Fun tranny noises...
added 3/27/98
Next, I changed all the fluids: The tranny, transfer case,
and both diffs. I found that the tranny had almost no gear
oil at all, the transfer case had about 1/2 cup of water, and
the rear diff was empty. But wait!, some light in this grim
tunnel of death: The front diff was full of fresh, clean gear
oil! Happy dance! I pulled the transfer case out and rinsed
it with kerosene, then refilled it, and installed a new lower
shifter boot which had been missing, and was the reason for
the water being in it in the first place. I just filled the
tranny and rear diff up, and kept my fingers crossed.
However, a lengthy test drive confirmed my big suspicion: the
tranny was in need of some attention, and fast! Now, for
some reason, Samurai trannies sometimes tend to leak out all
their gear oil from the output shaft seal, even though the
shaft is placed high in the case. Which also means that good
used Samurai trannies are very difficult to find, and
expensive (the law of supply and demand really sucks).
Shortly after getting one out of Iowa for $650 plus shipping,
I found out about Petroworks, who sell rebuild kits for $200
and claimed they are pretty easy to do. Ah, well.
Tip: The Samurai tranny is much easier to remove if you
undo the 4 motor mount bolts that attach the mounts to the
frame,and slide the motor/tranny unit about 1/2” forward
(it’s not that heavy, two people can do it CAREFULLY).
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