Transfer Case Pump Upgrade Kit

July 20th, 2011 First of all Merchant Automotive was excellent! Their product knowledge and willingness to discuss problems and solutions via phone and email was incredible. In todays fast paced world of click and buy without any quality customer service these guys stand out head and shoulders above the rest. I have a 2003 Chevy Silverado 1500 Z71 ext cab 4wd pickup with 102,000 miles. The transfer case pump wore a hole through the rear half of my case. GM would do nothing for me other than give me a credit voucher towards a new vehicle. What a joke, this transfer case pump rub problem is like a rampant engineered virus that, in my research and opinion, WILL infect your vehicle if you have the model of transfer cases mentioned on this website at some time/mileage. So purchase the case saver and their fluid, install both and don't worry about it ever again. You will not be disappointed by Merchant Automotives' knowledge, customer service or products!

My friend had his 01 duramax transfer case replaced for 3K after the pump rub issue killed it dead. I have an 04 and decided to look into a solution. After looking around I went with the MA kit, the instructions on line were great, I bought the snap ring tool from MA as well just to make life easier. It was a smooth operation and the install was not that difficult. The part fit well and is top quality compared to the GM OEM clip. The new GM clip that they recommend for a fix looks like a joke. I am glad I took the case apart becase you could already see the wear marks at 71K miles. MA is great to deal with and they ship fast. Thanks

We just did the upgrade a few days ago. The new Pump Housing is just awesome. It is what the original design should have been. A new set of bolts would have been nice, because we had a little difficulty removing two from the original pump housing. They were just too tight. We came close to damaging the torx head. We agree with Scott about the printed instructions regarding putting the rear case half back on. We used the lock ring pliers, but they still didn't open wide enough for us as well. At the store we were told there was no bigger size for the pliers. In contemplation afterwards, we thought that sliding two pieces of 3/16" rubber hose over the knurled part of the pliers might have given the extra bit we needed. The rubber hose surface may also have helped keep the ring on the pliers. We have "modified" the pliers as such now, and it looks like this approach would have helped. However, we are not taking the case apart to try this out. We would, nevertheless, suggest anyone doing this repair next try the rubber hose trick if they are having difficulties with the lock ring. All in all, if you have a little mechanical aptitude, some tools, and a friend to help you, the pump upgrade is really not that difficult. Regarding MA's customer service: Shipping was very prompt. Packaging was very good and solid. When we ordered, we were in a little bit of rush, so we ended up ordering two redundant parts. MA caught this and contacted us via email to see if we really needed the extra parts. They took it off the order before things shipped. We are very satisfied with MA and its products and wholeheartedly recommend MA as the first stop in shopping.

This was a very good repair to do and I highly recommend it with the M-A upgrade kit. This was the second time we went through the pub rub issue; the first time was dealer "repaired" but not resolved--they only replaced the rear half of the t-case. The main issue for me was performing the steps involving the release of the lock ring and the re-engagement of the lock ring upon re-assembly. The instructions were clear but I think they could've been a little more clear involving these particular steps and is the sole reason why I am rating this 4 of 5 stars. M-A was terrific to work with; they were very patient with my questions and helpful in their responses. I would do business with them in the future. Regarding the installation of the upgrade itself the few bits of feedback I have are the following. 1) Make sure to have lock ring pliers that open wide enough to disengage the lock ring completely. The pliers I have from the local parts store weren't quite wide enough. 2) When removing or disengaging the lock ring upon disassembly, I found that pointing the rear output shaft vertically caused the main shaft to literally drop out of the lock ring when the ring was opened wide enough. This orientation was really helpful from M-A support. 3) Upon reassembly of the rear half of the case following the posted instructions caused the bearing to become bound against the lock ring and everything was rendered immovable. The best way I found was to keep the lock ring spread open while replacing the rear housing. BEFORE torquing the 17 15mm bolts make sure the main shaft bearing is captured by the lock ring and that the lock ring is properly seated/engaged in the rear housing. This was the only way the rear half would go back together in my experience (t-case NPG 246). Lastly, I opted to go the safe route and have my local indy remove and replace the t-case. This was a worthwhile repair.

So I purchased this kit almost 3 years ago and finaly got around to doing the kit, I must say if I would have known it would of been this easy I would have done this alot sooner. Anyways the other day I drained my transfer case fluid and shure enough there was part of the clip stuck to the maganet..