1995 F150 XLT, 192XXX miles, 5.8l, automatic

Check engine light has been on for years, can’t remember the code but it’s some BS thing I ignored at the time and still do. The motor on the transfer case went bad so I fabricated a manual **** to select between 2WD, hi and lo positions that works well. New manual locking hubs.

My issues started a year ago when I went into 4W lo, and the truck wouldn’t go into gear (drive, park, reverse) without a grinding sound coming from seemingly below my feet (Also around this time, maybe even before, I noticed the truck revving high in 2WD trying to get into third gear and clunking into place with a lurch. The tranny “Cruise control” warning light comes on for a bit then goes away after a while of driving. This happens rarely, usually only while towing.)

anyway, the truck won’t go into gear and when trying to turn the transfer case back to 2WD I felt a lot of resistance on my fabbed manual **** thing and couldn’t do it. Eventually it ground itself into gear and I was able to get it back to 2WD once everything settled into place.

This whole sequence happened again tonight. I rarely go into 4WD, so I ignored it all year but this winter it’s going to be needed more due to my work. I was getting a blown fuse a few times, I think #15? The one that also controls the speedometer, whenever this lurching 3rd gear stuff was happening.

Any thoughts? Is my tranny just goofed? The tranny fluid is good and full, and I replaced the transfer case fluid years ago and it was topped off then. Perhaps confirming that again now is a good place to start, but if that’s fine what else could it be for me to fix, minus replacing the transmission? Or is it only a transfer case issue?

I have no idea where to start with troubleshooting. I don’t know why the transfer case isn’t going into gear correctly and why it just grinds.

Thanks everyone.

 

To me it sounds like the problem is in the transfer case. Why didn’t you replace the shift motor?

Because your homemade hand shift gizmo isn’t working anymore? You aren’t in just one mode but instead are in between so it
just grinds.

 

Sounds like you might have a couple of issues.

If the speed sensor circuit has a problem, that could explain why the transmission is struggling.

It's not hard to get a transfer case stuck in neutral when shifting it manually. There's enough drag in the trans to spin up its output when it's in neutral but not connected to anything, so if you spend too long in neutral (while shifting between high and low), the trans will spin up and the transfer and won't want to grab high or low (and because the transmission is spinning, trying to put it in park will grind, too). Grinding it until it grabs isn't doing it any favors. If you shut the engine off, it should engage without issue. I would check that your custom shifter hasn't slipped on the shaft it connects to, or bent to where it won't fully select gears. If that's all good, I'd drain the transfer and look for chunks.

 

Thanks for the reply, that helps get me on a track to sorting the issue out. Too much time passing between shifting and engaging makes sense; perhaps I just need to install a “new” transfer case motor, as it’s intended to be operated, and see if that right there doesn’t fix the problem. In the meantime, we’re getting snow tomorrow and I’ll try shutting the engine off to slow the rotation and see if that helps.