Atlas T-Case issue

[flyfisher]

I have a 2005 SMB RB 50 and I had the lube changed in my Atlas transfer case. Drove home and parked The Van. The next time I drove it I noticed quite lot of oil on the floor of my garage. The mechanic who changed the lube, didn't tighten the lower nut on the sight tube, and all the lube leaked out. I had driven about 50 miles before I discovered the problem. I've since refilled it with two quarts of Torco MTF.

Should I be concerned about any damage done to the T-case by driving The Van for 50 miles, with little, or no lube? I don't hear any weird noises coming from the T-case.

Tom

[arctictraveller]

If it were me, I'd call Atlas and ask them......

[rescuejg]

Short answer: No noise and shifts ok - RUN IT.

Long answer:

What a knucklehead that he changed the fluid and then didn't tighten the nut.

I am not sure what kind of relationship you have with that mechanic. Is it a big company? Do you want to deal with taking them to small claims court if there is a problem with the transfer case? Do you have any proof of what occurred besides your "word" (what you observed)?


Assuming you don't want to deal with the above and it is working fine - no noise or shifting issues - then keep running it and ensure you have adequate lube. On the other hand if you have time and money, you could always pull it out and send it to Advance Adpaters and have them go through it.

50 miles is not that far to drive, but you could probably toast gears or bearings in that time frame if there was zero oil in there. Was it completely empty? You mention putting in 2 quarts. That is a complete fill of the transfer case. Did you drain anything out of it before filling it?

What kind of oil did the "mechanic" use? Gear oil is pretty thick, so some of it likely stayed sticking to the internals of the transfer case. Also depending on the transfer case is clocked dictates how low the sight tube is and how much oil actually leaked out.


From Advance:

The recommended oil is Amsoil’s Synthetic Manual Transmission and Transaxle Gear Lube 75W-90 API GL-4 (MTG). In the past we’ve used Torco’s MTF GL-4 also. If unable to find any of these 2 then you can use:

Castrol Syntec 5W50
Valvoline Synthetic 20W50
Mobil 1 15W50