Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Went off roading with my Hummer club today and broke my transfer case. Wasn't doing anything extrememe (I'll post pics tomorrow) and I heard the snap! Barely made it home in 4high lock since thats the only position it would move in.

Has anyone else had this happen? did your dealer cover it under warranty? My friends in the club told me that its covered and not a problem.

Just wondering. I have a puddle of oil forming in my driveway! Man can you hear that chain grinding the case!

I am happy to say that the H3 performed WAY above what I expected and a couple of the guys with Alpha's were surprised as well. IT was a fun day!

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

wow...that sucks -- what exactly were you doing when you heard the snap? (Speed, t-case setting, obstacle, etc)

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

I was going through a twist ditch or a Whoop dee as some call it and was climbing out and i heard the pop. Nothing extreme at all. About the same as the demo you would watch on the Hummer site for the H3.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

I am going to be real interested in hearing what failed in your case and how its handled by the dealer.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

+1

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Under warranty, the dealer should repair or replace. Those are pretty good BW transfer cases, but like anything else man made, some will slip through quality control.

What is the build date on your H3? I'm curious...

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Yeah, I wonder if it was June.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

f5fstop, I replied to your Pm with my VIN so you can check it out. Let me know.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

If you could drive in 4hiLock, I don't think its the t/case. Probably a diff.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Could be a couple things, such as lockup shift collar, high/low shift fork, shift cam, that could lock it in 4-wheel hi/low and allow the vehicle to be driven, with a lot of noise.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

How do you determine the build date of your H3?

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Dealer just called. They said the entire front differential suffered a catastrophic failure to which it basically exploded. Which would explain the fluid spraying everywhere. They also said that the transfer case was leaking and they would reseal it. I should have it back tomorrow. He said the techs have never seen a differential this bad.

All being covered under warranty.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Oops, another front diff; this is not good. That makes three on this forum alone. Strange, yours was made in August too. Makes me glad I have one of the first ones made.:D

Did the dealer get some photos? Was it a ring gear failure like Neo's and Bebe's? I wonder if AAM was having some problems back July; such as hardening of the gear set? Just wondering, but could lapping compound left on the gear set cause this type of ring gear failure? Anyone know? They did have that early problem with the rear axles and lapping compound left on the gear set during assembly. Just thinking to myself, I have no info on this, but I'm getting more curious as time goes on.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

I'll call the dealer in the morning and see if I can get more info/pictures to post.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

this is the first i have heard of one leaking after failing . do you know if it was more than a striped ring gear .

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Dang........ There's a lot of this going around in H3 land. :eek:

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

f5fstop,

don't forget HIHUMMER andSewie too. This makes 5 .:D

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Was it ever determined if we all had June 05 build dates!?!?:confused:

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

The lapping compound would not cause a fracturing of the gear, rather, it would lead to excessive backlash and a howling noise. The catastrophic failure is likely a manufacturing defect and American Axle is going to have alot of 'splainin to do, not to mention compensation to GM for warranty repairs.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

I never did get to see the actual damage to mine. But from the sounds of it, it wasn't nearly as bad. Just some small chips in the teeth from what I was told. I was actually able to drive it for about a week before I took it in. There was just a grinding noise whenever I let off the gas.

They originally noticed some wear on the t-case and rebuilt it. Then once it was put back together they noticed the front diff. Not sure if its all related. :confused:

And I purchased mine in early July '05 so it was probably a June build.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

As long as they had this issue fixed by the time mine was built :D

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Good thing you waited so long, huh? ;)

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

LOL As they say, good things come to those who wait :D

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Makes sense, but won't excessive backlash put more strain on the gear teeth? Not an expert in gears, unless they have electricity running through them.:D

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Technically yes, but it would make noise, and alot of it, long before it would sharpen the teeth to the point of fracture. Normal backlash is .005-.009", someone posted here that their's were measured at .022" with the lapping compound issue. But that brings an interesting variable as excessive backlash could break teeth under a heavy shock load, maybe I need to re-think my position. :confused:

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

That was me, the tech at the Moab 4x4 outpost is the person who said my backlash was .022. He even said that was a huge issue regarding the failure.

Someone then asked how could he know that, another expert said he could have simply turned the gear to measure.

Lapping compound was not an issue in my case.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

You probably know more than I do in regard to this area; but I'm learning fast.

As for Bebe's her failure was not due to excessive backlash or lapping compound. The only real lapping compound problems I have heard of are the early rear axles, and not all were affected. And, as you state, the noise gets people in at around 3-4K.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Just curious do all of the failed front diffs. have the off-road package with the 4:1 T-Case?

:( This is starting to look like a housing flex problem. What happens is that the differential gear teeth are tapered and they try to spread the diff. case apart when subjected to a high torque load. When the case spreads the teeth are no longer in proper mesh at that point (the teeth make a high flank contact similar to being setup with excessive backlash). A high flank contact severly loads the tooth on the ring gear and causes it to break away from the base of the ring gear. The measured .022" backlash would be indicative of a housing that was severly loaded enough to stretch the housing beyond it's elastic limit. The housing was sprung and never returned to it's original shape ( similar to overspreading a Dana housing too far when installing a gearset. A housing can be easily ruined if somebody gets carried away with the case spreader as they should never be spread more than a few thousands of an inch to facilitate getting the carrier and bearings back into the housing).

BTW- the tech that actually took time to do "failure analysis" and measure the backlash before removing the gearset is a pretty good tech. Most would never have bothered to take the time to check.;)

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

For what it's worth, mine does not have the adventure package.

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Interesting you bring this up, as case deflection is something I mentioned in my post in the other thread about the front diff grenading. I hope you are wrong otherwise we're going to see lots of these...

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

I think you (and rckrawl) are definitely on to something.....!

Questions:

If the flex causes the pinion gear to shear off ring gear teeth, then this would occur under extreme "Flex" conditions? With IFS???

If the case has been flexed, ring gear damaged, is the housing still useable???

Should I have the differential housing inspected? Replaced?

Would a housing made from a different material (H3's are aluminum) be more stable?

Is there any manufacturers who produce a Cast iron or some other type of Steel housing?

Regarding the tech, he was exceptional. The entire Crew at Moab 4x4 Outpost is exceptional.

Thanks!!!!

Bebe

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

thats what they did for me i have a nice shiney completely new front diff :D

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

:mad::mad::mad::mad:

I should have called Hummer like you did. Next time, slap me if I don't...K?

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

i might pinch you on the bottom , but I would never slap you :p well , i guess i could slap you on the bottom ;) :D

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

i should hope so Mr. Banzai driver ;) :D

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

No....It's BAM BAM :D;)

Re: Anyone else break their transfer case?
 

Seriously though,

If this is the issue, I can see not having a recall, but for as much wheeling as I do, I want the fix....before it breaks again.

5 extra days in Moab, well it was fun, but I do not want to do it again.:mad: