t-case slipping?

[gjm4l]

Thats pretty on topic i do believe. So now we know it could be a problem with the shift motor. It coulda gotten packed with snow and shorted out or something could have come loose in the harness and caused it to short and try to shift to 2wd, but they usually wont shift outta 4low under power and you may or may not have heard it depending on what the load was blah, blah, blah. Well if it were me I would do like I said in the last post and have it looked at under warranty since you still got the golden ticket for now. Explain to the service writer that the front end stopped turning in 4 low and later it wouldnt shift outta 4low and you want the system checked out and verify they what theyl do for you if it goes out after warranty if they dont discover a problem during this visit. The tech will be annoyed (unlessit went up he'll only get 1 paid hr and good diag on a maybe takes a while lol) and the writer will be annoying because idk about your dealership but ours got at least one truck a week with 4wd issues because of that darn electronic shifter that usually ends up being the nut behind the wheel (lots of good ol' boys used to manual shifts). Oh and while I'm thinking about it DO NOT SAY YOU WERE WHEELING!! Gives them cause to try to deny warranty work. Unless your cool with the guys then they probably already know. Let me know what they say!

 

[--weezl--]

they shouldn't deny the warranty based on me wheeling, i asked them specifically when i bought the truck about wheeling voiding my warranty, they said because it's the fx4 level II model which specifically says on the side of the truck "off road" it's intended to be in the bush, with the skid plates and such... though with the 33"s they can void it, so i toss my 31's back on before i go in

it was in 2L and didn't switch back to 2h, it was definitely still in low range when this was happening... and my truck will not switch ranges when it's moving, even rolling at like 1mph, it won't do anything... i'll tell them i was stuck in some snow on an unplowed road, when this happened, there's lots of snow up here still

 

[gjm4l]

Sounds like when i used to take my trx450 to the dealership(3yr warranty). They wouldnt cover it if it was raced. So id take it in with no plastic so i didnt have to take off my numbers. GNCC is tough on frames lol. I got like 4 replaced before the service writer finally said no more (he knew) Good deal it wont be a hassle. Seems like your down to optical illusion or electronic tcase problems so maybe the tech can shine some light on it. When are you taking it in

 

[--weezl--]

took it in today, didn't even get to the t-case problem... i'm not welcome at that dealership any more... the guy started mouthing off about how he stuck his neck out before, and replaced everything in the transmission and it's my fault that he couldn't find the problem, and he "won't lose his job over my truck" because ford is cracking down on warranty claims... claiming it's my fault that it's broken, because i used 4L... i pretty much told him where to go and how to get there... i'll be stopping at a new dealership tomorrow morning, found out they are an SVT dealership, so i can imagine they should be a lot better... in preparation for it, i put the stock 31's on, and put the vallance back on...

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I will tell you that as a tech at a Ford dealership, we cannot do anything to fix the problem if it will not do it for us when you bring it in. Ford will not pay us (under warranty) to chase a concern that is not present at the time it is brought in to the dealership.

Our Service advisers will go out with the customer to verify the concern, if it will not do it, it doesn't come in to the shop if there is no concern present.

That being said, I hope you get it figured out!

 

[--weezl--]

understandable, i should also mention, this is the same service manager that said he noticed the problem last time i had it in, and it's the exact same problem as it was last time around

and while he was test driving, he even had 1st gear grind into gear

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

I understand that, I am more talking about the transfer case issues.

 

[--weezl--]

ahh, it's a little hard to prove that it's doing that on the spot though, even if it is doing it... being it's already going to be in for the transmission, and a tinging noise i can't quite locate... wouldn't they be able to check if it is locking properly? there was some suggestion it was an electronic problem...

 

[gjm4l]

Sounds like it became a hassle after all. Sasquatch I'm jealous that your dealer protects its mechanics like that. The one I worked at they would just send it back and tell us to figure it out. So like for his tcase i would have had to try to verify it and visually inspect if not test the system. Then if we couldnt find it we had to convince the shop manager we needed to have the customer take us for a ride. Kinda like the F-150 i mentioned in an earlier post it took 4 times before i finally got the boss to let the customer show me what he said it was doing. Just to discover he thought the shift to 4lo was instant. Many an r/o would come back that just said engine noise. Or shifts weird... my favorite ro of all time just said "doesnt work right"..... We'd have to argue with the service writer to get some details from the customer. That was a big part of why i left. Back on the 4wd though, I'm still feeling like it was just an optical illusion. but they ought to at least check it out visually/ check for loose wires and such but sasquatch would know better than me cause I left the tech world in 07'. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

