01-07 duramax junk transfer case design
 

Last week a customer brought a 04 duramax into my shop for noise coming from the T-case. We pulled the drain plug,no oil. Got approval to rxr it,was completely destroyed from lack of lube. It had a very small hole rubbed thru the bottom from the ears on the oil pump wearing there way thru the rear case half,this let all the oil leak out then it ran DRY!!!! Did some internet reaerch as this is the first one I have seen with this problem. Found a thread on the diesel page,the design of the 263xhd transfer case has 4 or 5 very thin ears of the oil pump riding on the magnesium that the rear half is made from,there is a spring steel clip that falls apart then allows the pump to wear thru the case. Once this happens the oil leaks completely out in less than a hundred miles. There were over 15,000 views on the thread,this happens on all of the 4wd duramxes sooner or later,usually between 80,000 to 150,000 miles,this one had 104,000 on it. Gm won't acknowledge there is a problem,still uses the same design today. The truck had never seen hard off road use and just normal 4wd use in the winter. Dealer gets1500$ wholesale for re-built t-case plus 300$ core that is non-refundable if it has been ran dry or has a hole in the case. I found a soucre for brand new ones for what dealer sells re-manned ones for,customer thinks hes going to find a used one,I made a few calls and was told they sell the t-cases out of wrecked ones before they even get unloaded from the wrecker at the junkyard. There is a guy in hollad,Mi who is making a pump upgrade to prevent this from happening. I have had 3 duramaxes with no problems like this but they have all been sold by 50,000 miles. This is just a heads up for anyone who has a 4wd with high miles,its alot cheaper to upgrade the pump and replace the rear 1/2 BEFORE it gets a hole in it and loses all the oil,I'll post a link if anyone needs more info,Smitty

Same thing happened on my 01 2500hd w 8100. Around 60k miles I noticed oil on the underside of truck and on my boat and trailer. Dealer replaced. I had extended warranty. Luckie me. was not a cheap fix. Then noticed again about 120K. Sold truck. And bought a new Duramax! w warranty again. So lets see some info on the upgrade. Thanks Quinlan

How can I tell which transfer case I have? I've got an '01 Yukon XL 2500 with the 8.1L/496. Guess it's time to check the fluid level and do a flush & fill.

Yeah i had the same problem with mine at 120,000, I just replaced the rear case half. Caught it before I lost all the oil and destroyed everything.

One of my tranny shops is probably doing 3-5 of these t-cases a week. The oil field has been really hard on these.

Sam

The offending transfer cases are new venture 263xhd's,ALL duramax 4wd's,even the 07's,have them and from what I know the 8.1 vehicles have them too. The pump upgrade piece is 250$ from merchant automotive 1-866-399-7169
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/sho...d.php?t=125424
I'm not posting this thread to sell this piece so please don't delete it as I am not associated with merchant automotiive in any way,I'm posting this to save fellow duramax owners from a 1500-2200$ repair bill from running their t-cases out of oil. On a low mile vehicle the pump piece could be installed before transfer case is worn thru or has much wear with common sense and average mechaic skills,on a higher mileage vehicle plan on changing the rear t-case 1/2 ( about 300-350$)when installing the pump piece,even though it hasn't worn completely thru it will still be junk. Anyone in Mi in my area that needs this done can call the number on my signature if they need a installer,Smitty

Wipe off the tag and find the new venture designation on the back 1/2 of the t-case,it will be something like 263xhd or 246 or similar,Smitty

I wish you were closer, I wouldn't hesitate to use your services.

does this have to do with the alison transmision ?

Only on the 4 x 4 models