Attesa Reservoir Air Pocket

[tricstar]

Haha. That's pretty much what I thought was going on as per post #11.

Good investigating

Might be worth flushing the system completely all the way through to where it screws into the transfer.

[Gareth]

It looks as though i have my air pocket issues sorted. Replaced the reservoir with a second hand item from a 33 that was in much better condition, now the little filter thing in the reservoir is letting the air out and it's no longer building up and causing issues......onto the next issue..there always seems to be something

[SandalsBoy]

Thanks for posting this fix. I dont have this issue with mine... yet... but its certainly frustrating when people dont share their knowledge.

So thanks! Im sure someone will find this extremely useful and time saving.

[Gareth]

Ok, so that wasn't the end of the story, problem was much better but still a problem. I noticed my Attesa pump was a little noisy and figured the accumulator was probably empty causing the pump to run way more than it should so I changed the accumulator (approx $300 from RHDjapan).

What a difference! now when bleeding the front bleed nipple i get a nice constant stream of fluid with pump kicking in intermittently as opposed to before where pump would go non stop, also fluid returns to reservoir much quicker after engine has been turned off (majority within 6 hours, all within 12) whereas before it was taking 3-4 days!! Most importantly no sign of any air pocket! Have been for a couple of drives (maybe around 900km) and nothing at all, no air...........Hallelujah!!!

Wish i had changed the Accumulator ages ago, wondering how long my pump will last now (given that it's making some noise)... don't fancy having to buy a new one @ $3200! I wonder how many people are just driving around with empty accumulators and dont even know.

anyway hopefully that's the last of it, and this helps out someone in the future.

[flavzz]

I searched this thread as i seem to have a similar issue. I have a significant overflow in the reserve bottle and fluid all over my transfer case. Im not sure if it's leaking from a seal just yet. Are there any open breathers it can leak from on the transfer case? Could it be gear oil from the gearbox leaking down? I only noticed it today and havent had a chance to get a proper look. Any thoughts?

Some relevant background info : Also when my car was on the dyno it could not overcome the inertia of the rollers on the front wheels. This pointed to issues with the tc. Since then i replaced the atf fluid in tc and attempted to bleed the system, however the attessa pump did not seem to be working. The front wheels seem to be pulling and the torque gauge is lively under acceleration or wheel spin.

[Gareth]

Can you hear the pump pressuring the system when you turn on the ignition? it should prime for about 5 seconds and the fluid level in the attesa reservoir will drop about an inch.

Given that your front wheels are getting no drive i would say either your pump is dead or the clutches in the transfer case are totally worn out, probably the former.

the torque gauge on the dash just shows the amount of power the computer wants to send to the front not how much power IS getting there....not sure about the leaking fluid, i think there is a breather on top of the gearbox and also the transfer case but i don't know why it would be leaking out

Your issues sound expensive, good luck

[flavzz]

Sorry i may have explained this poorly in my last post.

The car was not getting much front drive when i first bought it. Then it was dyno'd where it was noticed. Fluid was changed and bled only after the first dyno run. It hasnt been on a 4wd dyno since so i cannot confirm or deny if the issue was completely fixed.. I cannot recall if the pump primed or not but I can confirm only a small amount of fluid came out when priming the system, i expected a steady stream.. Maybe its time to try again... HOWEVER...when driving and pushing the car hard out of a corner, especially in the rain you can feel the front wheel drive straghten out the front end so im pretty certain changing the fluid helped the transfer case somewhat.

Question - if the pump is faulty will the tc work at all? I heard the torque gauge is a pressure sensor which would only show readings when there is pressure in the tc (hence the pump is working)..?

[tricstar]

The transfer case can only work if the pump is applying pressure. And no the gauge does not work off a pressure sensor and as said only shows what torque the computer would like to send to the front.

[flavzz]

Ok cheers. I'll report back after another bleed and try narrow down where the leak is coming from