worn chain again only two months old

[droid]

i replaced the chain in my 96 with a np 231 in it about two months ago and now it is shot again..never wheeled with new chain yet....the guys at the transmission shop said that i should have used lucas gear oil or gear lube and not atf...they said that was the cause of my chain stretching again....what else could be causing this?..and is it ok to use gear oil instead of atf

[davelbert]

Did you change it personally or did your "trusted mechanic" do it? gear oil might protect better but won't let the T-case shift effectively.

[Rev Den]

ATF is the reccomended fluid....there are several hundreds of thousands of XJ running around with ATF in the Xfer case with no problems.

IF your chain is streching...there is something else wrong....it aint the fluid.

Rev

[droid]

i changed it myself. at first i put gear lube in it but it made a howling noise..then i dropped the gear lube and replaced it with atf and the noise went away after a while..they said the atf dosent cool enough the the laser thermometer said 134 degrees...when he checked it there a lot of fluid that came out before it was at the fill level...i changeg the chain with the case still in the vehicle so there was no way to over fill the case...i dont really understand how this is happening again

[Rev Den]

How long did you run it with the wrong lube?
What viscosity gear lube?
Did you change the chain after the gear lube, or is this the chain we are now refering to?
Did you buy a quality chain?
JMHO -

Change the chain.....clean out the xfer case, and refill using the correct lube...that would be ATF.

Rev

[Oizarod115]

a shop rebuilt my brothers 242 and within 8 months it was shot again, completely gone. (they used gear oil in it)
gear oil is death for a jeep x-fer case.

[droid]

i ran it about a week with 80w90 gear lube...i changed the chain first then filled it with gear lube..i bought the chain as a oem replacement from a local off road shop...as far as i know it is a good quality chain it is a little thicker than stock but it installed fine...i checked for clearance before final assembly and all was ok...thanks for the help

[Oizarod115]

not sure but i dont think a week of the wrong lube wouldve killed it... but it could be that your oil pump died causing it to not lube correctly even with the right lube. have you ever replaced that? could be the reason the first chain stretched.

[droid]

the case was dry when i changed the original one...i havent changed the oil pump yet is ther any way of checking that it works or not

[Rev Den]

Dead oil pump makes sense.

I would wait until daylight to see what some of the more experianced members think.

Rev

[8Mud]

Are you sure it's the chain and not the front output shaft? Try pushing the front shaft yoke sideways, there should be near zero side play. I've stretched a couple of chains and/or had them jump the sprocket gears on me. It took a lot of abuse to get them stretched, I mean like almost full throttle against an immovable object. Kind of a toss up wether the chain is gonna jump or a universal joint is gonna explode.
I'd guess worn front (and/or main) shaft bearings allowing for excessive slop in the chain and/or excessively worn chain sprocket gear teeth.
I can see a lot of things wearing because of the wrong fluid or low fluid or a bad pump, but the chain really doesn't seem to be one of them. The chain splash lubricates anyway.
My chain eventually got so loose, that when I put it in 4X and throttled up a bit, it would jump the sprocket and make a terrible chunk, chunk, chunk noise. I managed to replace it in time, before the sprocket teeth got messed up too much.
Take a look at the front output shaft bearings. And side play in the shaft.

[langer1]

Sounds like you need more than just a chain, put a full rebuild kit in this time.
Putting a new chain on old sprockets seldom will hold up.
Because you said you have not even wheeled it with the new chain, the only thing that could have stretched the new chain is bad sprockets.

[old_man]

Langer is right. If the chain is stretched too far, it will have damaged the sprockets.

[72charger]

last year my tcase lost all of its fluid due to a very slow leak over time I didnt notice becuase there wasnt ever a puddle udner the case. Plus i was on a long drive on the highway, so i assume the niose (from lack of fluid) got prograssivly worse and I didnt notice it duw to radio/ friends int the back. I eventually heard it as it got loud and with no fluid to lubricate it shook. Boy did I feel stupid. I left it at a truck stop, next day came back and refilled T-case with ATF, drove it around the area for 5 miles or so, dropped it again, notice some nicly colored metal shavings in teh fluid i dropped, and refilled 3/4 with normal ATF, and 1/4 with same grade ATF w/ sealer. I have always just refille dit every couple of weeks. It inly loses 1/4 cup a month. I dint have a problem until I went to put it in 4x4 2 weeks ago, and it seems liek it wants to slip out, i hear a mild grinding in 4high only when i rev the engine hard. I assume this means stretched chain. So just aheads up on my story to help anyone it can. I plan on swapping out teh chian soon, and at teh same time fixing the slow leak.i love this site!