Hey guys, So recently i was told i had a bad T-case and it was best to replace it with a used one. So yesterday i decided to play with it and see if i could pinpoint what it was doing and its so weird because i drive normally with the gear lever all the way back and to the right. (if your sitting in the drivers seat) and when i want to put it in low i just go all the way forward and to the right. BUT if i move the lever all the way forward and to the middle, It engages and my light comes on and it pulls just like low gear would... Then i would pull it back down all the way and leave it in the middle and the light shuts off normally... You can play with the gear lever and move it from the middle to the right no matter what gear your in. So if im all the way forward and in the middle the light is on and seems like everything works, But if i move it just to the right the light goes off... But is still shifting low...

Any ideas?!

 

I found out the hard way that the middle, stick straight up & down, is not a good place to be. you should be all the way to the right for unlocked & all the way to the left for locked. If you can't go all the way to the left or right, the problem is likely a jammed lever, not the t-case. It needs to be disassembled & cleaned. Driving with the stick straight up & down may or may not have locked the t-case, & the light may or may not be accurate.

Mine was in this position with the light off, but the case was locked. Made a U-turn & BAM, blown transmission. PITA

 

I don't know if I'm reading you correctly, but it sounds like you think the light should be on in low gear? this is not the case, it only comes on when the cdl is engaged, in high or low.

 

The light on the dash indicates the t-case is locked. It does not tell you you're in low range. If you're only moving the shifter to the center when trying to lock the t-case it is not fully locking and it will cause damage. The shifter need to be all the way to the right or all the way to the left, in between is bad. You should be able to lock and unlock the t-case in any gear, just make sure the tires aren't spinning when you lock it in.

Your t-case shift pattern is

lo lock---------lo unnlock
neutral--------neutral
hi lock---------hi unlock

Hi unlock is your normal driving position on dry, paved roads.

Are you getting noise from the t-case or is the shifting the only issue? Have you checked the fluid level or changed the fluid in the t-case?

 

I believe the cdl lock light is activated directly by the shifter fork inside the case.

Not by the spring loaded shaft trying to push the fork.

If your light is on, your cdl is locked

luck,greg

 

Make sure you understand. That one lever has two independent functions. Locking and unlocking the Center Differential is one of these functions and is accomplished like they all said fully left is loicked, fully right is unlocked. Use the lock only when you are NOT ON DRY PAVEMENT. If it does not freely move, then the linkages most likely need to be cleaned and lubed. Do this before you really screw things up. It should engage and disengage regardless of whether you are in HIGH or LOW. There is also a CDL Engage Switch right beside the lower mechanism that can also go bad and not allow CDL to engage, mine had both a bad switch and frozen linkages.

Moving the lever fore and aft shifts the transfer case from High for High Speed to LOW. If everything is working good, this can and should only be done with the transmission shifter in NUETRAL and less than 5MPH, preferrably sitting still or rolling very slowly.

These are both independent functions but use the same shifter. Make sure you understand that or you will cause costly damage.

 

My Disco always shifted a lot easier from high to low while still moving slowly in neutral.

 

x2, half the time it won't even go back in gear while completely still and you have to put the trans in drive to spin the gear and put it back into neutral to try again.

 

It does make a pretty bad clunk when shifting down, Not sure what to do with it. . . I drive with the stick all the way back and to the right (drivers view) Im really just not looking forward to replacing a T-case. But Rob at MIT did said it was failing so. . . Time to move from Denial to acceptance lol

 

Get a second opinion. I've been hearing some not so great stuff about Rob at MIT. I've met Rob but never had him work on my truck. Rob wanted to charge a friend of mine a lot of money that wasn't really necessary. Before you spend the money on a new t-case take it down to Jeff at JC's Rovers and get it checked out.