Rockwell T221 Ran Dry

[Tito19]

(A little back story) So i finally get my 69 k20 running and DMV paper work done, I get over excited and forget to check the transfer case for gear oil and take her for a drive of about 2 miles. Today i go to change the T-case gear oil and nothing comes out.... i put my finger in the drain plug and feel that the gears are some what coated with oil but no real amount in the T-case. I fill her up and take her on the road (city/highway) as I'm getting on to the highway i hear a loud "clunk" I get her up to about 55mph then back home (total trip 6miles). So my question is how can i tell if my T-case wrecked or okay? Apologies for the long winded question but i thought it would.

[burnin oil]

Clunk may not of come from the tcase. Odds are that if the bearings are not whinning then you are fine. If it where mine I would top it off with cheap oil then drop both drive shafts off the case. Fire the truck up in gear and crawl under it and see if any odd noises are heard. After that I would drain the case and see if any metal chunks come rolling out. If you never drained the fluid previously and the case was low from the previous owner the oil will probably be pretty nasty. Change it out and just keep an eye on it from there.

[vectorit]

I'd just run it through 4hi and 4low to see if they still function correctly.

T-221's are noisy anyway, so if anything you probably just tuned the howl a bit

[Tito19]

Ok I'll do both. What's the worst that can happen if I keep running the t-case and there is something wrong with it? Any possible damage to transmission or engine? It goes from 2hi-N-4hi but no 4lo
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[Tito19]

Re- it never went in to 4lo, even before this happened.
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[vectorit]

If it goes into 4hi and runs along fine, but you can't shift into 4lo it's probably a linkage issue. Since the linkage on the 221 is kind of rickety.

[Tito19]

Thanks, ill check the linkage and see if something is off.

[burnin oil]

Worst case scenario is that the tcase locks up and so does the tires causing you to skid. That is the worst case but is no different than an engine, transmission, or rearend failure. Knew a guy in high school who blew up a t350 in a very hot chevelle at 100 miles an hour. shattered the trans and shot the driveshaft through the ring and pinion. Anything is possable but more than likely you would only break a gear or two and coast to the side of the road with no power getting to the wheels. This is what has happened to me with every broken trans I have had.

[snj8198]

Originally Posted by burnin oil

Worst case scenario is that the tcase locks up and so does the tires causing you to skid. That is the worst case but is no different than an engine, transmission, or rearend failure. Knew a guy in high school who blew up a t350 in a very hot chevelle at 100 miles an hour. shattered the trans and shot the driveshaft through the ring and pinion. Anything is possable but more than likely you would only break a gear or two and coast to the side of the road with no power getting to the wheels. This is what has happened to me with every broken trans I have had.

We want pics if this happens! Video's even better!! There's nothing like a live 4th of July event happening right under your feet!!!

[burnin oil]

That was years ago and I ran into him the next morning with a shopping cart at the auto parts store. I think he had one of everything in there!

[Tito19]

Does anyone know why the t221 parts on the RockAuto website have a description of 2 Speed; Full-Time for the National parts and 4WD; AWD for TIMKEN?

[maxwoof]

I think that is simply two different people trying to describe the same thing. I've bought seals from rockauto no problem. The Skf brand seems to be a little better than the others. The bearing numbers seem to be about the same between manufacturers. If you search, there is a Rockwell rebuild manual out ther that includes part numbers and bearing dimensions that is useful when looking for parts.

[Tito19]

Thanks maxwoof, ill see how much its going to set me back.