Transfer Case Rattle Rattle BANG

[nye2k]

It sounds like something sheered off in my transfer case and is now bouncing around, waiting to wedge itself into the planetary. It limped home, and in first, would knock, knock, knock.. BANG! I now expect to find everything pretty torn up when I crack it open, and figure I should just replace it with a junk yard case.

...Except, it is one of the luxurious manual bw1354s, now impossible to find. Has anyone on here successfully shoved the manual linkage into an electric shift case? Is there anything I should know before trying this?

 

[Bronco638]

There's a 1354M for sale in the Parts forum. It's in Georgia for $350.

 

[4x4junkie]

Vast majority of the parts are the same between electric and manual 1354. Unless anything in the shift mechanism itself or the front case half is messed up (not inc. the front plate), good chance you'll be able to just swap the guts over.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yeah, most things are the same between the auto and manual, and if the front half of the case isn't too shot it's the same as a 1350 as well... I was running a 1350 rear case half on a 1354 for a while but something else was wrong, need to dig into that...

 

[nye2k]

I got ahead of myself by wanting to replace the whole Transfer Case. I don't think this is necessary, but I still don't know the cause.

When I pulled my case and cracked it open, the only issue I found was a broken fork pad. Which left small composite pieces floating around in the case, otherwise I found nothing which seemed that it could cause the noise I was hearing. All teeth were there, the chain is tight, and I even filtered the drained fluid hoping to find a piece of something that was bouncing around - but there was nothing. Which made me question my diagnosis.

I assumed this noise was coming from the T-case because:

1. The noise started driving in the snow, after shifting in to 4H for the first time in a month or so.
2. I could feel the rattling and banging through the manual t-case shifter and not through the transmission shifter, or clutch pedal.
3. The noise would start to disappear in 2wd, but would worsen again when I shifted back to 4wd H/L.

I didn't check the fluid level before draining, but I had no signs of leaks. I have replaced the fork pads and all seals - and will follow up again once I get it back on the transmission.