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I did some dune driving in my 2000 Forester a little while back and the tranny wouldnt go back into Hi range so I had to do about 100kms in Lo range. I only did it at about 80km/h.

Now.... Lo range is a lot winey-er (if thats a word) and when idleing in Lo but the main gear in neautral there is a gentle rattle.

The vehicle operates fine but I am concerned about the noises.

I was wondering do these setups have a seperate area for the transfer case that requires oil of its own. If so how do I check it for level and oil quality?

im pretty sure it all runs off the one sump/oil dipstick etc.

it may be signs of an iminant main bearing failure. could also be your thurst bearing too.

its quite hard to say. Defiantely change your gearbox oil tho. It may have got hot in the dunes or something. Put some relatively high quality oil in it, it'll love you for it!

alex

That sounds bad. The low range is in the same section as the rest of the gearset so uses the same oil. It shouldn't have got stuck in low, so something's not right.