Transfer case issue....snows a'comin'....damn

[joslin8807]

so im new to here so heres a little background on me. i got a 1990 f250 7.3idi with a 5 speed. last week it was -20 here with wind chills -45 with snow drifting like a scene from dune. well i want to work that morning against my wife saying dont.....should have listened....the road i travel down to go to work was drifted over and i didnt see it till the last second....boom....right into a 2.5 ft drift 3/4 of a mile long...well gotta work through it right...so down into 4H i go and get through it...get to work and stay there for 3 hrs and get sent home.......yep that was worth my time. but anyway...get home now i have no 4H or 4L....thought my hubs were frozen thawed em out but still no 4x4...so i put the tcase in N and locked the hubs and tried to give the front driveshaft a spin...well no spin so hubs are good....4H and 4L lights come on the dash when shifted but i hear what sounds like clicking (like splines spinning on each other) and the truck tries to engage will for a second and spin the fronts then it wont and the clicking comes back...any ideas?

 

[1466IH]

is it possible to have bent a shift fork and the gears wont slide together right?

 

[joslin8807]

it will shift just fine between i dont have to force but they dont just slide in. you can feel the "clunk" when you shift it from 2H to 4H and down the line

 

[1466IH]

i am not gonna say too much because i dont know how these cases work but if a fork is bent it could move the gear enough to start grabbing but when it starts gettn a load it backs out

 

[joslin8807]

thats about what it feels like because my wife buried her lumina in our 1/2 mile drive way and i noticed the sounds when i went to get her pulled out. im going to do some figuring after work and play with the shifter and see if i pull it a bit at a time if it will engage at some point

 

[Zaggnutt]

I had issues with mine not engaging properly recently. My problem was an automatic to manual tranny swap and the Previous Owner (PO) used the incorrect linkage length. If it is shifting through but not engaging, you may want to check underneath at linkage arms for bends, loose or torn bushings that connect them. Also, it is helpful to watch and listen underneath while someone else is in the cab shifting through...

Underneath truck looking up at plunger and linkage...

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Linkage connected to plunger. You can see mine looks bent... but that is the "linkage" I am referring to. Top of pic is the transfer case where linkage enters.

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Not saying you had a tranny swap or any of that, but linkage inspection is a place to start. Hopefully the problem is happening OUTSIDE the transfer case...

 

[joslin8807]

yea i hope so too. ive had this truck 2yrs. it used to be a asphalt company truck. i wanna get this fixed cuz im trying to sell it. i dont want to but with 2 kids and one on the ways we all cant fit in the standard cab. im going to look at a 96 f350 crewcab powerstroke tomorrow

 

[riotwarrior]

Welcome to OB finest place for info on these old trucks

Lets just go with a bit of info...worked...now don't...won't shift correctly into 4H or 4L but you do maintain 2H correct?

Sounds to me like the shifter fork bushings are toast and not getting the gears to engage fully and makes a buzz/whirr as you describe.

They are plastic/teflon what every they are made of..bushing on the shifter fork tips and this sounds like what's going on to me.

Don't know your mechanical skill level so cant make suggestions to repair it yourself. I can say it's not BRAIN surgury but it is not changing spark plug on a Briggs n Straton either.

Since here look in FAQ and TECH sections and HALL OF SHAME....fill in your signature and kick back

Again welcome to OB

Al

 

[Zaggnutt]

Riotwarrior knows his stuff. Any advice he has I would take as fact. Check out this thread I started when I was having issues..

http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?66651-4x4-H-gets-skipped&highlight=

Look for posts by "LCAM...". He had some serious transfer case issues in the past and is a wealth of information as well plus he had some transfer case pics he linked me to. Not to sell anyone short because I've been here since October? 2013 and have had many issues helped and solved by many contributors.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

Get your truck someplace warm, get everything thawed out, climb under your truck and inspect all your shift linkages. Then remove everything that could be binding and shift the transfer case manually from underneath, making sure you are hitting all the stops physically. Now see if your transfer case is working properly. I've seen lots of iced up external shift linkages make a mess of a transfer case during a super cold snap. Good luck.

 

[joslin8807]

thanks guys. a little background on me. im 25 and a mechanic at a dodge dealership....yea i know....anyway... im trying to get this worked out. i just had a guys offer me a trade for Ol' Red (what my wife calls her) this guy has a 92 f350 crew cab dually 2wd with a 7.3 idi and a banks sidewinder on it. he wants a 4x4 truck and is wanting to trade. well ol red aint worth nothing if i cant get this figured...today im gunna pull the linkage apart and try manually shifting it from underneath. the thing i find weird is that it hits neutral every time and if i mess with the shift lever in the cab i can get it to engage....thoughts

 

[NO_SPRK]

Hate to spam up a thread. After moving a t case yesterday I saw the shifter linkage said e4od on it so yes proper linkage is important and easy to find... If you have a junk yard near by

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[riotwarrior]

I"m going with shift fork bushings, only as a presumption of stock linkages and no change in transmissions so all should work well.

It could very well be the shift linkage and seeing it's ON the OUTSIDE of the tcase, it's the first point to check...

As said get it thawed out and check it.

I'd strongly suggest popping the flat bar linkage OFF the tcase, then work that arm manually and see what you can get. If you do indeed get it all to work then it's linkage, if manually actuating the tcase linkage as said, does not work then you know it's internal and requires some simple plastic bushings on the forks.

When actuating the tcase manually under the truck, see if you can "feel" excess play as if said bushings are missing.

If you are a mechanic, this is a simple procedure actually to fix if internal.

JM2CW

Al

 

[joslin8807]

Ok so new development. I checked the linkage all seems tight. i came down my driveway this morning and almost stuck it. i worked it into 4L and it engaged as long as i kept they rpms down. if i had them climb the grinding came back. so i had a thought and wanted to test it. i unlocked my hubs and put it in 4H. no noise shifts fine then 4L. same thing....is it maybe my lock outs not completely engaging...i ran with them unlocked and in 4H all the way to work with no problem. i might go and tear down my lock outs tonight and see whats going on.

 

[joslin8807]

So just to let everyone that was helping me know. Im an idiot........when I replaced my front pads and rotors in august, I put the front throw out splined pieces in backwards. Switched em around and cleaned everything and we got 4x4 again thanks for all that helped

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