Shifting to 4 low

[Limbwalker]

if nothing else, shift transmission to neutral at a dead stop.
Shut the motor off.
Shift to 4L. if its difficult, allow yourself to roll very slightly until it goes in
restart the truck and go

 

[shouldbeasy]

Heck, if you move the T-case lever with a feather touch it sounds like it's grinding... you just have to get past that with a bit more 'oomf'.

As stated above, do it while the vehicle is off, you won't hear any noises if it's functional. Get it in to 4Lo. Start vehicle. Drive vehicle back and forth 20' and you'll be able to tell if it's in 4Lo.

 

[nevada]

Almost every brand of 4x4 recommends letting the vehicle roll when shifting from HI to LO range.

huh?
maybe you're thinking of 2wd to 4wd. high to low, you need to be stopped. the gear ratio is too far off for that to work while moving. and there are no synchros in the t-case to help slow the gears for shifting.

In your first post, you didn't mention that you had shifted the transmission to neutral. what you said was that you just shifted to neutral, which i presume, the transfer case was shifted to neutral.
you have to shift the transmission first to neutral before shifting the transfer case.

first, come to a full stop and shift the transmission to neutral.
second, shift the transfer case to neutral.
third, shift the transfer case to 4L
fourth, shift the transmission to drive.

yes, transmission in neutral first, then tcase.

I was under the impression that on ANY vehicle with 4wd, it's ideal to be stopped completely to shift into 4Lo. Despite what the manual says.

yes, that's right.

ive never seen, nor heard of a manual saying you should be moving while shifting into low range. between 2wd, and 4wd yes, as long as the front axle is engaged.

 

[BrianSD_42]

ive never seen, nor heard of a manual saying you should be moving while shifting into low range. between 2wd, and 4wd yes, as long as the front axle is engaged.

Its true that the 97 owners manual says you can shift HI to LO but (as I mentioned earlier) we are in agreement that it doesn't work and grinding sounds mean STOP pushing.

 

[nevada]

Its true that the 97 owners manual says you can shift HI to LO but (as I mentioned earlier) we are in agreement that it doesn't work and grinding sounds mean STOP pushing.

can you link to that?
or even take a pic of the page?


ive never heard of such a thing, id like to see it.
crazy if true....

 

[BrianSD_42]

I will find mine and post a picture.

 

[opie74]

The reason you are hearing grinding while trying to go from 4h to 4l is to much time has elapsed from when you put the transmission into neutral to the point you are trying to put the transfer case in low.

When the transmission is in drive and you are not moving nothing in the transmission is moving. When you place the transmission into neutral, the TC will start to spin freely and the transmission internals will also start to spin. Placing the transfer case into neutral will then cause the internals of the transfer case to start to spin as well.

Going from 4h to 4l needs to be a swift movement of the lever as quickly as possible after shifting the transmission into neutral. If you shift the tcase into neutral while the transmission is still in gear, you will need to shut the vehicle off so the internals stop spinning.

Sometimes slight forward or rearward movement is necessary in order to get things to line up. <1mph. The same reasoning that applies to going into 4wd applies to the transfer case as well.

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

why would the transfer case be spinning if the transmission is in neutral? from where does the transfer case get the torque to spin it even if the transmission is in neutral?

When the transmission is in drive and you are not moving nothing in the transmission is moving. When you place the transmission into neutral, the TC will start to spin freely and the transmission internals will also start to spin. Placing the transfer case into neutral will then cause the internals of the transfer case to start to spin as well.

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[opie74]

why would the transfer case be spinning if the transmission is in neutral? from where does the transfer case get the torque to spin it even if the transmission is in neutral?




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From my post...

Placing the transfer case into neutral will then cause the internals of the transfer case to start to spin as well.

For the same reason the internals of the transmission spin when in neutral. The fluid acts as a coupling to the crankshaft.

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

the N185L 4Runner transfer case is chain driven and the center diff is gear driven not fluid-driven like the automatic transmission. also, the rear end of the transfer case is held on by the propeller shaft which in turn is held on by the diff which is not moving. so how could the transfer case rotate on its own?

From my post...



