4 low, Grinds into park

[DFrank]

When I have my truck in 4 low (manual lever) it sounds horrible when I shift into park. It sounds sort of like I am pushing a pencil into a fan blade. maybe 3-4 distinct hits. It does not do this in 4H or 2H.



It also grinds if I leave the lever in Neutral.



Can you shift yours into 4 low cleanly while standing still? My manual says I should be in neutral and rolling 2-3 mph. I had to make the tech read my manual to believe me that you were supposed to be rolling to shift into low.

I can shift mine while standing still, but if you hesitate in Neutral it sounds awful. Shouldn't I be able to leave it in transfer case N?



They first tried to tell me all was well. After repeated shifts and grinds in front of astual tech, he agreed it was not right, but has no idea what to do next.



I left the truck overnight, but have little confidence that it is about to be fixed.



Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Mathew Clausen]

If the transfer case is in neutral, I would expect some grinding when going into park because the trans output shaft is disconnected from the wheels allowing it to turn some when in neutral. In 4low though, it should not be any different than high range if you are stopped.



Shifting to low range - if the trans and transfer case are in neutral then you have a bunch of gears able to spin and something will potentially grind to get them all stopped (either moving to park, or selecting high or low range). The good thing is that even though it sounds bad, all you are doing is stopping the inertia of the gears so there is not much chance of damage. If you change ranges quickly, the gears do not have time to speed up and won't grind.



Mathew

 

[DFrank]

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. In 4 low, shifting from any gear into park sounds really bad. I had another customer at the dealer do his and it shifted in to park, while still in 4 low, quietly every time.



Mybe it doesn't matter. HOw often do you park your truck in 4 low? just seemed like something was amiss, and figured it might indicate other problems with the transfer case, which by the way only yielded a little over a quart when I changed it recently. (It takes 2. 5 quarts to fill).

 

[WMonroe]

Before you shift into park pause in neutral (transmission) for a second or two and then shift it into park.

Will

 

[Donn]

I had my truck back to my local dealer for bad grinding whin shifting into 4 low. While it was there I had them replace all fluids. (transmission, both differentials and the transfer case) He said that there wasn't any problem shifting the transfer case. I questioned them but they said all was well. When I picked up the truck I shifted it several times into 4 low and it worked great, go figure?? Either the fluid in the transfer case must of not been just right and after they changed it it started shifting fine or they did something else and didn't want to tell me. So you might want to service the fluid in your transfer case?? I had 16k miles on my turck but I tow quite a bit so I thought I would have all the fluids changed. The cost was $500. 00 but all is well that ends well!

 

[MLimpert]

Shift your transfer case lever hard and fast while just slightly rolling for the best result. Don't pause in transfercase neutral. All of my trucks have made some grinding noise while completing the shift and its normal.



As for the grind, make sure you are TOTALLY stopped before moving to park. The extra gear multiplication in 4L makes the park mechanism in the transmission easy to overcome. As Wmonroe said, Shifting to neutral for a moment may help to unload the driveline as well.

 

[DFrank]

OK, so I'm not talking about the occasional grind when shifting into 4L. it happeens, but i'm not too concerned about that. (Shifting quickly through TC neutral heelps limit this)



I am talking about shifting the truck into park WHILE IN 4 LOW. fluids are freshly changed. My truck does not go quietly into park while in 4 low. The other two that I tried randomly, made no noise whatsoever when shifting into park, while 4 L was engaged.

 

[BMuffett]

I put mine in Park all the time in 4LO. I do stump grinding with my pickup. Mine "clicks" into park while in 4LO unless I go to Neutral first, then park. This works for me every time. It is just the way it is for me. Good luck.

 

[DFrank]

After first saying they had never heard one like mine before, they now say it is normal, they all do it and not to worry.



All in all they treated me pretty well and even covered the rental car, while they investigated it.