Transmission or other?

[Jroam]

First of all, this is on a Ranger 1999 3L v6.
Yesterday I was driving all day on pretty tame dirt roads a bit of 4x4ing nothing crazy, but all the sudden by the end of the day, when i put the truck in Drive, I would take up to 3 seconds to get into gear, then when I pressed the accelerator a horrible metallic screeching /grinding occured with lotsa shaking and the truck not really wanting to go forward. I tried switching through the gears and it seemed to be doing the same thing. I then proceed to put it in 4H, put it in D, same thing, test the other gears, not any better. Then I switched it to 4L, then no crazy sound and thuds or anything. So, I limped it home in 4L, not ideal but better than getting stranded.
Reverse gear worked in all gears without issues. Transmission fluid looked normal, levels seem all good as well.

Where should I start looking?
transmission? transfer case? Driveshaft?

I'm semi-fluent in fixing my own vehicles, but i never ran into transmission issues before, it would be great if someone can tell me where to start looking.

Thanks

PS: I gonna try to record the sound it makes, even though I'm pretty reluctant to , because it sounds horrible like something may be really f@cked

 

[Jroam]

After a bit of research I found this post. So far, it's the closest thing to what I may be experiencing with my truck. Maybe?
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=403206

 

[FloridaGrown]

Do what he did. Put the rear end on Jack stands and see where the noise is coming from. Cycle through your gears and pinpoint. It's probably your transfer case seeming how the problems are about identical.

 

[Spott]

Maybe. Go through the same steps he did in that thread; checking brakes, bearings, and then supported running (don't get under the truck in drive).

Also, check transfer case oil. The 3-second delay really makes me suspect it's the transmission itself; everything else should work or fail immediately.

 

[Jroam]

transfer case oil was good.
the shift motor was working,

that's how far i got on this today.

 

[baddis]

where are you located? I actually have an auto and trans case from a 2000 with a 3.0

 

[Jroam]

too far man!
I'm in Vancouver BC

 

[baddis]

I tried lol

 

[cp2295]

Yeah the 3 second thing seems transmission relAted have you tried adding oil to the tranny? And put the truck in park and 2wd and 4lo and see if the driveshaft spins any different if there's more movement in 2wd put the truck in neutral and see if it feels the same. If it does I'd definitely suspect transfer case