1G Transfer case choices

[BigTim_DSM]

Not the trans, but the t-case, and this was back in 1998. There was a leak by the output in some units. I took it in and they said mine was fine. I recently verified this when I took it off to drop my trans for a rebuild.

And the issue with my trans was popping out of 1st and grinding when shifting into other gears occasionally. Turned out to be slightly worn 1st gear dog teeth which I ground to take off the rounding, trashed synchros which I replaced (1-4 although 3-4 were still serviceable but I figured might as well), and a 1-2 hub/sleeve whose dog teeth were badly worn, especially the sleeve, so I replaced both.

I also replaced the 1-4 keys and springs, since I had everything apart, and both intermediate shaft and the outer input shaft bearings. Also a lock ring and all but 1 shim, and some bolts and gaskets/washers. All standard stuff. My best guess is that these were ruined due to the infamous 1G clutch pedal slop issue, which caused the clutch to no fully disengage, leading to teeth grinding and premature clutch wear.

What issues are you having with your trans?

My issue is occasional clanking, sounds like a handful of bolts or debris are in the transmission or t-case. It goes away and comes back randomly and when its there i feel heavy vibrations and a loss of power to the rear it seems. Havent had a chance to dissect it yet. Only does it in gear and under load, which leaves me to believe its the center diff or transfer case. And the noise is noticably in the front. Praying just the t-case, everything does have 160k on it though

 

[XC92]

Well, given that I took it in for the recall over 23 years ago and it checked out, and I haven't had any problems with it since or any leaks there, I think I'm good. But just to make sure I'll have another looksee. The part you're referring to is on the front end of the prop shaft, right, connected to the u-joint? If I did replace it, couldn't I just order a new yoke and use a ball joint kit to swap them out? And how would it leak given that the t-case output has a seal, which I just replaced with an OEM? Kind of confused at this point.

My issue is occasional clanking, sounds like a handful of bolts or debris are in the transmission or t-case. It goes away and comes back randomly and when its there i feel heavy vibrations and a loss of power to the rear it seems. Havent had a chance to dissect it yet. Only does it in gear and under load, which leaves me to believe its the center diff or transfer case. And the noise is noticably in the front. Praying just the t-case, everything does have 160k on it though

You need to take the trans and t-case off and determine what's going on. Something either broke or came off, which is BAD. Even if it only manifests itself under certain conditions, these loose parts could find their way into where gears mesh, which would destroy your trans or t-case. I wouldn't drive another foot until I resolved this.

 

[twicks69]

From just that little info I would expect the center diff to have failed along with a smoked viscous coupler at a minimum. I would also expect wear on the output shaft splines, tcase input splines and tcase input sleeve inner tapered roller bearing and bearing race.

You could easily find more problems as it puts a ton of stress on the driveline when the center diff dies either from galled upper pinion gear to cover, or from shattered cross shaft and debris everywhere.

If it is literally only powering the front wheels with the car on 4 jackstands or a lift, then start with the transfer case tail shaft to driveshaft slip yoke to see if it snapped the shaft. Either way you will find this out quickly when removing the tcase.

Park the car, drain and pull the trans and tcase.

 

[pauleyman]

Well, given that I took it in for the recall over 23 years ago and it checked out, and I haven't had any problems with it since or any leaks there, I think I'm good. But just to make sure I'll have another looksee. The part you're referring to is on the front end of the prop shaft, right, connected to the u-joint? If I did replace it, couldn't I just order a new yoke and use a ball joint kit to swap them out? And how would it leak given that the t-case output has a seal, which I just replaced with an OEM? Kind of confused at this point.

That was why the recall happened. It doesnt leak at the seal. The yoke itself leaks at the plug. Problem it it doesnt leak sitting still. It leaks while in motion and slings off all the evidence. Some miles later your tcase has no oil in it and you never knew.

 

[dwb]

how would it leak given that the t-case output has a seal, which I just replaced with an OEM? Kind of confused at this point.

