Thread: too much oil in the transfer case

Excess oil could have made its way past a seal or breather once the case built up a bit of heat/pressure. The only way that I could see extra heat generated due to overfill would be as a result of the gears all churning in the gear oil. More likely a case of oil burning on exhaust.

Originally Posted by fsfer

Hi all,
I had a look under the 110 after a drive not long ago. I could smell something hot and some oil burning. The gearbox had just been rebuilt less than 1000k's. It is the 5speed santana with the LT230. The transfer case was hot as and covered in oil, the oil was mostly from the front to half way down the whole assembly. not around the rear near the handbrake.
Well i got home, thought i would dump the oil and see if what was what. Well about 6L of oil came out much to my amazement (this is after losing around 2L through the leak, i was like WTF, it seems the mechanic had filled the transfer box from a blanking bolt on the passengers side of the gearbox (i presume).
anyways, i have filled with the desired oil capacity which is just under 3L.
I took it for a run and got it warm, put it into low range and did some hills etc, the transfer case has now stopped smelling so hot and is not dripping oil.
i checked gearbox oil level and it was spot on, i did this before and after i changed the transfer case oil (just in case the g/box oil had migrated to the transfer box).

I presume people on here might be able to help me with these couple of questions.
Would have the excess oil made the thing leak in the first place?
could have the oil been coming out a beather or some other filler plug?
Should I be looking for a shot seal?
Was the excess oil the cause of the excessive heat?

Any help would be much appreciated, as i am off on a trip in a week.
I will check the oil levels gbox and tcase, tommorow just to be sure.

All the best everyone.

All is good, i have taken it for a few runs and no leaks.