transfer case leak

[mooockie]

I have an 03 v8 sport and have been having a gear oil leak from the tranfer case. Looks like it may be coming from the rear of the transfer case where the control box (i assume the electronic control for distributing power). Is this an issue anyone else has seen?

Oh and it has 130k miles on it

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

It's the actuator that's leaking. Unfortunately this is pretty common and very costly to go in and fix the leak. I used some oil treatment made by white shepherd. mine has completely stopped, several others have had good results as well. Search my username, I've got a post on this that's got a lot of info (thread us titled got a leak, need input).

 

[Presta24]

i cringe every time i see a 03 v8 with this problem

 

[simple]

i cringe every time i see a 03 v8 with this problem

Is this only an issue with v8's or is it for all 4wd's?

 

[Radial GT]

Has anyone done this rebuild themselves? I looked at the FSM and it looks fairly straight forward. My 4lo is not working, and I figure while I am in there I will overhaul all of the seals/gaskets on the transfer case.

 

[berettashot117]

I showed the service dept., they tightened a bolt, and problem solved!

 

[CAN-03runner]

I have an 03 v8 sport and have been having a gear oil leak from the tranfer case. Looks like it may be coming from the rear of the transfer case where the control box (i assume the electronic control for distributing power). Is this an issue anyone else has seen?

Oh and it has 130k miles on it

Post up a picture of what you are referring too. It makes it easier for the online mechanical speculators to diagnose.

For myself I had a leak in the area I circled in the attached picture. The job was pretty simple, took less than an hour to complete: translation not expensive.

The oil spreads all over the place, so it was hard to tell where it was leaking from. Wipe off the oil very well, and monitor it a few days very closely and watch where it starts to leak back out.

 

[Zuke]

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/82316-got-leak-need-input.html

 

[Dkon82]

I encountered this issue as well recently. it turned out to be a warn out O ring from the T-case. It was a $3 part and called for 10hrs of labor. luckily, i purchesed an extended warenty when i bought my t4r, so the repair was covered at no charge.

 

[mooockie]

we'll see i just did the white shepherd treatment.

 

[hkollie1]

I'm packing around white shepard in my truck, waiting for the leak to get bad enough. My leak hardly hits the ground. Just a drip hanging to the acuator right now.

 

[zerowkul98]

Does anyone know if this common-leak actuator problem is caused by actual USE of the 4WD-LOW? Ive NEVER used it in my 03, and i fear if i do it'll just start a landslide of problems.

Is this a case of "dont touch it and it wont do nuttin!"?

 

[ClockWork]

Nope. It leaks, Audi's that utilize the torsen center diff have leaking issues too.

 

[gmyatko]

Don't know if anyone still needs info on this or not. I've done it. Right now, I have it back out for a bad bearing. If anyone has a question, nows the time. [email protected]

 

[dmeyers37]

Transfer Case dry + metal noises

It looks like I found this thread a few months (years) too late. I have a 2003 V8 4x4 and a few weeks ago it started making metal grinding sounds and has continued with some additional whining. I took it to the Toyota dealership and they said new transmission at $5k for a used one! I took it to a transmission shop and they said noise could be coming from either transmission or transfer case, but hard to tell as they're right next to each other and they'd have to drop the transmission to see. I took it to the fourth(!) mechanic today, and apparently he was the first one to think of checking the transfer case fluid level. Sure enough, it was bone dry.

He's going to fill it tomorrow and see if it helps, but more than likely we'll need a replacement transfer case. I'm not sure what I'm most surprised about with this ordeal, but hopefully a trusted eBay source and my new trusted mechanic will come through with the fix.

Anyone have any input on buying a used transfer case and how dependable it will be? I'm at 192k miles (all from us) and we want to ride it well over 200k!

 

[Waterdog96]

Mine leaks. Just add or change fluid every couple months. Takes like 15 minutes to drain and fill. Good for a few more months.

 

[RossG]

Tried to start a new thread about this - but it said I was too much of a baby and couldn't be trusted yet. So I guess this thread will have to do (since it's close to my prob)

Swapped my 300k mile transmission out for one that had only 40k mi. I have 2003 sport 4x4 v6 - but was told (by toyota) that the AWD 2003 new transmission was the same as my old one - so I put it in. Now I'm ALWAYS in 4x4 (and this is not good, because my transfer case leaks ...and every now and then I like to drive faster than 35 mph(!!!))

 

[RossG]

Does anyone know if there is some switch (or something) that I have to change to make the transmission know that it now lives in a 4x4's body? - OR - is my problem in my transfer case?

 

[cpark_12]

Does anyone know if there is some switch (or something) that I have to change to make the transmission know that it now lives in a 4x4's body? - OR - is my problem in my transfer case?

Did you swap out your transfer case into the new transmission???

 

[RossG]

no. LKQ (pickapart) didn't have transfer case (well they did, but it had heavy miles and wanted over a grand).

But I didn't need one - as long as I keep my 4runner out of 4x4 it should be okay. should be, but isn't.