transfer case issue

[Hurbold]

New member, here. First, want to say "thanks" for everything I've found so far via search.

I just bought a 96 explorer A4WD for my mom, which I'm guessing has the B/W 4405 TC. I experienced no problems during the test drive. On the way home, however, it started a loud, fast "whirring-slipping" noise once the vehicle got into 3rd gear and I let me foot off the accelerator. It ended up getting worse once I got it home, in the sense that the loud grinding happened whenever I'd try to put it in reverse. Seems obvious that there may be a shift fork or some other issue in the TC.

As it happens, I'm splitting with my ol' lady and have to sell my 2001 f250 7.3, so I've got to get this fixed within a week or so, in order to have a drivable towing vehicle for my move. So, I figure this weekend is a good time to start.

I read up somewhat on how this system works, my only previous experience being with manual 4WD in Fords. I decided to so a little troubleshooting before I go any farther, and this is what I've found out.

1. The auto and 4-High positions produce the terrible "whirring-slipping" noise when trying to put the vehicle in reverse.

2. The 4-Lo position seems to function, with no "whirring-slipping" noise, though I've admittedly not tried driving it at high speeds while engaged. There is, however, a lower-pitched grind, kind of metal-on-metal sounding and feeling when going between reverse and drive.

So, I guess my question ultimately boils down to:

Which internal component of the TC, or other part if I'm wrong, might cause the vehicle to seemingly work somewhat properly in 4-Lo only?

I don't mind pulling the TC and doing the work myself; just trying to find the least costly and time-consuming way to handle this issue so I can gtfo of town.

My apologies if this was tl;dr or tmi or whatever I did also search fairly extensively, which is the only source of the possibly erroneous component specifics I've discussed above. I also apologize if my specifics above have been covered in any thread(s) I've missed.

Thanks in advance for any answers/pointers and for your time in reading my post.

Bill

 

[albi1cnobi1]

It sounds like it could be the clutch. The clutch only is in use in auto and 4hi. In 4lo a shift collar engages the 4wd. There is also a torque on demand relay that controls the clutch but that's less likely the culprit. Although it's a cheap part at the jy to try that 1st.

 

[Hurbold]

First off, it's a '98, not a '96. Just bought it, so I screwed the year up. Just looked at the title again. Really sorry about that, and I now realize that makes a big difference in the Control Trac system.

Thanks a bunch for the response.

If I'm not too concerned with 4WD right now, can I just bypass it with the brown wire mod I'm reading about and convert it to 2WD for now?

Thanks again.

 

[albi1cnobi1]

Yes you can, this will prevent the clutch from engaging. That will also tell you if it is the clutch or not. The brown wire mod basically stops the TOD relay from sending power to the clutch.

 

[Hurbold]

Thanks a bunch, Al. That's exactly what I'm going to do today, and we'll see what's going on with her.

You're the man.

Bill

 

[Hurbold]

So I got behind the GEM and cut the brown wire, according to the brown wire mod sticky on the site, and gave it a drive with the 4wd selector plugged back in and set in the 4lo position, and didn't experience any problems that seemed to be related to the tc.

If I'm understanding the system correctly, leaving the tccc wire cut and capped and the 4wd selector in the low position should be fine until I determine if there's anything else wrong, right?

Thanks, guys.

Bill

 

[albi1cnobi1]

You would need to leave it in auto not 4lo. In 4lo you will end up with 2lo without the clutch engaging. In auto you get 2wd if the clutch is not engaging.

 

[Hurbold]

Thanks for correcting me, Al.

Yeah, I figured that out once I thought about it, looked at it, and drove it some more. It looks like it's time to drop the t-case, since the grinding happens in everything except 4lo/2lo.

Appreciate all your help.

Bill

 

[albi1cnobi1]

I thought that might happen. I'll be swapping my 4405 out to a 1354 soon so I'll let you know when I do just in case you still haven't fixed it or found a new one yet. It works great, just switching to pt 4wd.

 

[Hurbold]

May as well detail it as I go along. Removed the skid plate and drained the fluid. Some plastic pieces, two metal pieces, and two black pieces, one that came from a circular piece of rubber, and one unidentifiable (to me) hard plastic piece. Oh, and 8oz of fluid. Nice.

Next up: t-case removal.

Pics are gonna suck because this cell phone sucks, but here's the fluid and pieces:

 

[albi1cnobi1]

Does the wife know you used her pyrex measuring cup?

 

[Hurbold]

No, but there's also saucepan that I drained the stuff into. Guess I need to clean them out

To update:

1. I've gotten the (4) 12pt 12mm bolts out from the rear driveshaft where it connects to the t-case

2. I've taken out the (6) 8mm bolts on the cv joint on the front driveshaft where it connects to the front of the t-case

3. I've busted loose the (5) 13mm bolts from the t-case to the tranny

QUESTION

I haven't found a comprehensive thread to removing a t-case, so I'm a bit lost at this point. My Haynes simply states "disconnect both drive shafts". Do I need to pull the rear drive shaft out, or is it now (with both driveshafts disconnected from the t-case), sufficient to just remove the tranny to t-case bolts and drop it?

