Gear grinding noise when shifting from 4H to 4L

[BobsTrail]

2013 Trail with lever. When I shift from 4H to 4L I always get a gear grinding noise. I have the transmission in N with the brake on.

I have stopped at the N position on the transfer case for 5 to 10 seconds and it still does it when I push it to 4L.

Am I doing something wrong?

 

[westwind77]

2013 Trail with lever. When I shift from 4H to 4L I always get a gear grinding noise. I have the transmission in N with the brake on.

I have stopped at the N position on the transfer case for 5 to 10 seconds and it still does it when I push it to 4L.

Am I doing something wrong?

Yes, your radio is not loud enough, keep turning it higher until you can not hear it grind anymore.....

Mine did that, and a numbers of others on here as well, the 1st few times I shifted to 4L. Scared the you know what out of me at first. My 4 Fords at work and my Dodge never did that when new. It works fine now, so I think you will find most people say it is 'normal'. If it continues to happen after a number of uses then there might be something funky.

 

[Gerdo]

Try with the transmission in park.
The oil in the transmission will cause the output to still spin due to viscous coupling (the drag of the oil will cause things to still spin).
And/or come to a stop, put the trans in neutral, and quickly shift from Hi to Lo.

 

[scottjhl]

best way to avoid any tranny issues is to put gear in N, N. then slightly rev motor for a sec. let it calm then N, 4L. should go in no prob, then back into gear. same method when exiting 4L.

My 88 s10 perfered this method when shifting into 4L

ALSO after you rev, take your foot off brake for a second, then back on then shift.

 

[1000MPH]

Everything you are doing is correct except don't shift the T/C to N.
Go straight to 4L or 4H without hesitation.
I usually only wait to a count of 3 after shifting the Tranny to N.

 

[rigtec]

2013 Trail with lever. When I shift from 4H to 4L I always get a gear grinding noise. I have the transmission in N with the brake on.

I have stopped at the N position on the transfer case for 5 to 10 seconds and it still does it when I push it to 4L. Am I doing something wrong?

It really doesn't seem like you're doing anything out of the ordinary, as long as the sound is more like a gentle "rubbing", and NOT true grinding; as you first phrased it.

I was having the same issue with my third gen (1998) Sr5. No matter what I did, I could hear a little "gear to gear" contact whenever I shifted from hi to low.

I can even remember it being a lil' stiff, going from 2wd to 4wd; I know it's not the same thing, but I'm just saying. But the important thing is, that these issues where without consequence.

Has the dealership looked at it?

 

[BobsTrail]

Everything you are doing is correct except don't shift the T/C to N.
Go straight to 4L or 4H without hesitation.
I usually only wait to a count of 3 after shifting the Tranny to N.

I tired that a few times in the driveway and it worked fine, no gear noise. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

[LandCruiser]

My 1983 FJ60 did this, my 1997 FJ80 does this, my 2001 Gen 3 4Runner did this. My 2013 Trail does this.

Keep it in neutral and make sure it's stopped or going really slow.

If you use 4L a lot, the shifts MAY become smoother. But I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[msommers]

First time I put mine in 4LO I nearly crapped my pants thinking I broke it. Not only was it grinding like crazy but it was really tough to finally get it engaged. But it's really smooth now so I'm not sure what happened but I'm confident it's working properly.

 

[JohnsD90]

I just stop push the clutch in and move the lever, never crunched on me.

 

[1engineer]

The noise is caused by synchronization of gearing. Do as [MENTION=53327]1000MPH[/MENTION] suggested and do not keep it in neutral for any length of time. Go from one to the other immediately so the gearing does not have time to "spin" at a differential rpm. This is the nature of gearboxes of this design. The noise will not damage the gears unless you repeatedly do it a LOT for a long time.

 

[antwone]

16 TEP Lever Vibrating when through N

First time to shift my lever in a parking lot last weekend, it scared me at the beginning! When I park the truck, with tranny at N, I start pushing the lever from 2H to 4H and thru N to 4L. When it passed thru N, the lever vibrating like my phone and has moderate sound from it. Once it left N everything seems normal.... But when I tried to come back, it did the same thing at N...

Is this normal at all? Thanks guys!

 

[antwone]

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/5th-gen-t4rs/137931-gear-grinding-normal-when-shifting-l4.html

The link above answered my concern, what a learn here. Should be a continuous move from 4H to 4L, that will minimize or eliminate the grinding.