kzemach:
Head's up guys. It now says it right on the label. Mercon V is:
"Not for use in transfer cases."
Read whitetmw's thread on transfer case carnage:
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/13586 ... -read.html
Here's the opening post without pictures. The pictures are worth looking at the original thread above.
"4x4 Go BOOM!!!!!! 4x4 Owners Read!
I started this new thread so everyone would see what I have found out and ensure everyone sees this information.
I have been "investigating" this for these past couple week both day and night. I mean I've been to different Dealerships, no less than 20 forums, reviewing operators manuals, and calling Techs I know as far away as California (I'm in GA).
Here is what I have found. Beginning in 2008 / 2009 there was a number of Transfer Cases which "exploded" at speeds of 70 MPH while the 4w4 and front hubs were not engaged.
Of the ten I was able to find, with pictures, they all appeared to fail in the same place. And, all failed following routine maintenance by both the Dealership and the Owners DIY. One of the vehicle caught fire and burned on the side of the interstate with a trailer attached.
Here is the interesting part from one group. The Dealership said on one vehicle the Hubs were locked. For whatever reason, the owner contacted his Insurance Company who said they would cover the repair minus deductible for the owner under Comprehensive as Vandalism as he had covers over the hubs and used the auto switch only. The only other alternative was someone had switched them to the locked position. The Adjuster who went to the dealership didn't like what he/she saw. The unit was removed (what was left of it) and shipped to a laboratory along with a testing of the front differential fluid.
The report stated (I did not see the report, just the post) that there was no abnormal metal fatiguing. However, there was extreme heat which cased the catastrophic failure. The remaining fluid was tested and found to have "incompatible friction and heat modifiers" which caused the fluid to loose its viscosity and become a sludge /solid and caking itself on the interior housing. They refused the claim. Improper fluid used in transfer case. They could not confirm the Hubs were locked, the fluid (only 5000 miles) showed no loss or modification at the molecular level one would expect had heat been applied). They contended the Hubs were not locked as the dealership stated.
The dealership who serviced the vehicle 5,000 miles prior to the failure was where the vehicle ended up. The dealership was instructed to replaced the unit (the truck had 198,000 miles on it) by Ford.
Move on to 2010 / 2011, Three more failures were reported by dealerships to FoMoCo. Bothe were removed and sent to third party testing laboratories. As a result (it doesn't say what result) FoMoCo issued a direct communications bulletins to dealerships to eliminate the use of Mercon - V and order adequate stock of the new Transfer Case Fluid. Mercon V was the approved fluid in 2007 (do the math)!
No where, other than the first example was the test results known. But, I can't believe they would be much different. The attached pictures are NOT the same unit. But, you will see both failed in the exact same place.
Closer inspection (you can see bluing of the metal parts from heat).
I am going to continue this week. I plan on calling ford engineering directly as well as sending a registered letter, return receipt requested pertaining to this.
I think, no matter what you're using, if it is compatible with Mercon V it would have the same additives and therefore the same result.
Another thing I have noticed is all these failures occurred on the Highway (55 MPH or higher). A couple were towing loads as well. Two were just driving to their workplace (daily drivers).
I will keep you posted
Tom"
Linear Mode
