w204 Transfercase Repair Tips
10-08-2017, 12:42 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
w204 Transfercase Repair Tips
I got my 2008 c300 4matic with a bad transfer case bearing, it was a buzzing type noise coming from the shifter area, very notable on the highway and it will do it in Drive or Neutral when coasting.
So I found a local shop that sells kits for the transfer case rebuild, its basicly just 2 bearing and 2 races, those main input and output bearing get worn out, didnt help that the transmission was missing 1 quart of ATF when i got it, causing hick ups on cold days. Any ways, you will also need the transmission output shaft seal which is where the rear drive shaft connects and you will need a transfer case out put seal, that is where the small drive shaft that come from the front differential mates into the transfer case. Now remember this seal, it is a pretty poor design. First, you can't get to it without taking the whole transfer case appart. The drive shaft also get corroded where the seal rides so it is important to lightly sand the shaft where the seal rides.
Now, I remove my transmission to do this job and then brought it to my friend that has a shop and rebuilds transmissions. He the bearings in, took maybe 2hours of labor and when I got it back and installed, that transfer case output seal was leaking,
I then came to him with the car and since he warrantied the job and is a good friend, he started pulling the exhaust and transmission mount/linkage and dropped the whole rear of the transmission so he could remove the transfer case housing to get to the output shaft seal. We realized the seal had kinked up, we didnt risk it and got a new seal. Put it in, 1 test drive later, starts leaking again.. He takes it appart and the seal kinked up again..
So this time, he put some very slippery and thin plastic around the shaft, slipped it in the transfer case and then remover the plastic from the other end so if the seal did kink, the plastic would unkink it by pulling it back and it did work.
There is absolutely no way to see the seal from the outside when installing the driveshaft so you need to use that trick just incase the seal kinks up, because you wont even know until you drive it and it starts leaking.
Hope my experience helps someone and i advise you change out you front and rear differential fluids while you're doing there, theyh each take 1/1.2 quarts or gear oil, I used red line
75w 85 with good success.
If you are able to pull the transmission yourself this is fix will cost you well under 1k that with labor putting the bearings in professionally.
F
So I found a local shop that sells kits for the transfer case rebuild, its basicly just 2 bearing and 2 races, those main input and output bearing get worn out, didnt help that the transmission was missing 1 quart of ATF when i got it, causing hick ups on cold days. Any ways, you will also need the transmission output shaft seal which is where the rear drive shaft connects and you will need a transfer case out put seal, that is where the small drive shaft that come from the front differential mates into the transfer case. Now remember this seal, it is a pretty poor design. First, you can't get to it without taking the whole transfer case appart. The drive shaft also get corroded where the seal rides so it is important to lightly sand the shaft where the seal rides.
Now, I remove my transmission to do this job and then brought it to my friend that has a shop and rebuilds transmissions. He the bearings in, took maybe 2hours of labor and when I got it back and installed, that transfer case output seal was leaking,
I then came to him with the car and since he warrantied the job and is a good friend, he started pulling the exhaust and transmission mount/linkage and dropped the whole rear of the transmission so he could remove the transfer case housing to get to the output shaft seal. We realized the seal had kinked up, we didnt risk it and got a new seal. Put it in, 1 test drive later, starts leaking again.. He takes it appart and the seal kinked up again..
So this time, he put some very slippery and thin plastic around the shaft, slipped it in the transfer case and then remover the plastic from the other end so if the seal did kink, the plastic would unkink it by pulling it back and it did work.
There is absolutely no way to see the seal from the outside when installing the driveshaft so you need to use that trick just incase the seal kinks up, because you wont even know until you drive it and it starts leaking.
Hope my experience helps someone and i advise you change out you front and rear differential fluids while you're doing there, theyh each take 1/1.2 quarts or gear oil, I used red line
75w 85 with good success.
If you are able to pull the transmission yourself this is fix will cost you well under 1k that with labor putting the bearings in professionally.
F
