Center diff lock stuck - something different.

[Drunner97]

Okay I know there are plenty of center diff lock threads but this one is a little more unique.

Backstory: I've had my 2007 for about 2 1/2 years. Actuator was replaced before I bought it. 3 weeks ago I blew out my rear ring and pinion on a trail. I was in center diff lock and 4low. We pulled my driveshaft to try to get me off the rocks and back to camp. Put it in 4hi and left the center diff unlocked. Got off the rocks and was getting pulled back to camp when my rear tires locked up. Okay. Damnit. Pulled the 3rd member out, locked the center diff, and was able to drive fwd for a minute. Something slipped and I lost power so we pulled me back to camp in neutral the rest of the way. Couldn't put it in drive without a ton of grinding.

Fast forward to this weekend. New gears put in, drive shaft reconnected, good to go. Except she won't pop out of center diff. Drove up and down the driveway a couple times, nothing. This thing never sticks so I'm not sure what else I did. Drove down the street with the light blinking, got a clunk and my steering freed up some, so I'm pretty sure it disengaged, but the light won't stop blinking so I can't switch out of 4hi.

Now the fun. It will switch in and out of 4low with a bit of a grind. It will drive just fine albeit clunky because I'm on pavement in 4wd, center locked, but nothing I do will get it out and stop the light from blinking.

Anyone have any thoughts before I pull the transfer case?

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[techno]

Have you drained and inspected the transfer case fluid? Certainly sounding like something in there has shit the bed.

 

[Drunner97]

Have you drained and inspected the transfer case fluid? Certainly sounding like something in there has shit the bed.

I did and nothing major came out. Fluid looked good. I'm actually starting to wonder if the timing in the actuator is off now after reading through some threads. The fact that I got it to actually switch out (or at least felt like it was out) but the light was still flashing and the vsc was still sounds exactly like the gear isn't hitting the vsc switch in the actuator.

Simply place the lower gear which drives the shaft into the case in such a manner that when you spin the gear by hand to get the shaft to come out of the case, the eccentric wheel on the bottom of the gear engages the VSC switch during the last 20 degrees of rotation and disengages the switch when the gear is rotated the other direction and the shaft is FULLY pushed into the case.

I actually found a 2007 transfer case with actuator with 130k miles on it down in San Diego for 650. I may just bite the bullet and get that instead of continuing to trouble shoot this. Assuming all the bits and pieces work in the actuator it would save me a lot of headaches. Even if it doesn't necessarily work or the center diff/4 low are stuck at least I'd be in 2wd. Then I can always crack the case on this one, see what's going on and if it's not major I'm thinking I can flip the transfer case for roughly what I paid.

 

[duffdog]

Also, if you take out the motors and gears you can just move the geared levers by hand. Its really not that hard to move them.

When I was doing the timing on my t-case, I jacked up the truck so that all 4 wheels were off the ground and there would be no binding. It was a lot easier that way.

 

[Drunner97]

Also, if you take out the motors and gears you can just move the geared levers by hand. Its really not that hard to move them.

When I was doing the timing on my t-case, I jacked up the truck so that all 4 wheels were off the ground and there would be no binding. It was a lot easier that way.

Okay, I'll give that a try first then. I'm assuming once the center diff is unlocked and the vehicle registers it as off that I'll be able to get out of 4hi. This is just really frustrating. I've already spent a ton of money regearing and locking since I had to replace gears anyway and the last thing I WANT to do is buy a transfer case.

 

[Inv4drZm]

I've already spent a ton of money regearing and locking since I had to replace gears anyway and the last thing I WANT to do is buy a transfer case.

Spend more money and throw in a Inchworm lefty or Atlas T-case! There is always an excuse to upgrade!!

 

[Drunner97]

Spend more money and throw in a Inchworm lefty or Atlas T-case! There is always an excuse to upgrade!!

Hah. I'm good. Requires a lot of changes to go FJ case and dual sticks. Lots of time and money and I don't have. I've gotta get a couple thousand miles on these gears before Thanksgiving when I'm supposed to go to Death Valley for a week.

 

[TowMeOut]

Hmmm....I had to tear mine apart because it was stuck in 4lo and I had a 10hr drive home. When I went to replace the actuator I did a bunch of research/experimenting first.

One rod does the Hi-Lo switching. So based on what you're saying if I'm reading it right you can go from 4Hi-4Lo but it's on pavement with the diff "locked" so it drives all crazy. That kind of makes sense.

The other shift rod is the 2Hi-Locked-4Hi rod. Normal position is with the rod inserted all the way into the t-case. Halfway out is 4Hi-Locked. All the way out is 4Hi. Strange I know but "locked" is in the middle of the travel path. Sounds like this rod is "stuck" so all you've got is shifting from Hi to Lo with the other.

Is your rig a V8 or V6?? One last thing to check might be the front diff actuator. When I was trying to re-time my setup I had a problem where I got the whole system in a bad mode and the 4wd computer kind of went into limp mode. Looks like by default it engages the front diff first to get the driveshaft spinning then engages the t-case. When coming out of 4wd you're supposed to be stopped in neutral so it doesn't matter but I believe it tries to disengage the front diff first then the t-case. I can't remember for sure. If your short trip in FWD limping along did some damage to the front diff or perhaps threw the computer into a hissy-fit this might explain some of the symptoms. Worse come to worse, pull the connector off the computer (little box under the dash plate, next to the TPMS computer) wait a minute or two, then plug it back in.

