How warm should my overdrive get?

I did my normal commute today in and out of overdrive lots of hills avg speed 50mph.....When I got home I crawled under the jeep to check the overdrive... It was about 125 degrees. Is this normal operating temperature? The transfer case was about the same temperature. The transmission was much cooler around 95 degrees.

 

Check the transfercase is full and the oil is clean.

 

OD has been on for about 40 miles....fresh oil and level is good.

 

Assuming it is a freshly rebuilt transfercase and a new overdrive I would just keep an eye and ear open I don't think that is excessive. Check the break in directions for the overdrive.

 

Ok, I will do that.... It is a brand new Saturn Od, and I just went through the entire transfer case.....I drove it for awhile before I installed the OD....but I never crawled under and checked the temp. I followed the break-in instruction from advanced adaptors. The unit is shifting smoothly and works great, No strange noises or anything. I was just curious if anyone else ever checked the temp on their OD unit? I always figure when it comes to drive train parts if you can comfortably put your hand on it......its probably fine. IR heat guns do help take the mystery out of things though.

 

You DID put the oil scoop in it, right?

 

yes.... I was very careful with that portion of the install. I have heard some bad stories......

 

Thank you everyone for the advice. I will continue to keep an eye on the temp and oil level.

 

Yep, any working gearbox is going to be uncomfortable to touch, if not outright painful. 125 is likely normal and I'm sure 140 isn't uncommon. Nothing to worry about.

 

I think I am just paranoid because of how much time and money I have into everything.

 

One thing to add, the overdrive feeds off the transfer case oil so when first installed the overdrive will take some of the oil from the transfer case dropping the level of the transfer case oil. Make sure after it's driven for a few miles you recheck/add to fill the transfer case back up to where it should be. I had a customer not do this after being warned to check it after driving. He didn't, it was ugly.

 

I run the passenger side of mine up onto ramps and then fill the t-case. This makes it slightly overfull. I burned up an OD years ago from not checking the fluid often enough. I don't plan to do it again any time soon.

 

Even just running the right side tires up on a 2x6 to top off the transfer case will give you a touch more oil then when parked flat. Doesn't take much, but really needs to be watched. Virtually every OD that I have seen after running was run low on oil at some time or other.

 

Yes, I was wondering how much extra oil the OD would consume so I installed a brass 1/2 pipe 90 and a small extension with a cap into my fill plug.so I can over fill by 1/2 qt......I like the idea of tilting the entire jeep to overfill the t-case. That would likely be more convenient to fill than my awkward nipple setup....but I suppose the end result would be the same.

 

One other question I have is.....With the unit in "overdrive" the planetary gears are spinning...correct? so it would be creating more heat and friction thus requiring more lubrication than if it the unit was in "direct" drive??? or am I thinking about this backwards? The main bearing in the rear cap of the overdrive is always spinning isn't it? When an OD is damaged from lack of lubrication is the damage primarily to the Planetary or the large ball bearing? So many questions I know.. haha

 

I have 3 Warn overdrives with bad planetaries, so I would guess that is the failure point.

 

I ran the elbow and a fill tube thru the floor. On transmission and transfercase I'm going to make it flush and add a cover.

 

That is genius! It is a real pain for me to fill the dana 18 from underneath since my jeep is a 79 it has the big belly pan. I will have to look into this. If I use clear tubing I should be able to use that as a sight glass as well.

 

The one I killed ate up the planetaries too.