And the Dumb and Dumber act of the day goes to...
After draining two quarts of CVT fluid a few days ago and replacing it with two quarts of Marvel Mystery Oil, my pressure readings have been getting better, and today I saw the best pressure ever at .65/.66. I hit 298,000 miles and MO's running great. So, I decided to revisit the transfer case, something that really wasn't necessary given the conditon of the rear differential oil. But, I was curious...
The drain plug spun out very easily with a 10mm hex-socket and 1/2" drive ratchet with 10" extension. During the reinstallation process, I was talking for the video about certain aspects of MO, and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing while tightening the drain plug. When I finally looked at the plug, I had spun it in too far and cracked the casing. Besides my lack of focus and prevailing stupidity, the other major factor was that I didn't switch to my 3/8" drive ratchet and extension for reinstallation, both of which were lying right beside me for that exact purpose. Instead, I had grabbed and used the 1/2" drive which was way too much leverage for installing a plug in cast metal, especially if not paying attention.
For the first time in my mechanical life, I actually did major damage to something I was trying to fix. As I mentioned in another post, the one thing I hate about recording work is that it can make me lose focus by feeling compelled to entertain the viewer. I'm kind of laughing in disbelief that I've come this far with MO only to sabotage the ending by doing something highly stupid and preventable.
I removed the drain plug, cleaned up the cracks, and loaded up the plug with RTV sealant and smeared it into and around the cracked housing and will let it cure the night before refilling the TC. If this doesn't work, I'll drain it again, clean it up and press some liquid weld into it and let that cure. I might even gunk up the plug with liquid weld to try to seal everything, making draining it that way impossible. But, I only need to make it another 1950 miles...