How bad is this?

[4wordSOUL]

What am I looking at guys? How bad is the repair going to be? I believe this is my transfer case, about half way back from the engine.

BTW I attempted to use links for these images from both Google Drive and Imgur and I couldn't get them to work for some reason.

 

[yotaguy674]

Looks like the center diff lock mechanism.

 

[Robs08Runner]

I THINK it's the transafer case actuator. Not cheap.

 

[CruzadoBlanco]

your seal for the tcase actuator has gone bad. it can be reasealed but takes a lot of time and careful disassembly and reassembly. the dealer and most shops solution is a complete new tcase which is about 2k just for the tcase.

 

[metramm]

How often do/did you use the 4wd system? My understanding is, if the 4wd system isnt exercised often (once a month) the seals dry out and can cause leaks.

Just wondering for the forums knowledge if you ever used the 4wd system and then it leaked, or if you exercised it regurarly and it still leaked.

 

[Bumbo]

I dont think exercising the actuator, or lack of it, really had anything to do with it. Its just bad luck...

That said, I don't think the leak looks like its coming from the clam shell, but from the actuator area.

Not sure what it takes to re-seal that area but its probably going to be labor intensive to replace some $5 part.

 

[Jwm6]

So have you made a decision on what you are going to do yet?

I have the same damn leak on mine (04 V8 limited) and have just been putting off getting it fixed.

Another option is junk yard t-case, hearing it's around $600?

 

[Jwm6]

So have you made a decision on what you are going to do yet?

I have the same damn leak on mine (04 V8 limited) and have just been putting off getting it fixed.

Another option is junk yard t-case, hearing it's around $600?

 

[Jagerzel]

it could be the drain plug. when I bought mine whomever had it before me actually cracked the clamshell by over tightening the drain plug. I bought a new half clam shell and repaired but broke actuator doing so so had to put new transfer case in. If it is the actuator its one of the two dollar orings that are around the shaft going into clamshell. thats complete teardown and rebuild of transfer case. If the actuate timing is messed up when you rebuild it you are screwed, theres still no documentation how to time the actuator correctly.

 

[4wordSOUL]

So have you made a decision on what you are going to do yet?

I have the same damn leak on mine (04 V8 limited) and have just been putting off getting it fixed.

Another option is junk yard t-case, hearing it's around $600?

Thanks for the feedback guys, it turned out to be the t-case seal after all. I had it replaced and everything else is in good shape fortunatly. I'll be good for at least another 170K I hope.

I really appriciate all the feedback and insight, thanks!

 

[Bumbo]

Thanks for the feedback guys, it turned out to be the t-case seal after all. I had it replaced and everything else is in good shape fortunatly. I'll be good for at least another 170K I hope.

I really appriciate all the feedback and insight, thanks!

So what did it end up costing, and who did it?

Was it labor intensive? DIY capable?

 

[4wordSOUL]

So what did it end up costing, and who did it?

Was it labor intensive? DIY capable?

Replace the Transfer case actuator seal which should take appx 6 hours of labor.

I got three estimates:

The Toy Shop: $924 (best estimate came 3 days after I requested it).

Toy Car Care: $1082 (best estimate I got the day I requested it and quickest turn around, I needed my runner that week so went with them).

Toyexus: estimated 12 hours of work to replace seal at $1600 or with 'less work' put in a used Tcase for $2800 (wow don't do me any favors). Screw these guys.

A few of my buddies here in town advised they thought I could do it myself, after looking at a few videos on it, I agreed. I've done some work on my runner myself, however I like the peace of mind I get on more complex work like this having a shop with experience do it. I'd rather any issue or mistake be covered by them than myself. I talked to the mechanic a bit about it, he's done more than he could count of these. He advised it's fairly simple with one catch, putting the teeth for the actuator back together correctly. Apparently with how tiny the teeth are, it's easy not to align them correctly when you reassemble the unit. There's no way to confirm you've done it right except to test it once you get everything back together. And if it's wrong, it all locks up and you have to take it all apart and start over. That being said, even though the seal is a $12 part, I invested in the peace of mind that the seal will keep rolling for another 170K miles.

 

[Bumbo]

Thanks for the report and the price quotes you got. I think its going to help others in the long run.

I think I need to start building a relationship with a local differential shop in my area... just to be able to get this like this resolved as the truck gets older.

They have quoted me some drive line work, specifically lockers and gearing, but something like this would probably be right up their alley as well.

 

[Jwm6]

Thanks for the update, glad it worked out for you. Hopefully Santa will fix mine for me!