For the longest time I couldn't wrap my head around this either. I replaced seal after seal and it still leaked. Finally started looking at it closer and found it was actually leaking through the yolk. Fluid will flow through the splines and begin to leak on the back side of the yolk just in front of the U-joint. The cavity in the yolk actually goes all the way through, with a little metal plate pressed in on the back side. That little plate (plug) starts to leak and that is the culprit of the t-case recall.

 

[XC92]

That was why the recall happened. It doesnt leak at the seal. The yoke itself leaks at the plug. Problem it it doesnt leak sitting still. It leaks while in motion and slings off all the evidence. Some miles later your tcase has no oil in it and you never knew.

For the longest time I couldn't wrap my head around this either. I replaced seal after seal and it still leaked. Finally started looking at it closer and found it was actually leaking through the yolk. Fluid will flow through the splines and begin to leak on the back side of the yolk just in front of the U-joint. The cavity in the yolk actually goes all the way through, with a little metal plate pressed in on the back side. That little plate (plug) starts to leak and that is the culprit of the t-case recall.

Ah, now I see. No way to fix that plate-yoke connection so it doesn't leak? The yoke itself has to be replaced? If so, do they still sell one, or is it discontinued?

In any case, I drained my t-case twice during the past year and both times lots of oil came out, so I think mine is ok. Or is it the yoke design itself that's inherently bad and it will leak eventually, so better to replace it sooner than later?

I was actually going to drop the prop shaft soon since I was going to drop the rear diff along with nearly everything else back there, to clean things up, remove rust, paint and replace all the BJs, links & bushings, so I figured might as well drop the prop shaft as well, clean that up, check the bearings and apply new grease, etc.

Btw it's yoke, not yolk. If a yolk were leaking in the rear of my t-case, I'd really worry.

 

[pauleyman]

Ah, now I see. No way to fix that plate-yoke connection so it doesn't leak? The yoke itself has to be replaced? If so, do they still sell one, or is it discontinued?

In any case, I drained my t-case twice during the past year and both times lots of oil came out, so I think mine is ok. Or is it the yoke design itself that's inherently bad and it will leak eventually, so better to replace it sooner than later?

The yoke itself is bad. As it was explained to me they had two machines that built the yokes but no way to know which one was which. Thats why they didnt blanket replace all of them.
Yes new ones are still available. The recall kit used to be an all inclusive kit and it was cheap. That part number is gone. You have to buy it all separate now. You can smear some rtv on the back of the plug

 

[dwb]

Btw it's yoke, not yolk. If a yolk were leaking in the rear of my t-case, I'd really worry.

Hard or soft?

 

[XC92]

What would I need to buy besides the yoke itself? Pins? U-Joint? Nuts?

I just checked an it's around $62 + S/H, so not too bad.

But if mine hasn't leaked till now then it was probably made on the "good" machine and I should be ok, but should check now and then to be safe. Which I do anyway.

And Carfax is STILL sending me alerts about this recall even though I keep saying that it's been taken care of! 23 years and counting!

Hard or soft?

That's what she asked?

 

[dwb]

Nuts?

That's what she asked?

I'll go snap a pic of my YOKE that was leaking.

 

[XC92]

While still on this, er, "tangent", I had a semi-scary incident with said yoke a while back. I was about to reinstall the t-case and decided to clean up and lube the inside splines of the yoke, using my finger, and it got stuck in the yoke bore, like in one of those Chinese finger puzzle things. I immediately got into panic mode, thinking, how the hell do I fix this seeing as my finger is stuck in the yoke and I'm connected to my finger and would like that to continue to be the case. Luckily, I was able to get my finger out pretty quickly by wiggling it, and the lube helped, but for a few seconds there it was scary.

Don't use your finger to clean or lube tight bores, folks!

 

[dwb]

This was my leaking yoke I replaced a few years ago. It was leaking somewhere around the outside of staked plug. I have no idea if this was an original 91 or if the recall had been done. I really thought the recall had been done before I bought it in 99, but I have no documentation to show for it.

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[Kryndon]

@pauleyman Hey Paul, so just to get this straight (after also reading your VFAQ article on this), the leak comes from the pictures brass plug above? So oil flows from within the transfer, through the splines, through the plug and out to the atmosphere?

