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91 XLT 4x4 - no gears when clutch out

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91EXNM

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91 XLT 4x4
Lost everything tonite... let out the clutch and nothing,,

Happened when it was put into 4wd, had problems the other night when it was in 4wd would not go out unless truck was shut off. Now nothing, no gears, will not go into 4 hi or 4 low .. I do have pushbutton on dash for 4wd ... essentially nothing.. can hear some type of solenoid or switch click but nothing else.

Had new clutch not long ago, had hydraulic boost solenoid (internal to tranny replaced recently) but dont know if this has anything to do with this problem. All I know is it aint goin nowhere by itself.

OK ... hope someone can help on this one cuz its dead in the water.
 



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Is the truck still in 4wd? is it stuck in 4wd and you can't get it out? it sound's like the t-case is either inbetween gears or the t-case is in neutral. if you have basic hand tools and you're comfortable working on cars you can pull off the shift motor and check and see where the shift on the t-case is at.
 






I dont think it went into 4wd, its my sons truck, he was driving, we were outside and he was trying to back up steep driveway. He was sitting at bottom of drive (backing up) was sitting at bottom of drive, in nuetral, clutch out. put it into 4wd and then low .... said both lights came on on dash but didnt hear hubs enguage (not sure if they did or did not he doesnt remeber hearing them one way or another) ... and then nothing... not able to get any gear to work, no lights angauged on dash for 4wd, nothing when in gear and clutch out.... tryed turning off truck to see if electronics would reset and change something but no luck .....
 






yep well it sure sounds like the t-case is in Nuetral but the automatic t-cases don't have a nuetral do they. I mean I don't think when I looked at my auto t-case it had 2hi, 4hi and 4lo. So I guess the t-case could've stopped between 2hi and 4hi and is essentially in nuetral.

easy to check remove shift motor 30 minutes tops and see where the selector is pointing. Compare the position of the motor to the numbers on the t-case and se if you can manually put it in 2hi if out of sync.

the only other thing I could think of is that the t-case has crapped out and no power is being distributed through it.

Can you look under it and see if anything is moving when he shifts it in gear and gives it gas? Oh try this manually turn the driveshafts by hand. They should be tight if in 4hi or lo. In 2hi the front should be loose and rear should be tight
 






I would agree with AlaskanJack in saying the T-case is either in between 4hi and 4low or the chain jumped/broke. There is not a true nutral possition on the electric t-case like there is on the manual types. However if the shift motor craped out half way between 4hi and 4low it will effectively be in nutral.

By taking off the shift motor you can select either 4low or 2hi. Kind of sucks not having 4hi but there is no positive engagement to 4hi possition. (Been there done that)

To check the transfer case after checking what range possition it is in. Lift the rear tires off the ground and support with jack stands. Place the trans in park or first. Rotate drive shaft by hand. If you can rotate the drive shaft and the t-case is in any range possition you may have a busted t-case.

Hope this helps let us know what you find out.
 






to me sounds like the tcase motor died or something neutral would cuase all jump underneath with it in gear and running and see if the driveshafts are spinning.....
 






t-case is auto but manual tranny in case i didnt make that part clear.

It sounds to me like the shift motor everyone is talking about, havent ever dealt with it b4 so i will have to look up where and how to get to it.

Just an idiot ques, im not sure why the tranny would be disengaged if its only the t-case.... would seem that i would still have gears just no 4wd ... guess thats in the auto part of the t-case engaging ??

I will look up the info on how to get to the shift motor in the morning .. this one is a new one for me.

Thanks for the replys... any other input will be greatly appreciated as well.
 






Well here is how it works with the t-case in 2hi it just feeds power to the rear wheels and when in 4hi or lo it it feeds power to both front and rear. now when I say feeds power I mean engages the driveshafts. Now with a manual -tcase there is a nuetral and when in nuetral neither driveshaft will move they spin freely. Now do you see?
 






If you need some visual help I have an auto t-case with shift motor in my garage and I can pull the shift motor off and take some pics and show you what to look for.
 






With the transmission in gear does the explorer roll around like it is in neutral? If so, like others have said, it sounds like the t-case is not engaged. I dont think the manual tranny would outright break without having problems before. You can take off the shift motor, it is on the back of the t-case on the driver's side of it, and is roundish. Inside there is some type of lever that you can manually turn with a screw driver or pliers. That should engage the t-case. If there was any loud noise like a bang, snap or pop when all this happened, something internal may have broken. Good luck and I hope it is an easy fix for you.
 






Got it back on the road. It Was the shift motor, it had conked between 2H and 4wd, all of your info helped me to figure it out and get it fixed.

Also rebuilt the motor (with suggestion from chat room yesteday) and it works (kinda) still havin problems with it not coming out of 4wd but it might just be in the sensor being slightly off on the motor.

Muchos Gracias to everyone who came to my rescue. You all have been GREAT !! Its really nice to have a place to come to get help, and in a real fast hurry when you really need it with good accurate information. Thanks again to all of you.
 






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