Dreams to Reality T-Case Build Ultrasonic Cleaning - Jacks Transmissions

Dreams to Reality T-Case Build Ultrasonic Cleaning - Jacks Transmissions

Jan 24, 2018Erik Blume

The Importance of Clean from Jacks Transmissions

This is our Omegasonics, 110gal Ultrasonic cleaner. Not many people have a cleaner like this. In fact, we know of no other business which specializes in engines and transmissions which uses cleaning equipment this advanced and expensive.

We have this cleaner set up with 2 baths.  On the right we have a bath with acid to help remove staining and any junk which may be hiding in case parts.  This bath can also be cleaned and flushed easily. The bath on the left is mild soap for steel components.  This area also has a filter and pump assembly to assure the water stays clean. Our cleaner also has a heater which can go up as high as 165 degrees to help cook out any contaminants which are a bit sticky.   

Looks like a fast-food fryer, but this unit is amazing and will pull garbage out of a part that you had no idea was contaminated!  Below is an example.  The picture is of an input shaft from an EVO 8 transmission.  Looks pretty clean doesn't it?  To the naked eye, you would think there are absolutely no contaminants in this part and it's ready to be installed.

We will carefully lower the shaft as it sits into the cleaner, in a white bucket, so we can see any junk which may come out:

15 minutes later, we pulled the bucket and drained the water from it.  It's difficult to see with our camera, but the spots you see in the bucket are metal flakes the ultrasonic pulled from the part and settled in the bucket! 


We tried to wipe some of it on our finger, but it is still difficult to see the metal. All of that metal would have ended up in your transmission, and that's only one part! The shaft looked clean and we ran it through our industrial spin-jet washer like 99% of other shops do only. Obviously, it was not enough for the 'true clean' we want to see from a part. Imagine the metal and contaminants which would come out of something like an engine block or transmission or transfer case, which has many tiny hidden recesses. This machine has proven to us that no matter how clean a part looks, or how much time we spend trying to clean it by hand, this machine will find more contaminants hidden and pull them out.

Removing contaminants from parts has become an obsession here and we are not happy until we know we have a truly clean part.

How does it work? Ultrasonic cleaning uses high frequency sound waves to agitate in a liquid. Cavitation bubbles induced by the agitation act on contaminants adhering to substrates like metals, plastics, glass, rubber, and ceramics. This action also penetrates blind holes, cracks, and recesses. The intention is to thoroughly remove all traces of contamination tightly adhering, or embedded, onto solid surfaces. In other words, your unit will be far cleaner with this process than some dude cleaning your parts in a solvent tank and basic parts washer who is physically unable to reach all areas for a thorough cleaning.  

Here we have an EVO transfer case which came in for a standard build. As you can see, the ring / pinion gear set has a failure which caused a massive amount of contamination and debris to completely coat the guts of this assembly. In other words … ewww and gross!! 


Can you see the sludge buildup under the inspection plate?

After running the pile of annihilation through a standard spin jet parts washer, it was time to see what the Ultrasonic could do. After about a half hour in the Ultrasonic, it was time to move the parts around.

This was done another time or two, to help ensure all the interior and exterior passages were free of the crud.

Now that the case internals are nice and clean, it is time to begin the assembly.

Here is a quick picture of the transfer case, partially assembled. Working with a squeaky clean assembly makes this part of the process nice and smooth.

Fully assembled and ready for the exterior to be coated and new seals installed.

There is some staining on the exterior due to how porous the cast aluminum is. Do not be fooled, though. The surfaces (and especially the interior) are very clean and are ready for the next step.

Now that the Transfer Case has been fully built, it is time to send it back home. However, the attention to detail does not stop here. Because we take great pride in everything we do, we include specially moulded shipping containers. This makes the shipping process much more efficient and helps to ensures that the package will arrive safe and sound.

The point is, anyone could blindly throw a bunch of parts together and hope they stick. In fact, I believe this is a common occurrence which happens in many shops. One of the many reasons why our clients choose us and our services are due to the cleanliness of our shop, our tools, our process, and of course, our products.

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