Can the transfer case oil be changed?

[rmod]

I still have a ways to go, barely 3100 miles on the car. I do tend to over maintain my cars so definitely like to be in the know how to do something. Never had a car with a transfer case or a front diff, so this is all new.

Just getting this car on jack stands is a royal pita. When I did trans (6mt) and diff on the G, I would just place the car on 4 drive on ramps to get the it level. Can't quite do that as there's no front/rear central jacking points.

It is the same for me. I do like to maintain the car as it is my daily driver. I gave up on jack stands a while ago. I was scared to crack the windshield or the sunroof with the amount of flex the car would have when jacking up each side. I ended up getting a quick jack when it was on sale at Costco. It has paid for itself as we were able to save money from going to the dealer for basic maintenance for the two cars that we own.

While on the subject, I changed diff fluids when the car had ~50K kms. The rear diff fluid had a lot of metal shavings. Some were almost 5mm in length. Nothing was noticed when I drained it again at ~100K kms. It could just be a one off situation. Not super impressed with the build of the car. At the current mileage (~131K kms), there are multiple oil seepages (at the bell housing, valve cover, timing case cover). I guess that is to be expected.

 

[JSolo]

I use this to jack up a whole side at a time.

Steel Floor Jack Cross Beam

Amazing deals on this Steel Service Jack Cross Beam at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

I use pucks in between the pads and pinchweld, one side as close as possible to the front jack point, then the other somewhere near the middle of the car. Jacks up nicely then place jackstands at factory jacking positions. Repeat on the other side. Once jack stands are in place i leave the floorjack with this adapter in position while working on the car as a safety. So far so good.

 

[ht_addict]

Bought the extended warranty to 200000km. Any issues for me will be covered.

 

[RogueIV]

It is the same for me. I do like to maintain the car as it is my daily driver. I gave up on jack stands a while ago. I was scared to crack the windshield or the sunroof with the amount of flex the car would have when jacking up each side. I ended up getting a quick jack when it was on sale at Costco. It has paid for itself as we were able to save money from going to the dealer for basic maintenance for the two cars that we own.

While on the subject, I changed diff fluids when the car had ~50K kms. The rear diff fluid had a lot of metal shavings. Some were almost 5mm in length. Nothing was noticed when I drained it again at ~100K kms. It could just be a one off situation. Not super impressed with the build of the car. At the current mileage (~131K kms), there are multiple oil seepages (at the bell housing, valve cover, timing case cover). I guess that is to be expected.

Car isn't going to flex that much by jacking it. It encounters far greater forces when you're driving it.

 

[HoosierStinger]

I changed it for the same reason. The car is out of warranty (100K Kms here in Canada) and I still have a year and half's worth of payments left. It would suck if the transfer case failed and I had to pay 5 figures in Canadian money for a replacement case while still paying for the car.
Time will tell if the replacement fluid ends up wrecking it. If it does, I will post an update.

The Genesis G80 has similar drivetrain and it has notes on how to check and top-up the fluid in the service manual (It has a slightly different transfer case). Also there are instructions on how to change the seals on it. For G70/Stinger, they have removed all the instructions and just want to replace the whole unit if any issues. There are no part numbers for the seals and not available to purchase. Talk about planned obsolescence!

Any updates to post after a few months has passed since you changed the transfer case oil? I'm at 36K miles now. I plan to change all of the drivetrain components oil the coming months. The only component I'm leery about doing is the transfer case due to the fact that I want to make sure I fill it to the correct level. More then likely it's like any gearbox. Fill until the oil reaches the bottom of the fill plug hole just like the instructions you posted for the G80. Oil will evaporate and escape over time even in sealed gearboxes. I've seen gearboxes run bone dry and lock up at my work lol. I guess somebody missed checking that poor little gearboxes oil level during our scheduled preventative maintenance lol.

 

[rmod]

Any updates to post after a few months has passed since you changed the transfer case oil? I'm at 36K miles now. I plan to change all of the drivetrain components oil the coming months. The only component I'm leery about doing is the transfer case due to the fact that I want to make sure I fill it to the correct level. More then likely it's like any gearbox. Fill until the oil reaches the bottom of the fill plug hole just like the instructions you posted for the G80. Oil will evaporate and escape over time even in sealed gearboxes. I've seen gearboxes run bone dry and lock up at my work lol. I guess somebody missed checking that poor little gearboxes oil level during our scheduled preventative maintenance lol.

Have put on ~6k kms since then. No issues / codes so far. Have been through several snow and ice filled days during that time.
If you are not planning to keep the car past the warranty, then just skip it.

 

[HoosierStinger]

Have put on ~6k kms since then. No issues / codes so far. Have been through several snow and ice filled days during that time.
If you are not planning to keep the car past the warranty, then just skip it.

Thanks for the update. I want to do the fluid change for two reasons. First is because I'm tuned and I'm sure my transfer case is under more stress. Second is that I want it to last as long a possible.

 

[rmod]

Thanks for the update. I want to do the fluid change for two reasons. First is because I'm tuned and I'm sure my transfer case is under more stress. Second is that I want it to last as long a possible.

Fair enough. Go for it.
Something interesting in the g70 owners manual (maybe the same for stinger) about the transfer-case:



I could only fill ~600ml which is close to what this says for the gear / clutch. Maybe the top fill port is for the actuator where the other 250ml of oil resides? I don't know.

 

[Devin]

My last car that had transfer case was 1997 land cruiser. Changed it yearly. The thing was lifted so much, i could seat underneath it. So any work on it was super easy.

Hah, just realized the origin of your username!