Transfer case stuck in neutral

I thought I'd engage the 4wd to lube everything up. Was on a gravel road during a deer hunt. 4 Hi engaged fine. 4 lo seemed to engage fine. Stopped and tried to get it out of 4 lo and the fun began.

After coming to a stop and trying to switch out of 4 lo, truck wouldn't move. Engine revs, but rear drive shift doesn't spin. A bit of a clicking sound when trying to put it into park. Seems transfer case is stuck in neutral, if that is possible. No 2wd or 4wd.

I removed the plastic housing from the transfer case actuator and tried to manually spin the plastic gear to get it into 2 hi. The plastic gear didn't spin. Undid the 3 bolts holding the actuator to the transfer case and pulled the actuator off, exposing the shift rod. Tried gently tapping the shift rod in, trying to get it to shift to 2 hi. Shift rod didn't move. The automatic transmission was in park the entire time.

Ended up having to get it towed. Currently sitting at a dealership waiting for them to look at it. I read a few posts that suggest that I order to manually shift the transfer case by moving the shift rod, the transmission should be in neutral. Not sure if the is a requirement or not.

Any ideas? I'm tempted to go work on it in the dealership parking lot, as they said they can't look at my truck for a few days. Is it possible for the transfer case to be stuck in neutral? I really doubt it's transmission related. Truck is in great condition.

2010 TRD Sport, automatic transmission. I've already started to source a manual transfer case (FJ or 4runner)... but I'd like to fix the issue before going down the manual transfer case route.

 

The shift rod has issues in these trucks where they can bend and get bound up. To move the shift rod, I’d keep the trans in neutral and then try and spin the rear driveshaft then tap on it. Dealership is the last place I’d take it for 4wd issues unless you have an unlimited money pit.

 

Thanks. Pushing the rod in will get me to 2 hi, correct? How much 'tapping' is acceptable? Like gentle or beat it?

 

yes, all the way forward (rod in) will be 2wd, one detent out is 4hi and two detents out is 4lo. These cases don’t really have a neutral so I’m not sure your problem is related to the shifting and possible something worse inside is damaged. hopefully that’s not the case though. Don’t hammer on it too hard. Gentle tap with a rubber mallet should be all it needs.

 

When I put the transmission into Park with the engine running, there is some grinding sound. I read in another post that if you don't have any load on the transmission (ie no rear drive shaft installed), this can happen. So I am thinking some how the transmission output is not connected to the rear output of the transfer case, but the rear output of the transfer case isn't spinning free. I had the rear end off the ground and the rear drive shaft wouldn't turn, but each wheel would spin freely in opposing directions. I couldn't get all four wheels off the ground (was stuck off road on a slope and didn't have a decent jack/stands) to see if the rear/front drive shaft would turn with all wheels off the ground.

If there isn't a "neutral" position in the transfer case and the input and rear output of the transfer case are always supposed to be connected (no matter what's going on with engaging the front drive shaft or hi/low), then my guess is somehow the output from the transmission and the rear output of the transfer case have become unconnected - something broke. Once I figure it out, I'll report back.

 

The rear wheels spin freely with the transmission in Park?
But the drive shaft doesn’t spin?

 

When the rear wheels are off the ground and the transmission is in Park, the rear drive shaft does not rotate, but the rear wheels rotate freely, but in opposite directions - spin one wheel forward and the opposite wheels spins backwards, and visa-versa.

I think this in standard and what you'd expect.

 

that is correct. With one wheel only off the ground the driveshaft will spin while the rear wheel is spun.

 

Truck is still at the dealership. They say they have the truck in 4L and drivable, which was a good step. Talked to them again today and they are saying they can't get it out of 4L and I need to replace the transfer case. I have been speaking with the customer service person and have asked to speak with the technician to determine exactly what has been done. The customer service rep told me they tested the front ADD by replacing it with a known good part and that didn't solve the problem (my understanding is that the front ADD is not involved any any process when switching from 4L to 4H for from 4H to 4L). I asked if the customer service rep if they can manually switch from 4L to 4H using the shifting rod, without the actuator....I didn't get a clear answer.

