Anybody changed the fluid in their transfer case yet? I was planning on changing it just so I know its clean. I believe it takes ATF.

 

depends on year model

 

I know for the 11 to 16 it was the XL12 fluid for the transfer case. But they don't make it anymore. It was super seceded by Mercon LV. My next upcoming change will be with Mercon LV.

 

Save your money. ATF in the transfer case is just fine. The transfer case is a lot simpler than the transmission.

 

I went to my local dealer to get the xl12, they didn't have it. The parts guy talked to the truck service manager who told him to give me mercon V. come to find out this makes the clutches in the auto 4wd fall apart because it softens the GLUE AND THE CLUTCH FACING FALLS OFF!! So the latest ford doc says use mercon LV, same stuff in the tranny. So being totally confused, I went to autozone and bought some synthetic valvoline equivlent of the XL12. Not cheap but it seems to work well

 

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The XL12 is discontinued, there also is no worry about clutch failure in these units because its never been used in these trucks.

 

As long as it's not Mercon V or any knock off. As Overkill2 has stated I would stick to Mercon LV.

 

I just did my transfer case and trans today at 67147 miles. Last change was 35697 miles ago. I believe in the 30k mile OCI for the case and trans. Not a great day to do it as it was cold and snowing but not too hard at that time.

There were some visible flakes of metal from the transfer case which I did first, drained that is. I had about half a quart or so of the XL12 oil so I used that with the Mercon LV that I had on hand. I did confirm with my dealer before that the XL12 was phased out as they now list Mercon LV for the transfer case.

The last trans drain and fill, I dropped the pan and did a filter also. I cleaned up all the break in material from the donut magnet that is in the pan. This time I just drained and filled. Another 30k miles, I'll drop the pan to change the filter.

EDIT

And remember, get 3 quarts for the transfer case. It's just over 2 quarts at about 2.25 qts.

 

I run a 60K schedule for rear diff, trans and transfer case. Usually do a coolant flush too, but with this new 2020 and the change in coolant, I may just extend the coolant change interval.

 

You work your truck way harder than I do Scott. When my truck was in under warranty for DEF heater and locking hubs, I had them check the coolant. All was good.

I can see myself doing a change over to the yellow in the future for sure.

 

What's the suggested interval change on the transfer case?

 

I do mine @ 60K and the rear diff and trans too.

 

I'm sure it's the same as the trans at 150k miles but that's bunk IMO. But what do I know. There's no way I'd wait that long. Scott gives a good OCI there. And he works the snot out of his...

I side on the fact that a case of Mercon LV is cheap and I'm overkill.

 

I'm going to go with 50k changes for the same reasons as Dave, Mercon LV is cheap compared to a new trans or transfer case.



Here are some snippets from the 2016 owners manual. Take your pick or make up your own.

 

From the 2017 Owner's Manual:

I have plenty of gear lube and ATF sitting on the shelf, so I'll be doing a change at 30K. Most of the miles on my truck are towing.