Anyone have a 4-speed Transfercase? (4 Viewers)

[RWBeringer4x4]

Hey guys,

I'm a little north of Maryland, but figured I would check here -

My 1975 FJ40 is currently at the mechanics' because I had a nasty driveline rattle I'd isolated to my transfercase. Previously, it would shift to 2H and 4H, but not N or 4L, I assumed it was a siezed linkage. The mechanic called, it is now jammed in 4L. I went down to take a look. The shift linkage is ultra stiff (even moving it by hand) and pretty much no matter what position I move it to, the truck stays in 4L. I'm thinking something internal snapped, the mechanic will be dropping the transfercase to figure out what.

So my question is this - any idea what might be going on here? Worst case scenario, does someone have a spare 4 speed transfercase sitting around their garage I could come buy off you? I'm in Northern Delaware, would rather not pay shipping if I can avoid it, willing to drive a few hours.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

did you try driving the truck forward and reverse while trying to shift the transfer case?
Every now and then i have to unlock the hubs and try a combo of driving forward and reverse in order to shift out of 4lo.
That vibration is no good. Make sure the transfer case has lube in there as they tend to leak and pump gear oil into the tranny when the internal seal fails.

 

[SEMPERFJ]

There is a pivot pin that goes on the top cover of the transfer case! Its part of the linkage and I think it may be frozen! Remove that cover and check it out! You should be able to move it easily with your hands. Good luck

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[RWBeringer4x4]

did you try driving the truck forward and reverse while trying to shift the transfer case?
Every now and then i have to unlock the hubs and try a combo of driving forward and reverse in order to shift out of 4lo.
That vibration is no good. Make sure the transfer case has lube in there as they tend to leak and pump gear oil into the tranny when the internal seal fails.

Hey Devilmans, thanks for following up - yeah I unlocked the hubs and tried all combinations of driving forward and backward. The strange thing is, where the shifter is, it's like I should be going from 2H to 4H, but the truck is definitely in 4 low. I definitely have lube in the case.

I have a real PO hack job of a shift lever for the transfercase that has a ton of flex, but even if I get under the truck and manually actuate the High-Low selector with vice grips (too stiff to do it by hand) the truck stays in 4 Low. No neutral, no 4 high.

There is a pivot pin that goes on the top cover of the transfer case! Its part of the linkage and I think it may be frozen! Remove that cover and check it out! You should be able to move it easily with your hands. Good luck

This is exactly what I thought too - and why I bought this 40 even though I couldn't get it to shift to 4 low. Well, now the pin is unsiezed (see above) but it doesn't seem to be shifting anything.

Anyway, I'll be dropping the case sometime in the next week hopefully.

 

[76FJ40]

Is it stuck in low range, stuch in 4wd, or both? The lever on the top of the case shifts from high to low while the27mm rod that runs next to the nose cone shifts from 2wd to 4wd. If your problem is 2wd/4wd, unbolt the linkage off the nose cone or pull the entire nose cone. There's a splined coupler inside the nose cone that moves back and forth to engage the front drive.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Is it stuck in low range, stuch in 4wd, or both? The lever on the top of the case shifts from high to low while the27mm rod that runs next to the nose cone shifts from 2wd to 4wd. If your problem is 2wd/4wd, unbolt the linkage off the nose cone or pull the entire nose cone. There's a splined coupler inside the nose cone that moves back and forth to engage the front drive.

It's stuck in 4L - with some messing around sometimes I can get the case to go to what "feels" like neutral (neither driveshaft spins) but again, this all has to be done from under the truck now, the shift linkage is still attached but too stiff for the flimsy lever to move anything.

It's tough to describe - it's like the truck shifted to 4L and stayed there, no matter what I move - the selector on the top of the case, or the 27mm rod at the nose cone, it "acts" like it's in 4 low.

I'm having the mechanic drop the case ($$$). With all the issues I've had (go take a look at some of my other threads, haha) it is long overdue. I guess I'll figure it out from there!