Posted by David Sherman on July 25, 2000 at 23:02:03:
In Reply to: Are np201's normally noisy posted by John S on July 25, 2000 at 19:42:26:
I had a transfer case that gradually went from "is this noisier than it
ought to be?" to "screaming like a banshee so loud that I had to wear
earmuffs" over about 700 miles of driving. It turned out to have some
pitted bearing races which of course just get deeper and deeper and even
shattered a roller in one bearing. I would first make sure it's the T-case
and not the tranny or diff. Then just keep driving it and see if it gets
louder. If you've got a bad bearing, it's bad already and so you've nothing
to loose by making it worse. If it doesn't get any louder and there's no
metal on your magnetic drain plug or in the bottom of the oil, just figure
it's normal. Oh also feel and see if it gets hot. "pretty warm" is normal.
"too hot to even briefly touch" is not.