New to me truck, new problems :)

[BillM]

Well I decided to change the fluids in the '03 S10 ZR2 I picked up last week. Front/rear diff, t-case, engine etc etc. On the way to my buddies house I decided to hit a dirt road and get the diffs nice and warm by using the 4wd Well, after about 5 mins I noticed quite a bit of smoke out the back. I switched off the 4wd and the smoke disappeared.. Neato.. Continued on to my buddies house, got under the truck and noticed all kinds of oil on the underside of the truck.

 

Checked the oil level in the engine and tranny and they were fine. (I should have checked the tranny level with the truck running, but didn't) There is a vent on the t-case which was spewing fluid all over the place. There is also a problem with a vacuum sensor on the t-case which I thought was the problem. After doing a bit of reading it wasn't, but I did however figure out what was the problem. A seal inbetween the tranny and tcase is shot, which is filling up the tcase with ATF and spewing out the vent hole. From what I've read this isn't an uncommon issue.. Kinda crappy after only picking up the truck last tuesday and maybe putting 400km's on it, but I guess that's how the dice roll. I'll give the place I bought it from a call Tuesday, but I don't expect much if anything at all. I've done a lot more complicated work on my Jetta, so a tcase doesn't sound to bad at all. Lets hope it all goes well!!!

[GeorgeJ]

I had this exact same thing happen to me on a 1988 Mitsubishi Raider. I never heard about it happening to anyone else. The transmission actually seized up from lack of lubricant, the transfer case was over full from the trans fluid. It was just out of warranty but they replaced the trans complete with a new one and it never happened again the 9 years I drove it after the event. I would make sure the transmission vent is not plugged with mud being a 4wd.

[rhare]

I had the exact same issue your discribing with my dodge Ram. It ended up being the front diff. The oil spewed out the vent and covered the motor. In 2wd it was fine. I thought it was the PCV valve but of course its never a $10 fix.

 

I had a s10 in 2wd very similar to yours. ( saw the pic you posted) watch the drive line, the ext cab model has week drive shafts and rear end. too much power in the 4.3.

[BillM]

It will be fine in 2wd as long as I keep an eye on the tranny fluid level. Won't be using 4wd until it's fixed. Should be sometime this week hopefully, just need to order the seal from the dealer along with other misc parts (gaskets, etc etc)

[Marko]

Thats gotta be a piss off seeing how you just bought the truck.

Have you talked to the people that sold you the truck?? Hopefully it wont be too expensive.

Good luck tho

[Chris]

There used to be a law in Ontario which automatically gives a 30 day warranty on pre-owned automobiles purchased from a licensed dealer. Check to see if it still applies.

[BillM]

I'll be calling tomorrowm but I'm not holding my breath.

[2 tone z71]

if its ,or they sold it certified there on the hook for it

[BillM]

It was certified, perhaps I'll have a case!!

 

Darrell, I'd hope you'd reply. I'm sure you've done this job before, any tips?

[2 tone z71]

Bill if its certified they will look after ya ,the seals are reasonable I have an account with GM ,ive done my own tranny on my last truck and one in a buddys,ive also totally rebuild a few transfer cases the transfer cases are very simply ,pull the drive shafts ,block up the trans ,pull the transfer case out ,the shift forks and chains went in the ones I fixed ,the only problem doing it yourself is getting covered in tranny fluid

[Bernie]

Bill if its certified they will look after ya ,the seals are reasonable I have an account with GM ,ive done my own tranny on my last truck and one in a buddys,ive also totally rebuild a few transfer cases the transfer cases are very simply ,pull the drive shafts ,block up the trans ,pull the transfer case out ,the shift forks and chains went in the ones I fixed ,the only problem doing it yourself is getting covered in tranny fluid

Have you had to change many of the TCCM modules? We have replaced a few.

When you were shimming the clutch pack did you go by the TSB and the tool? If so did you go OE?

We have seen this fluid leak to transfer case issue more on the Fords.

 

By the way, certification will have nothing to do with this problem. It only pertains to safety items on a vehicle.

Edited February 17, 2009 by Bernie

[BillM]

Bill if its certified they will look after ya ,the seals are reasonable I have an account with GM ,ive done my own tranny on my last truck and one in a buddys,ive also totally rebuild a few transfer cases the transfer cases are very simply ,pull the drive shafts ,block up the trans ,pull the transfer case out ,the shift forks and chains went in the ones I fixed ,the only problem doing it yourself is getting covered in tranny fluid

 

 

Thanks bud, it doesn't seem like a very complicated fix, it will just take some time and I'm sure I'll get dirty..

 

I'll probably drain the trans beforehand anyhow, good excuse to drop the pan and swap the trans filter.

[BassAsin]

I had the exact same issue your discribing with my dodge Ram. It ended up being the front diff. The oil spewed out the vent and covered the motor. In 2wd it was fine. I thought it was the PCV valve but of course its never a $10 fix.

 

I had a s10 in 2wd very similar to yours. ( saw the pic you posted) watch the drive line, the ext cab model has week drive shafts and rear end. too much power in the 4.3.

i had an s 10 2wd long box reg cab and still had to change the drive shaft the 4.3 is a powerful motor for that small truck, sold it with 492 000 km on it