I recently bought a '96 4.0 SE. When I first bought it, I was showing the dreaded " Select Neutral" message on the display. I pulled the transfer ECU connection, cleaned it with electrical cleaner, and the problem went away. It still wouldn't shift in to LOW RANGE though. I swapped in the transfer ECU from a '98 4.0 SE, hoping that would fix the problem. I still get the "Select Neutral" message every now and then, and it still won't shift into low. I put a fuse in and tried to force the transfer case into neutral,......the message on the display said "Transfer Neutral" but the case never shifted.

Does all this mean my shift motor is the culprit, or is there some other gadget I'm overlooking? I'm damn near to the point of just trying to hard wire in a DPDT switch to control the transfer case.

 

Okay, I pulled the transfer case motor this morning. When I applied 12V to it, it moved both ways. WTF? Any suggestions?

 

Check for signal to the shift motor from the transfer case ecu. If you do not have a signal, then go back up the line toward the ecu.
Also, check for a complete ground for that circuit. You might have a wiring issue.