Rubicon Owners Forum banner

New Rubi Trans / T-Case Leak?!

3K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  Guest 
G
#1 ·
We picked up the new Rubi Friday night, and have 258 miles on it as of now. When the wife backed it into the garage so we could take off the hard top I noticed that there were some drops of pink fluid on the garage floor, upon crawling underneth it appears that the fluid is coming through the skid / crossmember directly under the t-case...I didn't get a good look as to where exactly it was leaking out. The wife is going to take it back to the local dealer tomorrow but I was just curious if anyone else has experienced this.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
StewsTJ said:
We picked up the new Rubi Friday night, and have 258 miles on it as of now. When the wife backed it into the garage so we could take off the hard top I noticed that there were some drops of pink fluid on the garage floor, upon crawling underneth it appears that the fluid is coming through the skid / crossmember directly under the t-case...I didn't get a good look as to where exactly it was leaking out. The wife is going to take it back to the local dealer tomorrow but I was just curious if anyone else has experienced this.

Thanks
I had an auto transmission pan leak in mine that developed shortly after it was delivered. It's the only warranty repair mine has required to date. I have about 5000 miles on it.

Jerry
 
#4 ·
Not sure if it is the same thing but we've had three or four Rubicons come into our dealership for warranty trans fluid leaks. What we found was that the t.case rear output seal was leaking. On further inspection we noticed that the seal doesn't seal to a machine surface on the yoke but on the slinger (that metal lip that protects the seal from debris). For some reason the rear output yoke slinger extends down and covers the surface that the seal would normally run on, so the seal is running on an unmachined surface. I noticed the same leak on my own Rubicon shortly getting it. I checked the oil level (ATF+4) and cleaned up the oil. Soon the leak had stopped, after determining that the oil was still at an acceptable level I chose to leave it as is and moniter it for further leaks. Our service dept. repair for this condition was to remove the slinger and replace the factory seal with an aftermarket seal with a smaller ID. My opinion was that the t.cases were slightly over filled an once the oil level came down to an acceptable level the leak stopped. I have seen the same thing in diff's (on trucks and other jeeps), overfilling is one of the most common cause of leaks! My Rubicon still has the factory installed slinger and seal and after the leak stopped I haven't had any other problems.
 
#5 ·
Ramtuff,
Thanks for the low down on what is happening.....but we are now in a corner.

It has been discussed that on inclines that are steep, the auto can get starved and loose power to the wheels. The fix discussed here and on JU was to slightly overfill.

I've had my auto "stuck" in the garage and not engage in any gear (Reverse through 4th) and start shifting very hard. The dealer said it was low and suggested slightly overfilling as well.

I don't want to be an alarmist and I haven't had a problem with my tranny since the dealership repair....but I'm a bit concerned after reading your post.

Could you give more info on the aftermarket seal (maybe a part number)? I don't know if I'd run out and have it done, but I might like to have the seal in my parts bin (yeah, okay....shoved into a drawer somewhere) for a rainy day.
 
#6 ·
The seal part # is basically the dimensions 1.875x2.750x0.500 (this seal will not work with the slinger in place, the slinger must be removed)
I just had an idead about trans fluid starvation, maybe you could build a windage tray of somesort. It could be spot welded to the inside of the trans oil pan and it would keep the oil filter in the oil longer to prevent starvation without over filling.
 
#8 ·
Most if not all automatic transmissons have an oil pan. The filter is in the oil pan and it doubles as an oil pick up screen. When at extreme angles the oil moves out of the pan and into the transmission, filling up cavities where it isn't needed. In order to keep the oil in the pan and the filter submerged in oil a simple devise called a windage tray could be added.
By taking a flat piece of tin or aluminum and either sandwiching it between the pan and the transmission or spot welding to the inside of the pan you can effectivley trap the oil inside the pan where it belongs...
Maybe I should call it an oil pan baffle. Imagine you have a five gallon pail half full of water. Take the pail and tilt it to 45 degrees, the water will start to spill out. Now if you take a round piece of tin or aluminum, cut the ouside in a circle the same size as the ID(inside diameter) of the pail and attach it 1/4 of the total depth from the top. Cut a four or five inch hole in the center, then tilt the bucket to 45, 50, 60 degrees. You will keep much more water/oil in the pail/oil pan.
 
#9 ·
Do the HD oil pans that various aftermarket places offer have anything like this "windage tray" already incorporated into their oil pans? This sounds like a very straight forward and useful thing to do. I'm still glad I bought the manual though. :twisted:
 
#11 ·
Not that I have looked to hard but I have never seen windage trays or baffles used in transmisson pans. It is very common on high performance engines in drag or oval track cars, one step further is a dry sump system, which consists of and oil reservoir and no oil pan. I think this is something you have to build or get someone to build for you.
 
#13 ·
I have just ordered some tranny pans and filter kits, apparently there are two different oil pans on the 42RLE trans in Rubicons. I should have them in about 5-8 days. If they can be built I should have complete oil pans with a drain plug installed and a filter kit in about 3-4 weeks. Anyone interested?
 
#14 ·
ramtuff said:
I have just ordered some tranny pans and filter kits, apparently there are two different oil pans on the 42RLE trans in Rubicons. I should have them in about 5-8 days. If they can be built I should have complete oil pans with a drain plug installed and a filter kit in about 3-4 weeks. Anyone interested?
I am interested, but I'm not sure what you are addressing. :?:

Do I need to determine what pan I have if there are two different pans?
Are you fabbing up a "windage tray" as you discussed (steep incline problem) or is this just a solution for the "overfill" problem? Or is this a newer (redesigned hopefully) pan that addresses our concerns?
 
#15 ·
What I plan on doing is check both oil pans to see what the difference is between the two. If there is a need for two different oil pans I can determine which one you need by the VIN# on your Rubicon. What I plan on accomplishing is solving the problems that are created by extreme angles, and installing an oil drain plug so you can drain your trans oil with out pulling the pan off. You will not have to overfill your transmission anymore. I would supply a new OE pan with the baffle/windage tray installed and a filter kit. All you have to do is remove the old one, install the new parts, fill with oil and drive. Once the pans that I have ordered come in I will be able to determine in short order if a can "modify" them.
 
#17 ·
If it does turn out to be a useful fiz how's about doing it on a core-exchange basis? That will save you inventory and save us a few bucks. :D
 
#18 ·
At this point in time the parts are cost effective, thats why I ordered some oil pans right away. If DC jacks up the price then core exchange might be the way to go. I'm doing all of this myself with no dealer or factory help. I can buy parts at cost so I can give you all a good deal on this kit if it happens. So stay tuned, first batch will be here in five days. Remember folks I'm in C-eh-N-eh-D-eh!!(say it out loud)
 
G
#20 ·
Ramstuff any progress on the trans pan ? When you are ready with the info can you please post how we can tell what pan we have by the ven. number. And maybe find out why there are two kinds of pans(whats the differance),maybe they fixed the slipping/leaking problem already with a different pan, cuz I don't have any of the problems everyone else is talking about YET.

thks
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top