PSA - check your t-case fluid level

[kkarnage]

It's come up before I know, and seems to affect JL's generally, but a lot of folk have reported their JL's coming from the factory with up to a 1/2 quart needing to be added to get it to the fill port level. Given the amount of power we're putting through these t-cases it might be worth checking yours. Mine was "only" 4 FL OZ (~2.5%) low: whilst not as bad as a 1/2 quart low, it's still not an insignificant amount of fluid given that alleged t-case fluid capacity is around 2 quarts.

Dead simple job - about 10 mins total. Took me longer to find the top up plug than to top up the fluid. You'll probably want to have a quart of ATF4 fluid on hand and a pump to get it into the t-case. You'll also want some high temperature thread sealing tape for the plug when you put it back. I used a small wire brush to clean the threads before taping and putting it back.

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[3924me]

where does it say full is fill port level? I have trouble believing the mfg is shipping thousands of jeeps rams like this

 

[kkarnage]

where does it say full is fill port level? I have trouble believing the mfg is shipping thousands of jeeps rams like this

Known problem in the TRX forums. And there are folk who have checked who were filled to port level from the factory.

 

[kkarnage]

where does it say full is fill port level? I have trouble believing the mfg is shipping thousands of jeeps rams like this

Also every tutorial I can find on the interwebs says fill until it oozes out of the fill hole.

 

[stumblinhorse]

I am not going to argue but “most” people have historically added till the fill hole weeps on all things. Including differentials. But I think that is not the case anymore. Every vehicle I have bought in the last 9 years was not filled to the fill hole on anything. RAM or Jeep. My JK MT was not full, none of the Diffs were to the fill hole. My Ram is the same way. The AAM axles actually now has it pressed into the cover. Sorry blurry, it is dark under there

 

[gsbrockman]

My Ram is the same way. The AAM axles actually now has it pressed into the cover. Sorry blurry, it is dark under there

If only my RAM had that nice, reusable differential cover gasket......

 

[Beachcomber72]

This is 100% bs, rumor crap. Unless you are checking your vehicle on 100% fully leveled ground front to back and side to side you’ll never get an exact reading. And even then you still risk having one of the front or rear tires either over or under inflated by 1-2 psi that also would go into the non leveled equation.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Not sure if this is “rumor” or just factory spec. All fluids expand some when hot. I think there is an exact fluid fill spec that is added at the factory. And I guarantee it is not “fill until it comes out the fill hole”. It is xx milliliters. It is computer dispensed at a station in the factory. Probably not “oops” a JL left the factory with too little fluid in some component. Some engineer decided that that much fluid would be “enough”…

 

[Beachcomber72]

Not sure if this is “rumor” or just factory spec. All fluids expand some when hot. I think there is an exact fluid fill spec that is added at the factory. And I guarantee it is not “fill until it comes out the fill hole”. It is xx milliliters. It is computer dispensed at a station in the factory. Probably not “oops” a JL left the factory with too little fluid in some component. Some engineer decided that that much fluid would be “enough”…

It’s rumor on the TRX forums, just internet BS.

 

[Mudduck]

where does it say full is fill port level? I have trouble believing the mfg is shipping thousands of jeeps rams like this

I do not find it hard to believe at all, seeing that they can't even seat the fuses properly. Not meant to be argumentative, but the QC is straight up ASS.

 

[stumblinhorse]

I do not find it hard to believe at all, seeing that they can't even seat the fuses properly. Not meant to be argumentative, but the QC is straight up ASS.

I think people don’t get the statistics of some of this stuff and costs. People want magic that costs nothing. How many operations are there to assemble a Jeep? 1000? 10000? 100000? I don’t know, but we do know how many are constructed. What is an acceptable failure rate of a part in a Jeep? I know that to keep cost down some big box hardware stores allow a 1 in 10 failure rate of their stock hardware items. What do you think Jeep allows 1 in 100,000? Motorola started the idea of 6 sigma or 3.4 defects in 1,000,000 units. That is a certification that many factories have. If every single process and part was “QC’ed” a Jeep would cost $500k…. But no way is a few hundred or more Jeeps are getting out of the factory with not enough atf+4 in the t-case. They are getting what some engineers said was enough to keep cost down and still be functional until the warranty runs out…

 

[Mudduck]

I think people don’t get the statistics of some of this stuff and costs. People want magic that costs nothing. How many operations are there to assemble a Jeep? 1000? 10000? 100000? I don’t know, but we do know how many are constructed. What is an acceptable failure rate of a part in a Jeep? I know that to keep cost down some big box hardware stores allow a 1 in 10 failure rate of their stock hardware items. What do you think Jeep allows 1 in 100,000? Motorola started the idea of 6 sigma or 3.4 defects in 1,000,000 units. That is a certification that many factories have. If every single process and part was “QC’ed” a Jeep would cost $500k…. But no way is a few hundred or more Jeeps are getting out of the factory with not enough atf+4 in the t-case. They are getting what some engineers said was enough to keep cost down and still be functional until the warranty runs out…

I don't disagree with all of your points, and a basic translation is "Some people with get F'ed out of their hard-earned money because we needed to keep costs down".

As for a few hundred Jeeps getting out without adequate fluid levels........ it happens quite often, even with an Engineers stamp of stupidity.

Takata airbags recall: 65+ million so far
Volkswagens "Dieselgate" 11 million vehicles.
Toyotas window switches: 6.5 million vehicles
GM recall 2006-2014 30+ Million vehicles...........

All of these recalls and failures at some point, had an Engineers stamp of approval that said "This is enough"

 

[Thexr6]

It’s rumor on the TRX forums, just internet BS.

My 2 cents - not rumour. My 392 TC case disintegrated at 2000 miles (6 weeks old). Fluid level was almost non existent, and no signs of leaks. Warrantied, but took 6 weeks for parts and install.

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