XJ Mods VSB 14

[alexbrown64]

Had to put the Jeep project on the back burner for a while.... to many other projects, work, etc..

Anyway, had everything ready this morning and ripped into the transfer case.

Its actually quite an easy job.
Remove both drive shafts.
Drop the Tcase fluid.
Support Transmission with a jack.
Remove cross member and all associated supports so that you can lower the transmission and Tcase.
Unplug a few cables and breathers.
Disconnect a single gear selector rod.
Lower Tcase down as far as it will go.
Undo the 6 14mm bolts that connect the Tcase to the transmission. For this, i found a stumpy 14mm ratchet spanner almost invaluable.

Your now ready to lower the Tcase onto your stomach and shimmy out from under your truck. The Tcase is a 1 man job. Not to heavy, but not light either.

I pressure washed it and put it on a bench in my shed. Theres a 28mm nut to undo which removes the front yoke. I then followed a few YouTube video's which i have linked to on this post. Its really easy and straight forward. You do need some good snap ring pliers and there is one 12 point bolt you need to remove.

From start to how it is in the pics only took a few hours..
Here is the case showing the shafts removed and just the selectors and planetary gears left....



Before you start the job, make sure you have the correct rebuild kit and chain. Also, make sure you have all the tools ready for the job. 14mm stumpy ratchet spanner, 12 point sockets, snap ring pliers, black rtv etc.



I just wanted to get to this stage before i had to head back off to work. I will finish it off when i get back. I did some inspecting and the front shaft bearing where the yolk goes is really noisy. Like it grinds. I suspected a lot of my noise has been coming from that one.
My chain did not seem too stretched. It probably hangs about 5mm lower.

I have a full rebuild kit anyway, so will replace all seals, bearings and chain before i put it back. Also, the big magnet that's in there was full of metal filings. That's probably normal for a Tcase that's done 325,000 ks.

Cheers,

You Tube

You Tube

[alexbrown64]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone. Can't believe its going to be 2019 tomorrow.
This XJ has been a long project and its still not finished (are they ever?).

Anyway, i have a few weeks holidays, so between juggling the kids and all the other stuff, i am going to try and get stuck in and tick a few more boxes off the XJ bucket list.

There are a lot of specials on at the moment, so its a good time to top up on fluids. Cant believe the shops are discounting fluids by 50%. So, 5 lt of Magnatec is normally $40 and Supercrap is selling it for $19. How much profit do they make on this stuff??

The Transfer Case is still in the shed ready to rebuild. I just needed RTV, which i picked up today. I have decided to rip the AW4 transmission cover off and the L6 engine sump pan and do a bit of work at the same time.

So, the plan is to replace the AW4 filter, fit a new gasket and replenish some ATF. Also on the radar is the rear main seal. I got a punch kit and the seal, as well as RTV and a good quality Felpro gasket. As the oil was on special, i got 10 liters, which is way more than the recommended 6 liters. While i am at it, i am also replacing the oil filter.

I decided to treat myself to a cordless rattle gun from Ebay as well. There is about a million bolts holding the engine and transmission pans up, and it will be nice to just lay under there and rattle them all out easily.

Theres lots of good vids on YouTube on how to replace the seal, filter and gaskets so i will be referring to those... especially the tips on using RTV.

Hope to post a few pics up of the whole Transfer Case, Transmission and Engine work as i go along...

Cheers,

[awg]

Originally Posted by alexbrown64

I decided to treat myself to a cordless rattle gun from Ebay as well. There is about a million bolts holding the engine and transmission pans up, and it will be nice to just lay under there and rattle them all out easily.

]

You will fall in love with your 18V Impact driver

I use my Milwaukee to ratchet up a mechanical jack, lift the Jeep in 10sec

tears off wheel nuts

got out some rusted in door screws, thought nothing on earth would shift em

saves a lot of aching hands

[alexbrown64]

The transfer case is still on the bench waiting for a rebuild. I might do that some night this week.
This morning, the New Year celebrations have worn off, so i climbed under the Jeep and did a bit of work.
I felt like doing the AW4 transmission service. I have the filter, gasket and tools to do this job so i rip into it.
I drained the fluid and then used the 18V impact driver to rattle off the half a million 10mm bolts. I had to whack the filler pipe a few times to break it free, as it is in two parts. The top part stays bolted to the vehicle and has the dip stick in it.
Then pulled the pan away to reveal a very shiny and clean looking tranny.



I took the pan to the work bench and gave it a good clean up. There are two magnets in there that need wiping, and i had to give the mating surface a good scrape to get rid of the old RTV. As you can see in the pic, i have the old and the new filter on the table.



I refitted the new filter to the tranny. You cant see in this pic, but i gave the mating surface a really good clean with carby cleaner and a pot scrubber.
I fitted the new rubber gasket without using RTV and bolted the pan back up. I haven't done it yet, but i will be refilling the tranny with fresh ATF.



Next job will be removing the sump and getting to work on the rear main seal....

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

If anyone has a leaky rear main seal and wants to tackle it themselves, i believe this Bleepin Jeep video is one of the better ones out there to explain the job. I have the Felpro gasket with the pins and my XJ has a big lift, so it should be relatively easy to do. Will let you know tomorrow..

You Tube

Cheers,

[alexbrown64]

I have a sore back today.. from laying under the car and constantly squirming in and out....
Doing the rear main seal is a bit of a pain. I used my 18V rattle gun with some long extensions.. a few sockets, large bucket for oil, black rtv, scraper, long punch, hammer, torque wrench, felpro gasket, Mopar rear main seal, rags etc.. Took about 3-4 hours... mainly sliding in and out from under the beast.

A few points to note: My XJ has quite a big lift, so the sump pan cleared all the steering etc. I think some folk have to raise the front of the car and leave the suspension hanging to allow room. I did not take off my starter motor. I did have to disconnect my headers from my exhaust. I got oil everywhere.

I just followed the method Bleepin Jeep used and all was good. The pan slid out easily. I had two or three bolts that were a pain to remove, as they were behind the headers and very close to the sump.

I did pay attention to the orientation of the new seal. It all went in and out easily with the punch. I did torque the bearing cap bolts up to 80 ft/lbs.
I only used a small amount of rtv on the corners only.

The felpro gasket has a double seal and comes with 4 mounting plugs just like in the video. I could mount the gasket and the pan up under the engine by myself and it hung there with no bolts.. brilliant idea and saved my life.

I did check my rear main seal. It is a double lip oil seal. It was very worn compared to the new Mopar one. I oiled the lips before i fitted it back up.

I only lightly tightened the sump back up. If there is some weeping, i will nip it a bit more.

All in all, a 6/10 in the hard to do basket, but a 8/10 in the awkward department. Not up there with doing the headers, but still a worthwhile pain..

Cheers,

[oldon]

Nice work Alex. Bearing & cam look good, must be using good oil, plenty of life left in that motor I think.