Rubber/Silicone Gasket Material Found Inside Transfer Case

[SuspectLJ]

Hey everyone, this post is semi-related to me last post here.

Long story short, i got my hands on a rubicon transfer case for free. When i drove the jeep i pulled it from it shifted smoothly and had no apparent issues.

Today i decided to drain the fluid and inspect it before i throw it in my jeep. The fluid was in decent condition and there were no metal chunks or shavings, however i did find a few strings of rubber or maybe silicone gasket material inside the fluid.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this? Am i overthinking this or is it cause for alarm?

From what i can tell the case doesn't look like it's ever been taken apart.

any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[billyp]

sure it wasn't on the threads of the plug? Pretty common to put some RTV on the plug threads so they don't leak.

 

[sab]

Yes, those are normal. When a transfer case is put together, RTV is used on the mating surface. When the bolts are torqued, the RTV bead flattens and squirts out, both inside the case and outside the case. Over time, it breaks off, and that’s what you’ve found - those broken-off pieces.

 

[SuspectLJ]

sure it wasn't on the threads of the plug? Pretty common to put some RTV on the plug threads so they don't leak.

i wish it was that but a bit of it was actually inside the case and i pulled some of it out

 

[SuspectLJ]

Yes, those are normal. When a transfer case is put together, RTV is used on the mating surface. When the bolts are torqued, the RTV bead flattens and squirts out, both inside the case and outside the case. Over time, it breaks off, and that’s what you’ve found - those broken-off pieces.

That makes a whole lot of sense and i defintely wouldn't have thought of that. Thanks!

 

[Rubiconned]

I pulled the same RTV strands off the edges of my diff covers.