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2G Transfer case rebuild questions

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ty1975

Proven Member
55
16
Jul 30, 2021
Rexburg, Idaho
I don’t see a lot of info on people rebuilding transfer cases. Seems everyone wants to go the route of getting a used one. But they are getting more hard to find and I was able to get all new seals and bearings. I am not a pro but like doing things my own and if this can help anyone else then awesome. I am aware of needing proper preloads and gear contact.

My question is this, all the bearings are straightforward to replace except the forward bearing on the shaft to the driveline. It looks as though there is a tapered collar pressed in and sandwiched between the forward bearing and rear. Can someone confirm this?

It looks like that tapered collar has to be separated and pressed off to replace that bearing. Just to be sure it is the bearing right up against the gear on the output shaft of the transfer case, not the carrier that attaches to the output shaft on the tranny. I have a press and have rebuilt transmissions before but that bearing is a little hairy to get off.
 
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Third party manuals are good for more routine tasks that the FSM glosses over, like oil changes and pad and rotor replacement, and have photos which the FSM does not. But for detailed jobs like trans and tcase rebuilds you need the FSM.
 
I got it all rebuilt, thanks to everyone for the help.

If anyone has the desire to do their own I’ll post a pic of all the bearing and seal part numbers. Got them all from Autozone, Chinese made which sucks but it got me back on the road for just under $150 bucks.

Helpful tricks I learned (disclaimer- this is not the way a pro would do it- but how I did it and it worked well). Go get two 18” pipe wrenches, put one on the splines and then use the other to twist that giant nut off. When you reassemble you need to get the correct preload on your bearings by torquing that nut to 109 ft lbs. What I did was used the pipe wrench while checking very often the preload. Go get a digital readout torque adapter (30$ at harbor freight) and then duct tape a socket onto the end of the shaft. Sounds crazy, but worked well. Once you are within spec stop tightening. With the bearings they all came off either by cutting a notch then a chisel or by just heat. Stick parts in the freezer and bearing in the oven at 200 and they will slide right on.

There you are, good luck to you if you want to try this. It was kinda fun. Just excited to not hear that gosh awful sound of the t case about to grenade while driving.
 
Glad to hear you got it done. I've used "unorthodox" methods to get things on and off, but not quite as "imaginative" as these, e.g. hammering interference fit gears and bearings on using cylindrical drifts (e.g. sockets, pipes) instead of the more traditional hydraulic press, or a push-puller. The steel these parts are made of are extremely tough and can take the beatings, I assume, so long as they're uniform and you don't cock anything too bad or really wail on them.

Btw they have free loaner torque wrenches at auto parts stores. That would have made your job easier. No point in inventing solutions when existing ones exist. But, you got it done and that's what counts. How does the t-case run now? I took mine off to drop the trans to rebuild it, but didn't open up the t-case as it wasn't showing any issues. I did clean, derust and paint it though, and replaced the seals.
 
Gotta do what you gotta do right?! Everything looked great and within spec when I had it off, so I think it will do really well. However I took it off in the first place because I had this gear noise from about 30mph to 50mph. I have already had the trans off and re shimmed everything, and checked everything out, everything looked good. After the trans the noise was still there and that’s when I pulled the t case and found a blown bearing, figured that was the problem. Just took it for a test drive and I still have the noise 🤬 so now I’m thinking I will probably end up pulling the transmission for a full rebuild or maybe just swap it out. Sucks. Is it normal to have drivetrain noise on these cars? It’s not bad but I don’t love the way it sounds either. Only from 30 to 50, only on acceleration, and goes away when the clutch is in. Im about to throw a loud exhaust on this thing and say forget it. It’s currently stock exhaust so pretty quiet and maybe I’m just being picky on normal noises??
 
What kind of gear noise? Like, grinding, whining, whirring? Different noises mean different things. Could be chipped gears, bad bearings, wrong endplay or preload, etc. Can't know until you take it all apart. Ask me how I know.
 
So many joints and gears in these awd platforms. I would suspect cv or ujoints first, as they are more prone (or even the carrier bearings and mounts). You mentioned speeds but, but does your noise relate to certain gears? Coast vs. power?
 
It’s a gear noise, like almost sounds like there is space between the gears or something. It’s only when speeding up whether hard or light. Doesn’t seem to be associated with any certain gear but starts around 25-30 mph and increases with speed and seems to go away around 50mph. When I let off or push the clutch in it goes away. Here’s what I know: transfer case as far I could tell would have no reason to make noise. I had the trans out previously but it has been years and can’t remember what I replaced for sure. I do remember finding preloads being way too loose and there was slack so it wasn’t getting good gear mesh. (Pardon me if I’m not using the right terms, not exactly a transmission expert). But I do remember replacing a few bearings and looking things over really well. I also checked the preloads and re shimmed it. But all that seemed to have no effect on the sound. So now I’m lost. Don’t think it’s the t case. I think it is the trans, but I don’t know where to start on it. Maybe just replace all the bearings and quadruple check preloads. Has anyone ever noticed different fluids being noisier than others? It seems louder than just the wrong fluid kind of noise. Would the differential or VC possibly be making a noise like that if it were going out? My best guess is that it seems linked with the output speed of the trans. The fact it goes away off throttle or clutch in I want to rule out the t case. And the way it sounds like a gear makes me think it has to be in the drivetrain. Thanks everyone for the ideas so far.
 
Could it possibly be drive shaft carrier bearings? Mine has some noise as well but only on decel. Sounds the same like a gear but I rebuilt my trans and t case still the same noise. But anyways what I'm saying is that it's worth a shot to check out and replace. Plus less work to remove than the tranny.
 
The fact that this happens no matter which gear you're in, and only within a specific speed range, suggests that it might not be the trans, but perhaps something else in the drivetrain. If disengaging the clutch makes this sound go away, within this speed range, since the car's still moving within this range, at least for the next few seconds, and thus the trans internals as still moving, driven by the CV axles and prop shaft (via the t-case), it suggests that the problem is up or downstream from the trans. I wonder if it's something to do with the flywheel, clutch, pressure plate and release bearing. Maybe something's not weighted or torqued down properly. You'd obviously have to drop the trans to find out.

I'm just spitballing as I'm not drivetrain expert.
 
I think you guys may be on to something actually, I’ll check the carrier bearing out. I wonder if I could pick up the noise well enough on a video. I just want to solve it so anybody else down the line can have an answer if they have the same issue. I’m thinking I may pick up a stethoscope, jack up all four wheels and have someone run through the gears and see if I can’t pin point it before having to tear crap apart…again.
 
You have a point, that would be nice if it worked but the noise does happen when it is loaded and lets off when not..car is probably a little low to hang on and go for a ride 😂😂 be nice if I could hang a GoPro under the car or something. I did get the car to make the sound in 2nd today, so I know it’s not tranny related. I may check out the axles first. Just hope it’s not the clutch. I’ll keep updating this as soon as I know more. I’ve searched a lot and seems like there’s a decent amount of cases like this so that would be awesome to pinpoint it.
 
How many miles are on the car? And the axles should be fine as long as you don't feel a obnoxious vibration or hear clicking while turning. Lol yeah it would be nice if you could just hang on. I know snap on has a tool that you can place multiple sensor around the car to narrow sounds down. But that's alot of dough. Be cheaper to just replace the drives haft bearings.
 
It’s got 134,000 so not a ton. In the morning I’m going to swap the rear diff fluid, next step I’m going to check the contact pattern on the t case again. The more I hear it the more I am ruling out other things and going back to the t case. It’s constant with speed and goes away if I let off the gas or clutch, it would really only make sense to have a gear set like the t case or rear diff. Wish I had a sore t cas elating around I could test but I don’t. I’ll double check those things and update everyone.

Found this video, noise sounds just like this.
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what would cause that? Sounds like too much space between gears right?
 
If the sound you're referring to is the whiny metallic one, kind of tinny sounding, since there are a bunch of different sounds here, my VERY uneducated guess would be metal rubbing against metal, either un or under-lubed, or because the two parts aren't supposed to be rubbing and something's not aligned right. It's a little bit like the noise my rotary tool makes when the bit slips and touches a metal object it's not supposed to, especially a thin or aluminum one.

Is everything lubed and grease properly and preloads and endplay per spec?
 
It’s hard to hear in the video but it’s the lower gear kind of sound. I’ll see if I can get a video of mine and post it. And yes I shimmed all the bearings, preloads looked great. I think where my problem is, I used the same shim on the outside of the case that sets the driven gear depth and I think it’s off.
 
That sounds like a worn out bearing to me. Bc when you put a load on it, it gets worse and when you let off its not as bad. Like I mentioned earlier I'd check you drive shaft carrier bearings. Especially since you have already looked at the transfer and tranny. Plus it sounds like it's in the cabin.
 
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