01 Disco II with an 04 CDL kit.

I'm pretty sure my transfer case interlock solenoid is bad. The transfer case will not move from high to low when the transmission is in neutral; feels like it's definitely hitting something solid. I plan to simply remove it and re-seal the cover.

Read the RAVE manual about replacing the solenoid. It indicates that you get to it from under the truck but I don't see how short of removing the rear drive shaft and e-brake assembly and even then you'd have to feel the cover bolts, not see them.

I've opened up the center console and can see two of the four cover bolts from above, but the other two are buried under bracketry with bolts that are very difficult to access.

I'm assuming there are no shortcuts here, that this is a PITA, but I'm just curious how you did the job. Comments?

 

We removed mine from under the truck with little issues.
Are you removing or replacing yours?

 

I'm planning to just remove it...if I can. Very tight bolts, lots of obstructions and little room for big hands and wrenches. PB Blaster is my friend.

 

I'm in the same boat as you....want to do it, just trying to figure out what the trick is short of pulling the whole truck apart

If you find the "trick" please post up your results, I don't think I'm going to be tackling this anytime soon with other projects on the docket taking up my "free time" but i'll need to get to it eventually....

 

When I was trying to get the tans cooler lone on the top connected I ended up pulling the center cross member, the Y pipe, and the motor mounts. I could then lower the motor enough to actually get some access to the top of the transmission.

It was miserable, but mostly just because of the cross member bolts being rusted.

 

Well I eventually got to that solenoid cover. There are no tricks, at least that I'm aware of, and it's a bit of a pain in the butt.

I went through the center console. Once that was out of the way, I had to remove the transfer case breather and the bracket that secures the transfer case shifter cable to the top of the case. Immediately under that bracket is a stamped metal plate that is the mounting point for six electrical connectors which must be removed. Fortunately, both the bracket and plate are secured by the same four bolts and come out together.

The solenoid cover is located in close proximity to the transmission tunnel so there's not much room to work. A 1/4" drive socket with extension and universal joint managed to get the four solenoid cover bolts out. I had to loosen and push part of the shifter cable out of the way in order to get the cover off and since it was originally installed with RTV it took some twisting to break the seal (which was leaking by the way). Once the cover was off, I used a pair of channel lock pliers to twist and lift the solenoid out as it was a tight fit.

I cleaned the solenoid cover, cover bolts and mating surface of the t-case with brake cleaner, then applied a layer of black RTV to the cover. After a quick check to confirm that the solenoid was what was actually preventing the transfer case from shifting from high-to-low (it was), the cover went back on minus a solenoid. I don't want to have to do this job again and know full well what the results will be if the t-case gets shifted at speed.

Now it's a matter of buttoning everything back up while stopping to test things along the way. I'm into the job about 3-1/2 hours at this point and hope there are no surprises from here on out.

 

Well I was not looking forward to this job....now I am REALLY not looking forward to this job. Thanks for posting up your process, hopefully it is fixed for good!

 

Done. Took about six hours but I was dinking around learning where things were at and checking/re-checking things while it was apart.

It really wasn't too hard of a job, just a bit tedious due to the lack of room to work. My transfer case had apparently been leaking for quite awhile so it was covered in thick greasy goo which added to the fun.

High and low range work beautifully now, as well as the CDL.