Hi I have a 97 f-250 HD with the 4 wheel drive, and the electric overdrive tranny, and a 460 engine. I asked this question in the drivetrain forum, but no one responded.
Ok I bought this truck about may or june of this year. (awsome truck..love it), but one slight problem im trying too figure out, and I KNOW ONE of you guys can help me out hopefully. Sorry so long, but here goes...........oohh, and one other thing, this is the early 97, like the 96 body style. When I bought it , everything was great except for some small little things i fixed, but the transfer case shifter was busted right off. he said it was the bracket and he would fix that before i picked it up. So when i picked it up the guy that fixed it told me he put a new bracket for the shifter on, I looked under and saw a new ...(clamp around the arm out of the tran case, with like a black cap or something on it)...not too familiar with that setup, but looked good under there. He started it , went through the gears, and everything seemed fine. From there I drove it through the summer no problem..(also has lockout hubs)....never checked it. So anyways recently I bought a Boss Smarthitch RT3 7.6 straight plow for it. Installed everything myself. No problems plow wise. But when I went too put the blade behind my house in the wet grass, I started too spin rear tires. Got out, locked the hubs in, and tryed too put it in 4.......(you guys are already saying get too the point) Just figured more info the better. When I tryed too put it in 4 high.....it was very stiff shifting it, so i stopped put trans in neutral, and tryed too go through all the 4 gears with the shifter. It felt very sloppy, and very hard too find the correct range. Moving down a little got me in 4 high...(i felt it)....but light did not go on on dash. Put my plow away and looked into further. Got it on dry ground too check. I tred again and first thing I hit too make the 4 drive work, high i suppose, no light, went down one more click....(very hard too find the clicks....mind you im not just looking for a light like an idiot)....but anyways the 4 wheel light finally came on, and it was in neutral. Shifted all the way down and it did catch 4 low...very noticable...but no low range light.......(mind you I changed every bulb in that dash because some were out so i changed everything while i had it apart)...., but anyways seemed like I got every range on the transfer case with some struggle, so thats cool, but when i left, I turned the manual hubs too free, pushed that shifter up all the way too 2 whl, but for three days my 4 wheel drive light was on,...(not low..but regular) couldnt tell if it still was stuck because i have the manual lockouts.
My whole question is did they maybe put this thing on wrong, were is the switch that gives the light on the dash, and why is it so hard too move that shifter? I drank two beers writing this, but I wanted too give every detail.
I would greatly appreciate any suggesstions because I live in Buffalo NY, and snow will probly be here wed. or thurs.
Thanks

 

Can you snap a picture of the shifter linkage the guy supposedly replaced?

Sounds like binding in the lever but a picture could help rule that out.

I think the light switch is internal but do not know for certain. Are there wires going into the transfer case? If not, then it must be around the shift linkage.

 

It looks like the switch for the light on the dash IS on the transfer case itself, if it's a BW1356 transfer case.

Hard to diagnose on-line, but you might want to look for a binding in the transfer case lever linkage.

But it doesn't sound right if the switch is not indicating 4x4 or LOW correctly because it's right on the transfer case itself - the lever not being adjusted right (or bent) wouldn't change what the switch says.

Kinda sounds like the transfer case itself has a shifter problem internally.

 

Thanks a lot guys, Ill check that linkage out, and try too see where that light wire is. Ill get the pic too. Thanks again.