I remember now that almost every time I took my transfer case out and thus removing the propshaft yoke, fluid always spilled out. I'm talking maybe 4-5 tablespoons of oil. And even after refilling the xfer case properly and attaching the propshaft, after a few days of driving I kept noticing the sleeve was already oily. To my knowledge the actual case oil seal has never been changed at least during my ownership. I can find the seal locally for like $10 so that's not a big deal but now I'm starting to worry my yoke could also be problematic. I guess I could climb under the car and check again whether it's oiling from the yoke plug or from the seal. But I'm thinking I could get away with removing the yoke, replacing the oil seal on the case, then either RTVing the yoke plug on the outside or machining a new press-in plug + RTV on top for good measure.

Thoughts?

 

[twicks69]

Yes, the slip yoke is in contact with fluid the entire time. There is an oil groove in the slip yoke that fluid can travel down, and it can puddle in the end of the yoke by the freeze plug in the stock yoke. Just degrease it well, and seal up with Permatex ultra black or gear oil RTV, or replace and seal up the 25mm freeze plug in the end of the yoke.

 

[We're on Boost]

Also wanted to ask; anyone that uses a DSS driveshaft on a 1G experiences a vibrations or wobbling? ( the DSS driveshaft that replaces the first two sections, not a complete one piece)

thank you

I remember that GST with PSI had some things to say about it in 2016.
In this thread:
https://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/gstwithpsi-galant-vr4-1837-of-2000.482807/page-7#post-153611884

Posts 154, 160, 165, 167, and a few others.
His is on a Galant VR4

 

[pauleyman]

@pauleyman Hey Paul, so just to get this straight (after also reading your VFAQ article on this), the leak comes from the pictures brass plug above? So oil flows from within the transfer, through the splines, through the plug and out to the atmosphere?

Twicks covered it but I will add to this. Yes the leak comes from the plug at the end of the yoke. You won't see it on your driveway because it's dynamic. The splines move in and out of the yoke while driving essentially pumping the fluid past the plug slowly. It isn't a lot. Ordinarily the fluid would just go back into the transfer case because we're not talking high pressure. It's kinda like a syringe. Apparently the plugs were not 100% sealed and allowed some seepage while driving. You will see evidence clearly as a stripe of fluid under the car and on the exhaust as the oil is slung off.

I remember now that almost every time I took my transfer case out and thus removing the propshaft yoke, fluid always spilled out. I'm talking maybe 4-5 tablespoons of oil. And even after refilling the xfer case properly and attaching the propshaft, after a few days of driving I kept noticing the sleeve was already oily. To my knowledge the actual case oil seal has never been changed at least during my ownership. I can find the seal locally for like $10 so that's not a big deal but now I'm starting to worry my yoke could also be problematic. I guess I could climb under the car and check again whether it's oiling from the yoke plug or from the seal. But I'm thinking I could get away with removing the yoke, replacing the oil seal on the case, then either RTVing the yoke plug on the outside or machining a new press-in plug + RTV on top for good measure.

Thoughts?

Yes you can repair the plug like this. Many of us didn't after time as they were eventually recalled in 97 and the yoke kits were cheap if you ever needed one. All that is gone now and if your car was never repaired with a new yoke you either have to repair what you have or buy the yoke and ujoint separately. The recall is now expired and has been for a long time.

 

[Kryndon]

Small update, decided to try the abovementioned fix on the yoke. I couldn't tell if my was ever recalled or replaced but I just cleaned it on both sides and lathered some red RTV as it should hold out a bit better due to it being so close to the exhaust. Will keep an eye on any further leaks.

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[XC92]

To this day I still get recall notices on this issue, from CarFax and when I get my annual inspection, even though I took it in to a dealer way back in 1998 and they said there wasn't an issue with my car. Weird.

In any case when I overhaul the entire rear end in a few months I intend to also remove the prop shaft and will have a good look at this to see if mine is leaking or could benefit from some repair or even a new yoke. I'll keep this thread in mind as a good reference when I do that.