BW 1356 t-case = burnt metallic fluid.

so my fuel economy has been slowly decreasing on me for no apparent reason even though the truck is in pristine tip top shape.it finally occurred to me to check the t-case fluid because last time my economy took a hit,it was because it was low on fluid.
so i checked it and it came out real burnt.looks just like brown metallic burnt fluid no longer resembling ATF.
so checking my records;
i had flushed it last at 95k miles.the truck now has 116k miles.
i used Mobil 1 synthetic atf and the level was good.

what does this tell you? i know nothing about the inner workings of the t-case.pump in there went bad? all seems to be working ok,but whatever is wrong causing the fluid to burn up and whatever to ware down causing the fine metal fillings wont get any better.
the bw-1356 are a dime a dozen.time to just toss another used 100/150$ t-case and call it good right?
edit,well looks like they go for a couple bills these days.been a few years since i bought one.didn't get much over 100k with the last in the '96 f150 either.hmm.

 

Those magnesium xfer cases are pretty solid, but they do suffer from pump failures and yes you'd get the symptom you've described.......really can't tell until you split it open and investigate but the oil pump is typically the first problem --- it was actually designed to extend the life of the xfer case and it's done a pretty good job .....

 

so it very well could be salvageable do you suppose? so if i split the case and discover it's still all seems to be intact then i could simply try repairing it's pump?
Pump Kit for BW 1356 Transfer Case

^ is that something an average shade tree guy can do or does it require something for special tools?
does the fact that the t-case being worn is the cause (hopefully cus iv nothing else to blame it on) would be causing me to be down up to a couple mpg loss (not to mention how metallic the burnt fluid was) pretty much declare the thing too far gone even if i did fix the pump?
im all for learning new things but not if it's not worthwhile.looking around the local buy/swap ads but not seeing any private party sellers of them right now,which is a bummer,but i suppose paying a couple bills for one wont kill me.

 

so i ended up just buying a used t-case.the same thing happened to it when i went to inspect the fluid to see if it had bright red mercon still.it was burnt as well.i went back to get another one (he didn't charge me.though past the 30 day warranty.great guy.)
i put this one in (decent looking red fluid came out of this one,so iv got a good feeling) but it doesn't have the rubber on the connecting shift rod.you know,that's how it's held on by pressing "popping" it on/off over that little black rubber.
does doorman sell one of these in thier HELP! line,does anyone know? wish i kept it off the old t-case.

 

using a pic from this guys thread;
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...e-linkage.html

anyone know part numbers for either of these items?
top = rubber clip or whatever it's called.
bottom = the 2 prong switch that indicates the gear position.the problem is,when i plug it in,it always reads 4x4 only and in all positions.i pulled the switch and the ball looks ok.hopefully whatever pushes on the ball of the switch inside is ok and it's just a bad switch.


im not having much luck finding either part.wish i knew to keep them.he wanted the old t-case back before he gave me another one (understandably.) the problem is issues like these can pop up.

 

I did a fluid flush on mine last year, it came out looking like black metallic paint... Put fresh fluid in, with the plan on draining it again at the next oil change to see how it looked...


Well, the tranny packed it in before I had that chance. The tranny shop spilt the transfer case and found the oil pump non-operational but everything looked good other than a broken range shift fork. (which is why they opened it up in the first place). It was getting enough splash lubrication that it didn't do any damage. They put it back together and it was only $275 for parts and Labour.


I personally wouldn't take my chances on a used T-case. They can be opened up inspected, and repaired for fairly cheap. Even if you have someone else do it.

 

There is zome kind of mod done to the oil pump on the 1356 to prevent a failure. Not sure on the specifics

 

i didn't have time for that.1 day down with the truck would be 2 days too many.i went and grabbed one from the salvage yard for $150 installed and flushed it,then went to flush it again just the other day and that's when i saw this ones pump must be bad too (burnt fluid) and he gave me another.so pretty cheap way to get out of it.plus i can swap 'em out over the weekend and not be down with the truck at all.with a part easy enough to change,it's not much of a chance.we're all running "used" bw 1356's some of us with many thousands of miles on 'em.

 

These are the bushings for the shifter linkage.

 

i was searching to pass your info forward and i see i forgot to thank you,
SteelHorse.so thanx! the bushing worked great.