Could the transfer case cause a no gear situation?

[fourty03]

I was driving about 25 - 30mph and went to pass a vehicle to get through a narrow lane and upon hitting the gas to go maybe an additional 8mph (850rpm to 1500rpm) the truck acted like the transmission was placed into neutral.

The engine revved and nothing happened. The truck was in [D] and luckily I had enough momentum left to get the truck out of traffic. No amount of revving would move the truck.


I finally got out of traffic coasting and placed it in park. - As Im putting it in Park from Drive, the transmission was grinding. I shut the engine down and then threw it in Park. I started it back up and tried reverse (thinking maybe the linkage was busted) and the reverse lights came on and the truck just revved with no movement what so ever.

I place it into drive and no movement what so ever. It just revvs no matter the position the stalk is in. I inspected the linkage and it's fine. I then pulled the OBDII reader on and switching gears corresponds to the scanner screen...

The only code showing is the p1832 which is the 2wd solenoid failure. I then put the truck in 4hi and got the big clunk and I was able to move the truck at high RPM...


I've been trying to research this to death but keep second guessing myself.

Would anyone have any suggestions of where I can look? Thanks in Advance!


Wanted to add: The TCIL light is not blinking nor can I pull any tranny codes. The overdrive button on the shifter comes on and the PID shows the truck recognizes a depressed action (TCIL : DEPRESSED) (TCIL: ON) (TCIL: OFF)

 

[Bedrck47]

Just a simple question. Have you checked the trans fluid level?

 

[stamp11127]

The 2000 model transfer case does show a clutch pack. I would suspect that they would be similar for your year.
I would believe a transmission issue before the transfer case failing unless you have been hot dogging it off road.

FYI - never rev an engine when the transmission indicates a possible failure. Should it go in gear while you are doing that you may hear the sound of larger metal pieces turning into smaller metal chunks.

 

[fourty03]

Just a simple question. Have you checked the trans fluid level?

Yep, and I was hoping maybe that was the case to minimize diagnosing the problem.. It's full and a good deep pink color. Does not smell burnt and no codes in the PCM (no p700 codes).

The 2000 model transfer case does show a clutch pack. I would suspect that they would be similar for your year.
I would believe a transmission issue before the transfer case failing unless you have been hot dogging it off road.

FYI - never rev an engine when the transmission indicates a possible failure. Should it go in gear while you are doing that you may hear the sound of larger metal pieces turning into smaller metal chunks.

I looked up on Identifix and saw a few cases where "no movement" in reverse or forward was a transfer case. What keeps throwing me off is the truck can move once placed in 4hi/4lo (even though the ESOF does not always put it in awd/4hi/4lo)

Here's a screenshot of one that concerns me which the outcome i cannot afford and which is basically identical to my situation:




**Edit:

There is one difference from the screenshot- the Identifix concern show no movement what so ever if the X-fer case is placed in 4wd - The truck will move under it's own power when in AWD, 4Hi and 4lo.

 

[robbieg]

Did you check your U joints. Maybe one broke and you lost power to the rear wheels?

 

[BIG GREEN FORD]

Did you check your U joints. Maybe one broke and you lost power to the rear wheels?

.
This would mean the car would stil move in park?
Try pushing your car when its in park, this will see if your yoke has slip and grinded the teeth

 

[stamp11127]

Drop the transfer case and see if the output shaft turns when you place the transmission in drive - engine running.

I doubt a u-joint failed. They can be noisy when they let go, especially if it breaks at the trans then drops down on the road. Would get really exciting if it caught a seam in the road while moving forward.

 

[tonydiv]

You really do need to get it up on stands and see what's happening. If only the front wheels are turning in 4wd, then it would point at a transfer case / rear driveline fault.

 

[fourty03]

Thanks everyone for the very helpful insight. I was able to go to where my truck is parked (it broke down few blocks from my uncle's house, and had it put there since it was the closest)

I did some one man diagnosing and I took the electric shift motor off and put it in 2wd. I took it around the block and it feels like a transmission issue. It seems it does not want to shift, and when it does (in D), it shifts from 1 to 2nd at a high rpm. My O/D light is not blinking and no codes are present in the truck.

Manually shifting from 1st to 2nd and back to 1st shows all is well. I was really dreading to dropping the transmission on this damn thing. At work, Im starting to get vehicles with transmission problems and I agreed to take two on the side and maybe keeping the core and rebuilding it just to familiarize myself with the automatics. Unfortunately, these are both Chrysler vehicles..

My Automatic transmission class does not start until after the new year.

Again, thanks everyone! I have no choice but to dig into the transmission myself and attempt a timely rebuild. I was really hoping it was the transfer case. I do not think the x-fer case would cause it to high-rev shift like it's doing.

What else would cause a high rev shift like Im experiencing? I am familiar with the limp mode, but again, I have no codes present which is what is making me second guess myself. I have the FSM and chiltons, identifix, IATN all at my disposal.

 

[fourty03]

Just got it on jackstands and a lot of things are not making sense to me.

My next step is to drain the trans and pull the cover off and inspect the valve body.

When I have it in the air, the back wheels are hard to turn when the trans is in Neutral. When the trans is placed in {D}, the back wheels rotate, and the front wheels do not - so that tells me the xfer case is in 2wd. I removed the case motor and turned it by hand.

When in {d}, the back wheels wont spin very fast unless I give it a lot of throttle. The engine RPMs are at 4,000 rpms and if I back off the throttle and hit it again, it'll go into second. I cannot get it to go to third.

With the truck in the air, and pulling the shifter to 1st, the back wheels spin and then I manually shift it to 2nd, and it shifts to second. When I shift to {D}, it stays in second and then when releasing throttle, downshifts to first.

I also noticed that before i got it in the air, the brakes would hardly hold the truck when cycling through the gears.

I still have no codes. I unplugged the TRS and got po706 code showing TRS is high (to be sure I can pull the trans codes). I put the TRS plug back in and cycled through all the gear sets.

I still dont have a blinking o/d light or any associated codes. Im hoping inspecting the valve body shows I have a stuck 1 -2 accumulator or something similar and not a whole trans teardown.