Colorado Yeti
Member
i just bought my 99' 2 Door Z-71 Tahoe about 1-1/2 months ago. It only has 54,000 miles on it and it is completely stock. I use the 4WD fairly often where I live and drove it to Eldora ski area last weekend during snowstorm. On the way back, I started hearing a horrible bearing noise coming from the middle of the vehicle that would go away when I would shift to 4WD. I limped back home and put it up on jack stands while running in 4WD. It sounded like a box of rocks was poured in the transfer case. I have a challenging new job and don't have time to work on my own vehicles anymore so I took it to my trusty local 4WD shop that I have known for the past 30 years.
When they pulled the transfer case apart, the rear main bearing fell apart in their hands. Multiple ball bearings were rattling around in the case. Luckily, all the gears were okay and the case is fine (miraculously). They are putting in new bearings, seals, chain & oil pump assembly and reinstalling it for a very good price. My fried Justin (who owns the shop with his dad) says that the previous owner had filled the transfer case with ATF and this particular case requires a very specific lubricant that is unique which was the cause of the premature failure.
Just posting this so others will be aware of this if they R&R their own New Venture 246 case. Every 4WD vehicle I have owned either uses 80-90W gear lube (aka DANA 20) or ATF. Not this one. You have to specifically buy the "Autotrac 2" fluid from GM directly. It's the blue shit.
When they pulled the transfer case apart, the rear main bearing fell apart in their hands. Multiple ball bearings were rattling around in the case. Luckily, all the gears were okay and the case is fine (miraculously). They are putting in new bearings, seals, chain & oil pump assembly and reinstalling it for a very good price. My fried Justin (who owns the shop with his dad) says that the previous owner had filled the transfer case with ATF and this particular case requires a very specific lubricant that is unique which was the cause of the premature failure.
Just posting this so others will be aware of this if they R&R their own New Venture 246 case. Every 4WD vehicle I have owned either uses 80-90W gear lube (aka DANA 20) or ATF. Not this one. You have to specifically buy the "Autotrac 2" fluid from GM directly. It's the blue shit.
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