Any help would be much appreciated, since I'd like to get this thing out and still have time to run to the auto parts and get a T20 to open it up tonight. On second thought, I suppose I can just roll up and get the T20 anyway, and finish taking it out tonight. On that note, anyone know what size socket I need to remove the nut on the rear output shaft? I should have an appropriate one available, but just want to make certain for when I run to the parts store.

Thanks, guys.

Bill

 

[Hurbold]

Ok, tried to turn the bolts at the rear of the rear driveshaft, and managed to bend a POS 3/8" ratchet doing so. The bolts never turned, but the driveshaft turned and un-seized from the rear of the transfer case, so I think I'm good. I'll have to tackle the bolts at the rear diff at some point, but I'm not worried about that right now.

Will update when I get this beast out.

Edit: original post not clear. Yes, simply disconnecting the rear driveshaft from the t-case is sufficient to remove it

 

[Facimeor]

right you can leave the front and rear driveshafts attached at their other ends, and just pop them off at the T/C. There is a vent hose you might want to pull down from where it goes over the transmission before you drop the case as well and obviously you need to disconnect the motor. I personally pull the motor (and hall sensors) while the T/C is still attached to the trans just for a little more room around the gas tank. I cut my brown wire instead of de-pinning it, and then I spliced in a bullet connector so I could pull it again if needed.

The tail of the trans is gonna leak fluid when you seperate the T/C so have a pan ready. I just muscled mine out and didnt bother with a jack or anything. Same for going back in.

 

[Hurbold]

Thanks!

Yeah, I pulled the vent hose already.

Just got back from the parts store with a 30mm socket which fits the flange nut fine, if anyone is interested.

Thanks for the notes on pulling the motor, while attached, and cutting the brown. I didn't feel like de-pinning it and was going to cut anyway, and I have some bullet connectors on hand from a boat rewire I did recently.

Thanks also for the note about the fluid leak. This thing shouldn't be too heavy at this point, so I'll prolly just bench out too.

FWIW, I went ahead and picked up a 13mm GearWrench too, because, to confirm what another thread pointed out, it seems like that's gonna help with the top bolts. Figured I'd save some time from continually working the ratchet on that top passenger-side t/c to tranny bolt. Not a lot of room there...

Thanks a bunch for the post.

Bill

 

[Facimeor]

Yeah the top bolt can be a bit of a hassle. I managed to get mine with an air ratchet and just the right combination of socket and extension.

You have to drop the tranny cross member to get the bottom bolt all the way out so you can let the trans/T/C all hang down a little for a little extra room up there, but gearwrenches are handy to have anyway.


The T/C teardown is really easy just be sure you read the sticky here on it and it will be no problem. Dont forget to be careful separating the two halves to pull straight up. That pin on the bottom of the actuator shaft is quite small.

 

[Facimeor]

Ya know i just re-read your original post and Im not convinced your problem is your t/c.


By your description I read that your noise occures with no vehicle speed. In other words, just sitting there with the vehicle idling, and you changing between drive and reverse you have noise, and that noise changes when you go into 4Lo?

If thats the case your problem is in the transmission not the T/C. There is no output shaft rotation from the trans just sitting at idle not moving, therefore there is no moving parts in the T/C.

Unless I read your post wrong...

 

[Hurbold]

Thanks, again.

Yeah, I was able to get to the top bolt and break it loose before I bought the gearwrench. I just didn't feel like dealing with the ratchet and 13mm socket up in there. It's difficult to move around, not to mention getting it on there in the first place. Figured the 10 bucks or whatever was worth the frustration. We'll see once I pull that bolt.

Thanks for the advice on the rebuild, re: reading the thread and paying attention to the way I split it. For me, that thread's the bible right now, but I certainly appreciate the reminder, and it's no doubt helpful to others.

That flange nut is on REALLY tight, so it's getting PB Blaster'ed overnight, and I'll try it again tomorrow morning. I'm using a crazy thick alum pipe over a 1/2 craftsman with the 30mm socket, and giving it a ton of muscle, so we'll see what it does after sitting. If I can't get it broken loose, I'll just pull the t/c and take it to the local machine shop to pull that nut for me.

I'll update tomorrow.

Thanks.

Bill

 

[Facimeor]

I made the mistake of not pulling my flange bolt before pulling my T/C, (mainly because I was after the trans at the time and not the T/C). My impact was a total failure so I screwed a couple grade 8 bolts in the flange and used those to leverage a 3 foot prybar I have and broke the nut loose with a 24" breaker bar and an additional 18" pipe. After it came loose I noticed I actually bent those grade 8's.

p.s. I hope you saw my post on above looking for clarification on the orginal issue.

 

[Hurbold]

Missed your second post.

After turning on the vehicle, reverse is a big no-go; grinding/whirring/spinning/whatever. Have to put it in N, depress the brake, and turn the selector to 4lo to get any reverse at all. If I turn the selector to auto or 4hi after shifting from reverse to forward, it runs ok until I get to around 40 mph. At that point, unless I apply at least a little pressure to the accelerator, I end up with the same noise, as if I was trying to put it in reverse from a parked position without 4lo selected.

Some components in this case are definitely shot, at the very least. Crawling under the vehicle and manipulating the drive shafts by hand yielded some nasty noises coming from the t/c.

Also, the boot on the cv joint that connects from the front shaft is gashed toward the bottom, and the front shaft seems to be sitting low in the t/c.