4x4 trouble shooting

[kstidham]

hello i am new to site, and having a difficult time figuring out my 4 wheel drive issues.

When i start the truck the indicator light flashes to it times out. Then if i place the truck in nutral it flashes then stays lit. I replaced the 4wd actuator. Still same problem. I jacked the truck up and did the trouble shooting steps. Turn the truck ignition on the light flashed and timed out without making any noise, I placed it in nutral both motors engaged and front passager tire would not spin easy but did spin with a little effert.

[The Roadie]

What mode is the 4WD switch in when all this happens? 2HI? And you change it to what other mode and it flashes? A bit more detail in your observations could help us.

What happens to the lights on the switch when you turn on the ignition? They should ALL flash as a lamp test, then all of them go out except the mode you selected. Is this happening?

Can you hear the two distinctive motor noises under there - the front axle actuator and the transfer case encoder motor - in the modes where you should hear them?

Have you tried the fuse-pull TCCM reset procedure?

Have you been keeping up religiously on the 50K mileage interval for transfer case fluid changes?

[kstidham]

if i just turn the truck ignition on with the dial in any position it will flash and time out and all the lights will go out. But if i place it in neutral in any position it will engage per say.
Yes i pulled the fuse.
I change the fluid every year regardless mileage on the complete drive line.

[kstidham]

Ok so i started checking into things further this past Sunday.
When i first started the truck up it would not move till i switched from 2HI to 4HI. When i did this it made a loud clunk and jerked the truck. After this it was able to move.

Next i placed the truck in the air to check the four wheel drive function. I turned the truck ignition to the on position and placed it into neutral and in 4HI. I then checked to see if the front tires were engaged by spinning the tires. Results was they both turned.

Third
I started the truck and put it Drive to check to see if the transfer case was engaging the front drive shaft. I found that it was. I repeated the test in 4LO with same results.

Thus far everything is checking out.

The problem that i am seeing is when the truck has resistance, placed on the ground the front tires are not engaging( handling the torque placed on them to stay engaged.) So what i am saying is while the truck in on the ground the front tires are nut pulling.


History
I change the drive train fluids every year during the spring after the winter. With the average of 6 to 10 thousand miles between changes. The truck has about 120000 on it.

The problem started with the indicator light flashing and not locking in position and timing out. Then the auto 4-wheel didn't work by not engaging the front axle.
I know now from reading the post on here the auto 4-wheel is a bad thing. I just think it would save the gas instead of running HI on these back roads. I also pull a trailer around quite a bit to go 4 wheeling.

[Trail X]

I'll be honest. I didn't follow half of what you posted, but if I deciphered the last bit properly, it seems to indicate the front disconnect.

Is english your first language?

[kstidham]

Yes English is my first language. I am just dyslexic and my mind moves faster then what i can type. I tend to forget words sorry i will try to double check my post from now on.

[Trail X]

It's all good, just read your posts over before submitting them. I do at least once or twice every time.

Try lifting only the front passenger tire, with the truck in 4WD. I bet you can still spin the passenger tire. That would likely indicate the front disconnect.

If it is locked in, however, then I'm guessing that it's an error in your electronic lock on the transfer case motor. I've heard of it going out in multiple cases. It could be allowing your transfer case to shift entirely out of 2WD and into N, which would cause your issues of it not being connected when you start the vehicle. You can check this by putting the transfer case switch into 2WD or 4WD and then taking the transfer case motor off, and attempting to turn the motor output. It might take some force, but if it turns while in one of those modes, then the lock is not engaging.

The thing that sounds weird to me is that you said the transfer case switch light will "time out". I'm not aware of a shutoff in the programming. Mine will flash for hours and hours. That's what makes me think the last and final possibility is your TCCM, but that's generally an unlikely issue on 2007s.

[kstidham]

The very first test i did on the vehical was to jack the passanger side up to check if it would spin. I was able to spin the tire with little effert, but it did not free spin.
When I replaced the actuator, the actuator came out coverd in dark greese. And pulled all the way in.

[Trail X]

Sorry, I got confused with my own troubleshooting methods. The fact that the front passenger tire rotates when it is in 4WD mode and it is the only tire lifted off of the ground indicates ONLY that your 4WD is not working properly. I had gotten a bit confused at that point. My bad!

The next thing you have to look at is the front driveshaft while doing the same thing. I think you said you couldn't see it, right? Get a friend to spin the tire while you look for or feel for the driveshaft. If nothing else, stick your phone under the car and take a video while you spin the tire. That will be the determining factor.

My bet is that your driveshaft spins, based on what you've written. If the driveshaft spins, that indicates that your transfer case is the root cause. From there we can try to narrow down what the actual failure is.

[kstidham]

Yes the drive shaft does spin.

[Trail X]

Ok, well that indicates that the front end is locking up, but the transfer case is not. If the transfer case was locking into 4WD, the front driveshaft would not be able to spin while both rear tires are on the ground.

So this, combined with your description of your issues, leads me to think it's your transfer case motor lock.

As I said before, take your motor off of the side of the transfer case, and try to spin the output shaft of the motor (with ignition on). I'm betting that in 2WD or 4WD modes you can. Try it and report back.

If you haven't read this yet, do it: http://www.offroadtb.com/articles/tech- ... operation/

[kstidham]

the answer is yes it spins 1/8 turns both ways. i can hear it click in and out of position.

[Trail X]

That sounds like its the issue (to verify, you are able to turn the socket in the MOTOR 1/4 of a rotation while it is in the 4WD mode, not the shaft sticking out of the transfer case, right? When you said you can hear it click you worry me, you should be turning a highly geared motor, not something that really "clicks").

The motor only has to turn 1/4 of a turn in order to switch into all of the modes. When in 4WD or 2WD, the lock should be engaged so it would not allow the motor socket to turn at all. So, what you are describing sounds like a failed motor lock, as it would allow your transfer case to unlock at will.

You have two options, buy a new one, or try to dig into it and find the root cause.

[kstidham]

NO i was talking the shaft sticking out of the transfer case.

[kstidham]

here is the pictures of the motor and output shaft of the transfer case

[kstidham]

After i removed the motor and checked the shaft (on the motor)does not turn, but some where along the way something happened because the splines would not line up to go back together. I had to disassemble the motor and rotate the gears till they lined up. While in there i did not notice anything broken dirty or signs of water. But know the selector switch flashes then goes black.
So before i do anymore damage i scheduled an appointment with a trusted local guy.

[Trail X]

You realigned the gears of the motor? That could present an issue.

How did you attempt to rotate the motor's output socket? If you just used fingers, its not going to do anything. That's a highly geared motor and won't easily be back turned.

I'm still betting its the tc motor. If you know someone else with a tb, see if you can pull their tc motor and put it in yours, see if it fixes things. Try your motor in their tc, see if their truck acts up. If you don't know someone with a tb, see if you can get one from an auto parts store and return it if it doesn't fix things.

[kstidham]

Thank you James for your help.
It ended up being the encoder motor was bad. I also found out the reason that i could not line up the splines from motor to the transfer case. The encoder motor wasn't able to shift the transfer case completely in to position leaving the transfer case in between positions. So when i took the motor off it moved to the position selected leaving the transfer case in between.
I received the new encoder motor today and installed it and everything is good. FYI If you end up in this position you need two people to install the motor. One switching the positions while one person is under the vehicle lining up and starting the bolts till you have two bolts in to allow the motor to shift the transfer into the correct position.