Transfer case removal questions

[helievacpilot]

99 Disco II. Well, I have independent confirmation that I'm leaking oil from the input & rear output shaft of the transfer case. Rather than pony up the $600-$700 bill to have it done at the dealer, I'm going to pull it myself and do a complete re-seal. Is this a pretty straight-forward job? I have the garage space, jack stands & air tools. Any tricks or Land Rover specific issues to look out for? In the not too distant past, I pulled/installed the transmission on my wife's Dodge Caravan and was hoping it could not be any worse than that! I figure I'll also install new u-joints while I have the driveshafts disconnected.

Thanks for any and all advice - Bill

[Disco Mike]

Bill,
How bad are these leaks, are you getting drips on the ground or is the t/case just covered in oil build up?
Yes, the job is pretty straight forward. You might want to hook up your CDL, if you haven't yet.
If you are up over 80,000 miles I would do all the u-joint while you are under there, especially chck and replace the 2 u-joints on the front shaft where it hooks to the t/case, these normally come from the factory without grease fittings.
Good luck,
Mike

[p76rangie]

Only difficulty is the weight of the things. Be careful not to crush yourself when it comes off and make sure that you have someone to help you.

When putting it back it helps to have the difflock engaged to help line up the spline in the transfer case to the output shaft from the gearbox.

[helievacpilot]

Thanks. I will have a transmission stand at the ready. I did forget the question about the CDL. I know what it stands for, but can you explain a little about what I need to do to activate it or use it?

Thanks - Bill

[p76rangie]

To line up the splines you have to turn the cogs inside the transfer case. The easiest way to do this is to turn the rear output shaft by hand while trying to line it up. If you don't have the CDL engaged, by turning the rear output you are more likely to simply turn the front output shaft rather than the input cogs.

[Rovin4life]

hope you got a acetelene torch.

first off you need to remove the cats, oh and you also have to remove the bar,

those small little bolts like to get rounded off. We usually torch a few to get them out.

from there its not too bad but pay attention to what bolts come out and where they go, a few in the front need to go back exactly the way they came or else you aint shifting.


getting it out will be easy. putting it back in will require a hell of alot of effort with a jack unless you got it just right.

we have a special plate that attaches to the bottom and attaches to a tranny jack.


its a bitch of a job, hell I would just leave it be.

maybe do the rear, thats not too bad, just pull the drum off and pull the seal.

[rmuller]

I replaced my transfer case on my D2 without touching the exhaust... we were starting to take it off, but the bolts were starting to be a pain, so we noticed there was enough room... took 3 of us to do some careful navigation, but it came out without much issue. If you're pulling the parking brake drum, there is a screw on there that is an absolute pain, on both transfer cases we needed a chisel and hammer to get it out.. I picked up a spare one from LR and it came in handy.

[helievacpilot]

Thanks for all the tips & advice. I'll be sure to post if I run into any issues and when I'm done.

- Bill