Coming back from hauling the TC last weekend, I thought I smelled hot gear oil. Wrote it off as no big deal given the few hundred miles of hauling. Today after hauling a single load of water, smelled it again from area between bed and cab. Got under the truck once it cooled down and found this. That's the rear of the transfer case and there's a film of oil (or grease?) sprayed on the underside of the bed. However the seal and everything around it looks dry.

Is this normal? Does the seal look okay to you guys? Is it supposed to be seated all the way up against the body of the transfer case?

 

That pinion seal flange should be seated flush with housing. Output shaft seal, my bad...

 

I believe that to be your problem. It is dirty at the bottom of the seal. Should be a warranty item.

 

the only thing to use gear oil is the differentials . any leak up near the tcase would be red like tranny fluid

 

Differential fluid has a stink all it's own. It's hard to mistake it. But if the transmission fluid from the transfer case is spraying on the exhaust, it could smell pretty bad.

 

I agree with this.

 

Bring it into the dealer -

 

Thanks guys. It didn't look right to me either. I've replaced u-joints on older trucks and done a good deal of wrenching but never really messed with a transfer case. Called the dealer, they said they've seen a couple like this, and she's scheduled to go in tomorrow for repair. Here's hoping the transfer case still has oil in it and isn't damaged.

Guess it pays to stay aware of your truck and keep a sharp eye, uh.. nose out. Oh and yeah, it really did smell like hot gear oil - just not as pungent and only a few wafts. Would've been real easy to ignore. If you have an F350 dually, might be a good idea to get under it and take a quick look at that seal.

 

ya i been wrenching on trucks for 20yrs. he said hot gear oil smell. burnt trans oil doesnt smell like gear oil, atleast not to me.

 

It did to me just not as strong. Moral of the story, pay attention to the smell of your truck when you've exercised it. Thanks again for helping, gents.

 

Mine did the same thing. Get ready for a fight, kept telling me unless it was actually dripping then it wasn't a leak. Two dealers said this. Keep looking until you get a dealer that will actually do something about it. Finally found a good dealer here that was going to do something about it, but Long story short, mine stopped slinging the fluid (have verified that it is full).

 

I have an excellent dealer (thankfully - we only have one here) and they've already agreed to fix it. Thankful for this, as I take my truck hundreds of miles out into the Alaskan wilderness to places with no cell phone coverage, and I need it dependable.

Sorry to hear you had to fight to get yours addressed but thanks for sharing. I'm wondering if this is a recurring and common thing I need to keep an eye on.

 

My F250 did the same and had to have that same seal replaced. Mine would actually leave a drop or two of oil on the ground after being parked overnight and the oil spray was splattered all the way to the back bumper. New seal is good......... so far!

 

Thank you. Have you towed/hauled heavy since the seal was replaced? We've hauled heavy but not abused the rig in any way. I only have ~16K miles on the truck and wouldn't expect to have a seal going out already unless there were some defect?

 

I'm at 110,000 miles and the underside of my truck is dry as a bone from one end to the other (knock on wood).