft to driveshaft) and 22-tooth drive gear (side cover gear).


Now, the easiest way to check is to simply unbolt the 5x 14mm head bolts holding on the side cover. Then, hit the input sleeve with a dead blow hammer and the cover pops off. Count the teeth on the drive gear; it will be 22 teeth for an auto or 5-speed 1990-1996 transfer case; and it will be 27 teeth for an auto or 5-speed 1997-1999 transfer case.

If you are too lazy to take off the cover and you have a spare transmission output shaft sitting around, then use a sharpie marker and mark a starting point on the input sleeve and the tail shaft, then count your revolutions until the markings match back up. 12 revolutions = 1990-1996, 14 revolutions = 1997-1999.

If you need to do the same with the transmission, that can be done as well by counting revolutions of the front diff ring gear; 4 revolutions = 58 teeth, 5 revolutions = 57 teeth.

Now, if you put on a transfer case with the wrong final drive, your car will act very squirrelly. Your front wheels will be spinning at a different speed than your rear wheels by about 4 mph at speeds. Handling will feel awkward, the car will feel like it is loading up alot and you can overheat or kill a head gasket or other components. You will also nuke your transmission viscous coupler for the center differential and can damage other components.
My 98 talon has a bad tcase. Seems like internal gears are chewd down, i have not checked internally yet. With the car in the air and in gear, there is no power output to the driveshaft at all. Now i have bought a 96 tcase thinking they were all the same for 2g chassis. Stumbled on this thread and did the tcase rotation check. I marked the output shaft and input sleeve with white out pen. Rotated the sleeve and counted the revolutions. I counted 14 revolutions but the markings are off by a little bit. They don't exactly match up but is off by maybe 45degrees. Can i safely say this tcase will work with my 98 trans?
 
Just pull the tcase side cover and count the teeth. You will either have 24/22, or 29/27 teeth. 91-96 tcases = 1.090 = 24/22. 97-99 tcases = 1.074 = 29/27 teeth.

Same goes with your old tcase, remove the side cover and pop out the input sleeve and drive gear and check condition of the gearset, input sleeve spline condition, transmission output shaft condition, and take photos.

As well, if you were driving for any period of time with a tcase in that condition, you likely have a smoked viscous coupler and potentially a destroyed center differential. You may want to do a bit of in depth inspection before just slapping on a tcase.
 
I marked the input sleeve to the gasket/tcase. I marked the output shaft to corresponding tcase. A complete 14 turn of the input sleeve, the output shaft markings dont line up. It passes the case making by 45degrees. I hope that makes sense
 
Could you please just remove the 5x 14mm side cover bolts, use a dead blow and pop out the input sleeve and side cover, count teeth, and put it back together? This would go much quicker. You will spend more time literally rotating the shaft 12 times (90-96) or 14 times (97-99) to see alignment.
 
Tim, I guess I am lazy, but I ALWAYS ID transfer cases by counting the turns ;).
Leon you goof 🤣 😂 if that works for you, game on. For me, being that I am also rebuilding these all the time, I tell people to just pop the side cover and check the condition of the gearset and inner drive gear bearing to see if they are even usable cores, and they can confirm the final drive ratio at the same time. Takes like 30 seconds with a cordless impact, remove bolts, pop side cover with a dead blow hammer to the input sleeve, remove drive gear, inspect gears, inspect bearings, count teeth, slap back together and install cover, install bolts to 29 ft/lb.

I am also so used to seeing the dirtiest crap ever sent in, so its not like you are actually able to mark it with a sharpie in the first place through all the gunk.
 
It passes the case making by 45degrees. I hope that makes sense
I think it does make sense if you have a 12 turn t-case. Assuming you are doing properly, the marking on output shaft should pass 60 degrees if you make 14 turns on a 12 turn t-case.
 
At the 12th turn mark, the output shaft does not come close to matching up. The 13th into 14th turn, it passes the mark
 
At the 12th turn mark, the output shaft does not come close to matching up. The 13th into 14th turn, it passes the mark
Something is not right. Maybe you are not doing this correctly. Why don't you just count teeth by removing the side cover as Tim has already told you.
 
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top