Stuff accumulates in there. Nothing to really worry about.

 

There is a vent hole in the pump plate where excess trans fluid will come out. It gets everywhere, and if there was any oil on the back of the engine like form the rear seal, it would wash some of that down as well. I have a nice slick coat of tranny fluid all over the underside of mine.....including cat and exhaust - shoUld stop smoking in a day or two (HOPEFULLY).

 

Yea I was looking for tranny fluid obviously, and thats not what I found near that weep hole. It was definately black sludge...there wasnt that much at all though...very little. The rear cooler line on the tranny is leaking at a pretty decent pace though. About a drop every 10 seconds or so if you wipe it dry between drops. I noticed when I had to dismount the tranny from the jack under the truck when I pulled it, it rolled slightly to one side (the tranny cooler fitting side) and munched that brass fitting just a wee lil bit. I fixed it up fairly well though. I'm gonna park it anyhow until I get the exhaust done and I'll probably try to reseal that brass flare connection with teflon tomorrow. I would just replace the fitting, but I'm scared to death of cracking that dang case.

 

Brass fittings just need to be good and snug, especially when screwing into aluminum. Most people tend to overtighten. I would proably replace the fitting and err on just snug and check for leaks, and if necessary tighten a little more. The flare is *******ly impossible to repair and have it seal correctly.

Good luck on exhaust. Are you going to just fix where you had to cut it or replace that system now?

 

Cat back system. Still shopping though so I'm not set on anything in particular yet.

 

Still haven't made a decision on exhaust. But the teflon tape seems to be holding up well for the rear cooler line leak at the brass fitting. I am however pretty mad that my transfer case is either too full of fluid or it needs new seals as well. There's always a drop ready to drip from the output shaft. It pools up right underneath the output shaft. It also seems to be leaking from where the output shaft housing bolts to the transfer case itself. Looks like it's been apart before and someone just used "The Right Stuff" (permatex black in a spray cheese can) for gasket material. I'm bummed its leaking back there though. Also like to note the fluid drained from the transfer case was either stock from 2001, or wasn't ATF+4. It was dark brown/black and super nasty. I wonder if the ATF+4 I put in there just ate away the gasket material like a solvent because it wasn't consistent with what was in there before...hmm

 

There is a seal at the end of the shaft housing, and I suspect they just used rtv at the housing to case surfaces.... don't even have to drop the t-case to fix. While you have the output housing off, you can also check your snap-ring, to see if it has abandoned ship yet......

 

So after a few hundred miles, I could't be more pleased. Well kinda...I seem to have a very quick 3-4 shift. It doesn't want to stay in third very long at all at normal 35-40 mph speeds even with O/D off. If your merging on the interstate, it almost feels like it just skips 3 and goes straight to 4 if your in the throttle pretty good. Kinda weird. Other than that, everything seems flawless. O/D is working great. Got my leaks stopped. Just this shifting problem is kinda throwing me for a loop.

 

Did you install the Sure Cure? If so, I think you can changea spring or add/subtract shims. Not sure, I'd have to pull sheets to see.