For the same reason the internals of the transmission spin when in neutral. The fluid acts as a coupling to the crankshaft.

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[BrianSD_42]

Too technical for me but I do know this:

Don't shift from LO/HI or HI/LO when moving and you should be fine.

 

[opie74]

the N185L 4Runner transfer case is chain driven and the center diff is gear driven not fluid-driven like the automatic transmission. also, the rear end of the transfer case is held on by the propeller shaft which in turn is held on by the diff which is not moving. so how could the transfer case rotate on its own?





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Perhaps I misunderstand the connection the transfer case has to the transmission.

When the transmission is placed in neutral, or park for that matter, energy is transferred to the transmission via the fluid in the TQ and the internals of the transmission will start spinning. This is just a no load, fluid coupling with the internals of the trans simply spinning because they are connected.

To keep this simple, lets forget about 4wd. The transfer case is basically a pass through for the transmission to get power to the rear axle. When you place the transfer case into neutral, the part of the transfer case that is connected to the output shaft of the transmission will start to spin as well. There is fluid in the transfer case, so given enough time, everything else may start spinning.

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

The fluid inside the transfer case is just for lubrication purposes, not to transfer power & torque.

think of the neutral position as a clutch in a manual transmission. you engage the clutch to shift gears.

Perhaps I misunderstand the connection the transfer case has to the transmission.

When the transmission is placed in neutral, or park for that matter, energy is transferred to the transmission via the fluid in the TQ and the internals of the transmission will start spinning. This is just a no load, fluid coupling with the internals of the trans simply spinning because they are connected.

To keep this simple, lets forget about 4wd. The transfer case is basically a pass through for the transmission to get power to the rear axle. When you place the transfer case into neutral, the part of the transfer case that is connected to the output shaft of the transmission will start to spin as well. There is fluid in the transfer case, so given enough time, everything else may start spinning.

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[opie74]

The fluid inside the transfer case is just for lubrication purposes, not to transfer power & torque.

I know. But fluid will transfer power, even though its just for lubrication.

think of the neutral position as a clutch in a manual transmission. you engage the clutch to shift gears.

When you press in the clutch, place the transmission in neutral and release the clutch, the transmission internals start spinning. Your analogy is a little off since there is always a semi-direct connection between the engine and automatic transmission.

 

[RoadrunnerYAZ]

I don't want to beat a dead horse, however, thanks to Limbwalker I now know my 4L works and how to get into it and out of it. I tried doing the quick neutral, quick neutral, shift to 4L many times all resulting in grinding gears. However, if I turn off the engine I can engage 4L fairly easily by positioning the transfer case lever in neutral, putting forward pressure on the lever and taking my foot off the brake. The lever slips right into 4L. I have to shut off the engine to shift back into 4H, but it works. I just bought a '99 Limited w/178K on it, so was rather anxious about the 4X4 function. Using the instructions on the owner's manual is useless.

 

[PedroV]

Just bought a 2008 4WD, and this thread scared the crap out of me while it was getting detailed.

Once I got it back, I shifted into 4LO, and it went right in! Phew!

 

[brillo_76]

Just bought a 2008 4WD, and this thread scared the crap out of me while it was getting detailed.



Once I got it back, I shifted into 4LO, and it went right in! Phew!

Well it shouldn't have been too much of a scare as a 2008 is a 4th gen as this is the 3rd gen section [1996- 2002][ 2003 - 2009] is the 4th gen years.

The forum has sections for all the gens and it's always best to verify which section the thread is from. Your fine with a 4th gen as it this doesn't pertain to your vehicle.

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[PedroV]

Well it shouldn't have been too much of a scare as a 2008 is a 4th gen as this is the 3rd gen section [1996- 2002][ 2003 - 2009] is the 4th gen years.

The forum has sections for all the gens and it's always best to verify which section the thread is from. Your fine with a 4th gen as it this doesn't pertain to your vehicle.

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Oops, sorry about that. Wrong thread.

 

[brillo_76]

Oops, sorry about that. Wrong thread.

Easy to do. No biggie.. enjoy your 4th gen

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[dansoore]

The book says you can do it while moving.