Once I talk to the technician directly and determine what has/has not been tested, I am leaning towards having it towed back to my driveway to see if I can get it back into 4H by (i) tapping on shifter rod while rotating drive shaft; or (ii) the drive backwards and forwards method until it pops out of 4L. It is not obvious to me that the transfer case needs replacement. Any one hear of a situation of being stuck in 4L requiring a new transfer case? Worse case I see would be having to disassemble the case and then reassembly, before giving up on it.

A buddy of mine just picked up a 2020 4Runner with manual transfer case - it sure felt nice to manually shift the transfer case.....

 

I’d knock the $hit out of the transfer shift rod, and hope for the best, before I bought a new transfer case.

Or, you could attempt to diagnose it yourself.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/4wd-system-operation-help-thread.742420/

 

I've read that tread a few times, it's great. My plan is to prove some encouragement to the rod and if that doesn't work, perhaps open up the tcase and see what's going on. I've changed the oil on that tcase every 2 years for 12 years now, not ready to toss it away yet.

 

Did you select 4L while in neutral initially?
Dealer said it is now in 4L and drivable? 4L is not drivable man.

 

My shift in and attempted out of 4L was not text book, but I was going very slow...almost rolling. My understanding is that the 4WD ECU won't shift into/out of 4L unless the vehicle is traveling under 5 KM/hr and the transmission is in neutral.

The transfer case was in "neutral" before and I couldn't get the rear drive shaft to spin. So 4L is not "drivable", but it is moving under its own power now. A small step in the correct direction.

 

4Lo is definitely a step in the right direction. Better than not moving at all

 

Had the truck towed back from the dealer.....still stuck in 4L, but rear drive shaft rotates so it is drivable.



Got it home and drove it around a bit, backwards, forwards, forwards, backwards.....couldn't get it from 4L to 4H. Pulled the transfer case actuator gear cover and then pulled the gear, so I didn't mess up the position of the internal plastic gear. Then provided it with some "16oz encouragement" to move the shift rod. Moved it in and out of 4L to 2L manually (passing through via 4H). Used an adjustable wrench on the shift rod to pull in out. Plastic hammer to push it in. I put the actuator back in and drove it, and had 2H but couldn't engage 4H. Pulled the cover of the actuator and reset the timing of the plastic gear inside. Adjusted timing and now can drive in 2H and 4H. At this point, can't get it into 4L.....I'll continue to work on it, but 2H and 4H are 99.5% of my driving. Party of me was actually looking forward to pulling the transfer case and opening it up....next time.

 

Nice. At least it’s “Drivable”.
Thanks for the update.

 

The actuator is finicky to get timed correctly, all it takes is being 1 tooth off and it won't work properly.

 

Nice work. At least it’s drivable now and you have something to work with.

 

Providing an update on this....summary of issue: tcase would switch from 2H to 4H without issue. Tcase would switch from 4H to 4L. However, when attempting to switch from 4L to 4H, tcase would get stuck in 'neutral' and truck wasn't drivable. Only way to get it back into operation was to pull the actuator from the tcase and use a hammer to push the actuator rod into the tcase. I fully trouble shooted the actuator and determined the issue was a mechanical issue in the tcase as opposed to an issue with the tcase actuator, ADD, 4wd ECU, etc.

I pulled the tcase and few weeks ago and replaced it with a used tcase of the same design (still on the fence about a FJ tcase). I opened up the tcase that didn't work to see what was going on. Everything looked ok. I applied voltage to the tcase motor (pins 1 & 2) and could see the tcase shift from 2H to 4H no problem. Shifting from from 4H to 4L looked ok, but when shifting from 4L to 4H, the shifter would bind up - same issue I had when the tcase was in the truck.

Picture of tcase in 2H:



I removed the shift forks, shift rod and actuator. The sleeve that is used to engage LOW should have just slid off the shaft but was bound tight. I had to use a puller to remove it.



Once the sleeve was removed, I saw the problem. The hub the sleeve is supposed to slide around was cracked. I suspect this crack was do to operator error (me being the operator) and trying to engage 4L without being completely stopped. Pretty sure the cracked part is 3623735030.



Removed a snap ring and then used a puller to remove the hub. Marked the hub I removed to remember the orientation.






The hub isn't ridiculously expensive, so I'll order a new one and see if I can get the tcase fully operational again. Tcase looked fantastic inside. Truck is a 2010 with about 230k KM on it and tcase oil changed every 2 years.

 

Nice work