I have a 98 Expedition with 215k miles. Yesterday I was driving on the freeway when if felt like the transmission slipped into neutral. I pulled off the road and tried to get it to engage by changing the gears from reverse to drive a few times but I got nothing. The engine seemed to run fine but I couldn't move at all. When I put it in "park" it made a loud grinding noise. I had it towed to a local shop and this morning they told me the transfer case motor is bad and needs to be replaced. Does that make sense? I thought the transfer case motor only moved when you changed in and out of 4WD. How would the TC motor be a problem when I'm just driving along in 2WD?

On a side note, the shop said they got it to move for a little while but it was stuck in a low gear. Now it's back to not moving at all.

The TC motor would be an easy fix but I'm not convinced this is the problem. They want to charge $150 to fix it but I'd rather not pay that if it's not the problem.

 

There is no neutral position within the transfer case. You problem is low fluid, with the transmission, or with the torque converter.