[--weezl--]

just got a call from the dealership, they can't replicate the problem, so because they can't replicate the problem, there's an $82 bill for me.... wtf? so i said, ok, i'll come and i'll show you, the guy says "no, our transmission tech has gone home for the day" here's the kicker... i dropped it off 10.5 hours ago! and they are just calling me now? i had an appointment for 630 this morning, i was a little late, dropped it off about 7, but the techs don't show up till 9 according to them anyways...

it's a little ridiculous that because THEY can't find the problem, i get given a bill... AND, they won't fix it after my warranty is up, if i can prove it... what's even worse than that, i've got like 500km left on the warranty on my clutch, which could be the problem...

so i'm going into the dealership tomorrow to try to show them the problem, because they can't replicate it on their own... even though, i have a service invoice from the previous dealership that put parts into it, with "verified customer complaint" of the exact same problem, granted it's a different dealership, but it's owned by the same guy


i think what i'm going to have to do, is just drive around for like half hour in 4L as fast as i can, this always seems to make it do it...

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Sasquatch I'm jealous that your dealer protects its mechanics like that. The one I worked at they would just send it back and tell us to figure it out.

It isn't that they are trying to protect us, it is that Ford won't pay us to look for concerns that aren't there. They are doing it to save us money.

 

[gribly]

I think you're only problem is your transmission. The 4wd switch on a newer Ranger can get dirty contacts, and I have personally had this problem with my father's '05 level II. Clean the contacts and it was fine. It just simply isn't possible that your front tires stopped spinning altogether when the rears were still going. Probably what happened is you let off the throttle and the rears had slung some snow up, and it was still airborne when she saw the front stop spinning. If your front tires really did stop spinning, you broke something, and there would have been a loud noise involved that would have been obvious to you and everyone around your truck, and you would not have gotten 4wd back.

So basically, if I have read everything right, you just need to figure out your 1st gear issue - probably the slave or a throwout bearing - and clean your 4wd switch. It also wouldn't hurt to pop the motor off the transfer case and take it apart and clean that, too. Your truck has been in deep water, if I remember your snorkel thread correctly, so it's completely possible that you got sediment or something on the 4wd motor contacts or got some grit in the gears for the motor, causing it to act funky. Also, if you are not going slow, don't use low range. If you are moving at a running pace for a long distance, then you need high range - it'll generate less heat in the transfer case. Your transfer case has no cooling system to speak of.

Man, I hate to rag on you all the time (seems I do it once a week now) but I think part of the problem is your not understanding how to drive your truck properly off-road and maintain it after the trail ride. There should never be a situation where you're getting up to speed in low range, you're not say, getting it up to 35mph for a few minutes at a time are you? Because that is what it sounds like, and it's hard on equipment to treat it like that.

 

[--weezl--]

my truck has been in deep water a few times, though i doubt sediment in the motor is the issue, as the water i was in was moving water and very clean, regardless, taking the motor apart to clean wouldn't be a bad idea

as for speed in 4L i rarely get out of 4th gear, and if i do, it's only for a moment, heading down a short, non technical (flat) section of a technical trail, typically on the trails i run on, they turn into a flatish logging road eventually, just barely flat enough to pull a trailer past, once it turns back into that, i go back into 4h, max speed i hit is 30 km/h (18mph), though i have hit faster than that momentairly... i try not to switch back and forth between 4l and 4h, because you have to stop, wait and then get going again, but if the trail warrants being in 4h i will switch it...

rarely will i be in 4th (literally, maybe 2-3 times) typically in 4L i'm in second gear, sometimes 3rd

 

[gribly]

Oh, okay. I was under the impression you were going faster than that and using overdrive with low range - glad I don't have to point out to you that you really shouldn't do that. Good luck with the dealerships and getting stuff fixed, like I said before, start calling up important people and let them know how you are being treated.

 

[--weezl--]

no no no... actually i think i told you a higher speed than i do drive... today, while on flat paved road, trying to get my trans hot, to show the dealership my trans issue, i was in 5th 4L and i was only doing like 40km/h... and that was faster than i've ever done before... 3rd gear is like 30km/h which is fast for what i do in the bush, and is like 18mph