Hopefully one of the more experienced guys will chime in. Good luck.

 

[Drunner97]

Hmmm....I had to tear mine apart because it was stuck in 4lo and I had a 10hr drive home. When I went to replace the actuator I did a bunch of research/experimenting first.

One rod does the Hi-Lo switching. So based on what you're saying if I'm reading it right you can go from 4Hi-4Lo but it's on pavement with the diff "locked" so it drives all crazy. That kind of makes sense.

The other shift rod is the 2Hi-Locked-4Hi rod. Normal position is with the rod inserted all the way into the t-case. Halfway out is 4Hi-Locked. All the way out is 4Hi. Strange I know but "locked" is in the middle of the travel path. Sounds like this rod is "stuck" so all you've got is shifting from Hi to Lo with the other.

Is your rig a V8 or V6?? One last thing to check might be the front diff actuator. When I was trying to re-time my setup I had a problem where I got the whole system in a bad mode and the 4wd computer kind of went into limp mode. Looks like by default it engages the front diff first to get the driveshaft spinning then engages the t-case. When coming out of 4wd you're supposed to be stopped in neutral so it doesn't matter but I believe it tries to disengage the front diff first then the t-case. I can't remember for sure. If your short trip in FWD limping along did some damage to the front diff or perhaps threw the computer into a hissy-fit this might explain some of the symptoms. Worse come to worse, pull the connector off the computer (little box under the dash plate, next to the TPMS computer) wait a minute or two, then plug it back in.

Hopefully one of the more experienced guys will chime in. Good luck.

Hrmmm. I'll pull the connector off the computer before I pop the actuator open. That's on the passenger side right? near the 4wd computer? I've never had to be in neutral to get out of 4wd unless it 4 low. I've always been able to flip the center diff and 4hi on the fly without an issue.

 

[Drunner97]

All 4 wheels off the ground and nadda on the center diff. In fact in the process of trying I got a loud grinding from what was either the transfer case or the actuator when it popped back or made an attempt. I'm thinking it might be somewhere in the actuator. If the gears are stripped that would explain why it's not really doing anything or out of timing. I'm seriously debating just picking up the transfer case with actuator for 650 and saving myself the headache of cracking open the actuator, although I'm concerned that if the new one is in 2wd and center unlocked what that's going to do to the 4wd ecu when I plug it in.

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[Drunner97]

Also. I do get a clicking sound out of the actuator when I push the button. So it's trying, but it does sound like it's no longer connected.

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[scw1991]

wonder if it has anything to do with the front diff actuator. The 4WD ECM has a sequence of events it must go through between the front diff actuator and the transfer case actuator to engage/disengage the system.

 

[Drunner97]

wonder if it has anything to do with the front diff actuator. The 4WD ECM has a sequence of events it must go through between the front diff actuator and the transfer case actuator to engage/disengage the system.

Dunno. Front diff actuator won't do anything unless the center diff is unlocked. I'm leaning towards center diff actuator or transfer case because it will go in/out of 4low, but it grinds when it does and it never used to before all of this happened.

 

[duffdog]

I have never heard of one grinding before. It would be interesting to see what its doing. You could mark the position sensor wheel and remove the case cover on the actuator to see what is going on inside there. And post some pics if you can.

 

[Drunner97]

I have never heard of one grinding before. It would be interesting to see what its doing. You could mark the position sensor wheel and remove the case cover on the actuator to see what is going on inside there. And post some pics if you can.

Where's the position sensor wheel? I'll probably pop the cover on the actuator tonight when I get home and it's still light. I agree, there shouldn't be any grinding at all so something is just completely off somewhere.

 

[duffdog]

Where's the position sensor wheel? I'll probably pop the cover on the actuator tonight when I get home and it's still light. I agree, there shouldn't be any grinding at all so something is just completely off somewhere.

its on the outside of the cover facing down. Its blue with a little T shaped plastic piece that you can see move from the outside when you engage or disengage the actuator.

 

[Drunner97]

its on the outside of the cover facing down. Its blue with a little T shaped plastic piece that you can see move from the outside when you engage or disengage the actuator.

Thank you sir. I'll give it a whirl tonight.

 

[Drunner97]

Pulled the cover and promptly f'd up before marking the blue gear. Everything inside looks fine. Except the rod will barely move. Pushes in slightly, but not much. Less than 1/8 of an inch Not sure if it's supposed to back out all the way, but it won't move past this position. I'm leaning towards an internal issue in the transfer case due to 4low grinding when it goes in and out.

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[duffdog]

I agree that it is something internal. If you can't move the rod, then something is stopping the shift collars inside, which is bad news. At this point I think it would be cheaper to get a new transfer case.

 

[Drunner97]

I agree that it is something internal. If you can't move the rod, then something is stopping the shift collars inside, which is bad news. At this point I think it would be cheaper to get a new transfer case.

Thanks for the confirmation. I'll be picking up a transfer case with actuator out of a 2007 with 130k miles on it this weekend. Hopefully it doesn't have any actuator issues, but at least I'll be back in 2wd.