Help....No High Rnage (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Threads
27
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151
Location
Amarill, TX
Just got my 83 FJ60 running and it will not shift into high range. The linkage moves freely and I can shift from 2wd to 4wd fine, just not into high range. Any thoughts?
 
Did you work on the tcase? or was it working before?

Linkage not hooked up correctly?
 
I didn't work on the t-case but the truck was not running when i got it so this is the first time I have driven it. As far as I can tell the linkage is hooked up correctly...it is moving the lever on the top of the t-case... i need to pop it off and see if maybe it is just not moving it far enough, but driving slowly you can move the t-case from high to low range and it does nothing.
 
So something doesn't add up. On the stock truck there is a shift gate for the transfer lever that only lets it go from 2wd-hi to 4wd-hi to 4wd-low. So on a stock truck you should not be able to get to 2wd-low. So something is either modified or not working properly.

The transfer case has two shift forks that are actuated by the one shift lever. There is a shift fork shaft that sticks out the front of the case. The shaft moves fore/aft. This switches between 2wd and 4wd. This shift shat is circled in red in the schematic below.

The other shift fork (for high-N-low) is operated by a lever that rotates, pushing the shfit fork inside the case. The outer lever is mounted on top of the case and holds the inner lever that penetrates through to the inside of the case. Sometimes the inner lever can slip down too far into the case and not mate properly with the shfit fork. If the lever feels like it has slipped down, you can loosen the clamp on the outer lever and pull up on the inner lever and try to engage it in the slot in the shift fork shaft. Be careful not to let the inner lever fall inside the case.
transfer case a.JPG
transfer linkage 2..JPG
 
So something doesn't add up. On the stock truck there is a shift gate for the transfer lever that only lets it go from 2wd-hi to 4wd-hi to 4wd-low. So on a stock truck you should not be able to get to 2wd-low. So something is either modified or not working properly.

The transfer case has two shift forks that are actuated by the one shift lever. There is a shift fork shaft that sticks out the front of the case. The shaft moves fore/aft. This switches between 2wd and 4wd. This shift shat is circled in red in the schematic below.

The other shift fork (for high-N-low) is operated by a lever that rotates, pushing the shfit fork inside the case. The outer lever is mounted on top of the case and holds the inner lever that penetrates through to the inside of the case. Sometimes the inner lever can slip down too far into the case and not mate properly with the shfit fork. If the lever feels like it has slipped down, you can loosen the clamp on the outer lever and pull up on the inner lever and try to engage it in the slot in the shift fork shaft. Be careful not to let the inner lever fall inside the case.

the shift gates have not been modified. I can see the high/ low shift lever rotate.....I removed the shifter covers... but the levers move through the proper range of motion with no effect on High/ low. I will see if the lever has slipped down next time i work on the truck.
 
I don't know about all this high-tech talk about shift gates...but us old-timers, when our rig wouldn't shift into high range, would put the tranny into reverse, pop the clutch, drive it a few feet and try again. Usually worked.
 
I don't know about all this high-tech talk about shift gates...but us old-timers, when our rig wouldn't shift into high range, would put the tranny into reverse, pop the clutch, drive it a few feet and try again. Usually worked.

Yeah, when I've been driving around in 4wd-low and want to shift back to high, sometimes the drive train gets bound up and I can't shift out. But in that case the lever doesn't move and it is stuck in the low position. My impression is that Jeromy's lever moves over to High, but his transfer case is still in low.
 
Yeah, when I've been driving around in 4wd-low and want to shift back to high, sometimes the drive train gets bound up and I can't shift out. But in that case the lever doesn't move and it is stuck in the low position. My impression is that Jeromy's lever moves over to High, but his transfer case is still in low.

That's what it seems.

I can't believe the linkage is hooked up properly and it moves freely. In the attached picture, I circled how the high / low linkage is supposed to look. The arrow indicates the motion of the lever on the transfer case to shift into high range.
transfer motion.jpg
 
That's what it seems.

I can't believe the linkage is hooked up properly and it moves freely. In the attached picture, I circled how the high / low linkage is supposed to look. The arrow indicates the motion of the lever on the transfer case to shift into high range.

everything is hooked up and moves freely, almost has to be the inner lever. I am not going to get back out there till Friday but I should know by this weekend.

What would be required to pull the back out the t-case off and check inside if I can't get it place from the outside? I am such a cruiser noob.
 
If the shift fork is inside the transfer case then it is impossible for the high / low lever to move without intersecting something. Either the high / low shift fork is missing or the shift lever is broken, both require the case to be opened up.

When you go out there next verify the linkage is hooked up as in the pictures, if it is and you still can move the high / low shift lever from left to right with no resistance then open up the case.
 
if you already check for obvious things on the linkage .. and your links are moving properly .. disconect the low range lever from the linkage ( GLTHFJ60 pic ) then move it by hand ..

If it move without resistance .. 2options come to my mind ..

1. loose fork inside the t-case ( open the back of the t-case to solve )

2. there is a " washer / spacer " under the lever that keep the lever tight for drag with the fork ( low ) rod .. try pull the t'case lever and move it .. you will feel the rod fork engage.
 
Hi and low inner lever disengaged.

I had the exact same problem on my 1981 HJ47. The lever moved left to right fine, but no Hi / Lo shifting actually occurred. I made a similar cry for help on MUD:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/fj45-owners-club/282899-transfer-woes.html

The problem I had, and I suspect it may be the same for you, is that the L-shaped lever, labelled in that Toyota FSM diagram above as "High and low inner lever", had slipped off the outer linkage called "High and low outer lever", which clamps around the top of that inner lever. In my case, someone had stuffed around with it before, because there was just a hose clamp holding it in place.

Run your hand over the top of the linkage, and if you can feel that the top of the inner lever is not flush with the top of the outer lever, then it has fallen in somewhat and has disengaged from the "high and low shift fork shaft". If that is the case, you should, being very careful, be able to rescue it without opening your T-case. Its a fidgety process, but if you can take off the outer linkage without letting the inner lever fall completely in, you can get a pair of vise grips on there and hold it into place while slowly working the outer lever back on.

This is what the linkage connection should look like:
linkage.jpg

Obviously while installed in the car, you don't have the privilege of being able to view from this angle, but it gives you an idea. If the clamping system on that outer lever has come loose, it can allow that inner lever, the top of which you can see in that photo, to fall in, thereby disengaging from the fork shaft.

In my case, I got the outer lever off without the inner lever falling completely in, but then I fiddled around with it too much, and accidently pushed the inner lever in :doh:. But that's ok, as I'm just gonna pull the H41 and split T-case and put in an H55F with split T-case ;).

Good luck!

Matt
linkage.jpg
 
Is there any way to pull the pin out without splitting the case? I have just ripped the h55f out of my BJ71, replaced the seals, re-fitted it, filled with oil, and then my friend, a mechanic adjusted the linkage and it fell in! Please tell me i dont have to do it all again!
 
you might be able to use a strong magnet to pull the shaft back up...

we had same issue with the shaft dropping when we rebult the TC during my engine swap. Only good part was all of that happened before the engine/trans/TC was re-installed. We ended up having to split the case again. Apparently very common issue.

If the clamp portion of the lever gets loose on that shaft...the shaft can simply drop back in the case..
 
Strong magnet works :) however, getting the clamp back over is prooving extremely difficult. Thanks for your help.
 
yes...not one of the greatest design features.
 
As I recall, getting the outer parts of that shifter to line up with the internal shift fork was the most difficult part of putting it back together. It seemed all too easy to do it wrong and with only two of the requisite three hands to do the job, it was a real B-otch.
 

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