08 Cayenne S Trans Case Fluid Level

[HBP]

Just changed the transfer case fluid in our 08 Cayenne S.  I understand the capacity is 850 ml, so measured the old fluid and only about 675 ml came out.  No signs of leaks anywhere.  Could the difference be due to the rest still coating the internals?

 

Refilled with a 850 ml container of Porsche p/n 000-043-30-563 and the level was about 1/4" down from the fill plug opening.  Expected it to be higher.  Does this sound correct or should I pick up another container and fill until it starts to come out the fill plug opening?

[JFP in PA]

11 hours ago, HBP said:

Just changed the transfer case fluid in our 08 Cayenne S.  I understand the capacity is 850 ml, so measured the old fluid and only about 675 ml came out.  No signs of leaks anywhere.  Could the difference be due to the rest still coating the internals?

 

Refilled with a 850 ml container of Porsche p/n 000-043-30-563 and the level was about 1/4" down from the fill plug opening.  Expected it to be higher.  Does this sound correct or should I pick up another container and fill until it starts to come out the fill plug opening?

 

About average.  First of all, these units do not drain 100%, and some people drain them, add some fluid, then drain them again to try and flush out all the old fluid.  In the shop, we drain out all that will come out and then refill them to the correct level, which is important.  Get more fluid and correct the level; these units are too expensive to replace over a small amount of additional fluid.

[HBP]

Thanks for the reply JFP.  So the correct level should be when fluid just starts to come out the fill plug hole?  I did get all but maybe a tablespoon or two of the new container in, and that's what was left in the transfer tool as you can see below.  That's the old fluid in the clear container.  About 108k on it now, not sure if the PO ever had it changed.

 

Edited December 14, 2017 by HBP

[JFP in PA]

With the vehicle level, you should fill until it starts coming out of the fill port.  If you get too much in, let it drain until it reaches the bottom of the port, replace the plug and torque to specs (20 ft. lb.).  Then it is Miller time.................

[HBP]

Sounds good!  Maybe what I'll do is pick up new drain and fill plugs (I reused the old ones and all seems fine) along with another container of the fluid, drain the fluid I just put in into a clean container, then refill with the brand new fluid and top off with some of what I took out.  Kind of like a flush but non intentional.

[HBP]

Just wanted to give a quick update to this thread.  Picked up the supplies and drained the new fluid I'd put in almost 2 months ago.  Was a little surprised at how dark it was as shown in the pic below.  I can see why some do the flush now.  

 

It was fairly cold in the garage and the transfer case was cold, as soon as I took the fill plug out fluid started coming out.  So I'm wondering if maybe the reason I wasn't able to refill to the top last time was because I'd warmed the transfer case up before draining and that expanded the case and increased the volume?  This time when I refilled, it did come out the fill plug and I had just a bit left in the container.

 

 

[lewisweller]

23 hours ago, HBP said:

Just wanted to give a quick update to this thread.  Picked up the supplies and drained the new fluid I'd put in almost 2 months ago.  Was a little surprised at how dark it was as shown in the pic below.  I can see why some do the flush now.  

 

It was fairly cold in the garage and the transfer case was cold, as soon as I took the fill plug out fluid started coming out.  So I'm wondering if maybe the reason I wasn't able to refill to the top last time was because I'd warmed the transfer case up before draining and that expanded the case and increased the volume?  This time when I refilled, it did come out the fill plug and I had just a bit left in the container.

 

 

I did mine drain refill a few times. It always drained about 950ml and refilled about the same. 

As long as it comes out of the fill plug it's enough. Let it drain any excess from the fill plug. Level car is important. 

[HBP]

I didn't let it drain too long this time compared to last, but about 800 ml came out, 125 more than last time.  And when I put the fill plug back in, there was just a tad still coming out.

 

Interesting that the dealers list the container as being 1L as does the sticker they put on the bottle with the order and part number, but the actual label says 850 ml

 

Out of curiosity, I may pull the fill plug again after a long drive when the transfer case is hot and check the level just to see if the case temperature does affect the level.