yes, just noticed the small sump below the bolt.

Martin,

Because the volume of oil is small the time to drain is not very long (a few minutes assuming everything is warm)


Alex,

You are correct that I can't get 100% of the oil out, but I did manage to get more out this way then I could remove using a hose from the fill port.

It's not obvious from the pictures but to get more oil out I had to lift from the opposite side with a jack.

The casting is thick so the sump is not as deep as it appears in the picture.


Thanks for the comments.

Paul

No doubt you can do a easy flush with your mod. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

Here's another write up showing the same mod on a volvo http://volvospeed.com/volvo_repairs_how_to...rvice.html

Ricky,

Thanks for posting the Volvo link.

If I do develop a leak then I will use the Teflon tape first that is a good tip.


Just a follow up, its been two weeks (about 200 miles) and no leak so far.

See the attached picture.

Happy motoring

Paul

Did mine about 18 months back and still no leaks.
to help protect the thread whilst drilling i did use a hollow tube in the bolt hole to help guide and protect the thread, also flushed about a ltr through the box before refilling to remove any swarf and old oil

Is it not likely that you'll create some swarf inside the unit drilling into it, or are you relying on any shards coming straight back out with the oil? I think it's a great idea but personally I'd be scared to do it with the transfer box in situ.

If I was having a PTU or a diff reconditioned though I'd request a drain plug be fitted to both for sure.

De1979,

I did drill out the drain hole with the transfer box full of oil.

The drill bit that I used was very small and it did a good job of removing the aluminum.

I did drill slowly to minimize the chance that aluminum would get into the oil.

And because the case is full of oil the oil helped to carry away the last few pieces of aluminum as the drill entered the oil.



I'll let you know if I have any problems.

Although its unlikely that I will have any problem; steel gears won't be slowed by aluminum shavings.


For reference my rear differential does have some steel particles in it and by changing the oil and collecting the steel particles with a magnet I've gone 60K miles since I first noticed the noise.

I guess someday I will need to change the pinion bearing in the rear differential.

Maybe when I cross the 200K mark, for now its silent and I only change the oil about every 20K miles and I clean the steel dust off the magnet.

Based on this I think its unlikely that a little bit of aluminum will destroy my transfer box.


Happy Motoring

Paul

Hi Paul

Have you not considered doing something similar for the rear diff? Or are you happy to just suck that oil out? I'm guessing the rear diff would need something properly fabricating onto it rather than the convenient bolt you've found on the transfer box.

DE1979,

I have thought about it.

If I can find a simple solution I will post it here.

Happy motoring

Paul

Is it just me or does this look like it wants to be a drain plug? It's sealed and unthreaded though.

Click image to enlarge

p_gill wrote:

40,000 miles I first hear the noise of the bearing the dealer indicates that they can't duplicate the problem

50,000 miles warranty ends, I change the fluid in the differential (the old fluid is full of small air bubbles, it should have been changed sooner)

55,000 miles I place a strong magnet on the fill bolt of the differential (some magnetic particles are attracted to the bolt)

80,000 miles switch to a drain plug with the magnet built in (clean periodically to remove magnetic particles)

90,000 miles the drain plug magnet is nearly free of magnetic particles

Hi

I know your post is 2 years old and this is technically a thread about the PTU... but having read your comments I changed my diff oil today (70k motorway miles) and thought I'd stick a few pics up. To me the oil didn't look too bad for the first 500ml. The camera makes it look darker than it appeared in real life and you could still see through it if held to the daylight.

However the last 200ml as I sucked up the bottom of the diff was heavily laden with tiny metal particles which quickly settled on the bottom of the tub I drained into. I have no doubt at all that there is still much metal in there sat on the bottom that I didn't get. I drained it straight after a run in the hope that any metal would be still suspended in the oil but clearly it settled to the bottom very quickly. Not sure how you'd ever get it out with a proper drain plug.

My oil also had plenty of bubbles, but then so did the fresh stuff when I poured it into the cup. However coming back to both a few hours later and there are no bubbles.

Unfortunately fresh oil has made no discernible difference to my droning noise.

Can you show some pictures of the set up you used to drain the oil? I did mine last week but was only ale to get 500ml out of the box. Getting the tube past the gears was pretty challenging and I wasn't able to get all the way to the bottom of the casing. I'm probably going to have another try in a week or so and would like to see what others are using.

Thanks in advance.

DE,

look at this video to see the inside of the housing




Possible drain plug locations for the rear differential

1. the location that you indicated - note: this will require drilling thru a lot of aluminum and it is not the lowest point in the housing

2. Drill a small hole in the small rectangular depressions shown in your picture this area is thin and it would be easy to make a hole, sealing it may be more difficult

3. Remove one of the lower bolts and drill a small a small hole at an angle (similar approach to what I did for the the front power transfer unit but the drilling needs to angle up) Note: this is the low point of the housing

Some pics
1. Sample of rear diff oil
2. Magnetic drain plug after cleaning
3. Steel particles and sludge wiped onto white paper
4. Steel particles and sludge on the magnet (its been a few months since the last time I cleaned it)
5. Steel particles and sludge on the magnet











Happy motoring

Paul

Last edited by p_gill on 15th Apr 2017 9:53 pm. Edited 1 time in total

TX,

For the from PTU it is very difficult to get the tube past the gears, I used a very small diameter tube and it took a while.

The qty of oil removed was only 500 ml for the front.



For the rear differential it wasn't nearly as difficult and I believe that more than 500 ml came out but I didn't measure how much.

I didn't use anything fancy just a small diameter clear piece of tubing

Good Luck

Paul