Gen 4 Transfer Case false neutral

I have had a problem recently, shortly after engaging 4WD-L, I loose all drive, it seems to occur if I put the clutch in.  To correct the problem I need to come out of 4WD-L or even 4WD and re-engage.  Once it is back in 4WD-L it is rock solid.

The first time it happened I was in the middle of a trial and head what sounded like gears not quite meshing, the second time, there was no sound, but no drive.  It doesn’t happen very often, that is twice about 6 months apart.

i am guessing it is slipping out of gear in the TC, if this is possible, does this indicate a worn TC r other type of problem?

Ta

Robin

As you probably know by now, the Gen4s are notoriously difficult to get into low.
I have to pretty much put both feet on the dash on mine like I'm landing a Great White Shark and try to bend the lever double or it will jump out as soon as I put it in drive.

I suspect that the rubber cover  or the hole in the floor is stopping the lever going far enough back to fully engage the detent.

Anyway, I'd check that you haven't got a soft transfer box mount, and whilst under it, have a look at how much clearance there is for the lever when it is supposed to be in low. I'm thinking something is moving the lever enough to pull it out of the detent, or it isn't going into the detent when you engage low. (erm- you haven't added any trim that fouls the lever or the rubber boot when it is in low have you?)

Otherwise there is no reason for it to kick out unless the big gear on the output shaft has excessive endfloat due to wear of the gear or the thrust washers, (I'm assuming the innards are the same as the late Gen3, they look it from partsouq) it is just a sliding dog clutch ring that slips off the chain sprocket and onto the big gear, with the output shaft teeth in the middle. I guess endfloat in the shaft might snatch it far enough too, but the output flange would have in/out play.

The detent spring could have gone soft I guess, but all these require getting the box apart, I'd make 100% sure that it is engaging fully, and still jumping out before tearing the 'box apart.



 

facade wrote:

As you probably know by now, the Gen4s are notoriously difficult to get into low.
I have to pretty much put both feet on the dash on mine like I'm landing a Great White Shark and try to bend the lever double or it will jump out as soon as I put it in drive.
 

I must be lucky with my LCV; it has never taken more than a firm shove to get into 4L.  Or maybe you lads just need to eat more protein.  

But since @DrRobin routinely puts his Gen4 properly through its paces, the possibility of a tired case mount is a real one.  Especially if this is happening when the clutch pedal is depressed, that could point to the assembly moving more than it should, when torque load changes.  Getting under there to inspect, maybe with a short wooden lever in hand, is the right idea.

I'd be less worried about an internal problem in the transfer case.  Tired detent springs can happen over a long time frame, and will give you a popping out on take-up.  But this sounds like the lever's not fully home to begin with.  If there's a technical problem here at all, it will be external to the case.

Thanks for the advice, a few things for me to check.

I wouldn’t say it is difficult to put in to 4WD-L and apart from twice it hasn’t jumped out. Both times it has jumped out I have been in 4WD-L for a 100-200m over reasonably rough terrain. Then I have come to a point where I de-clutch, possible coming to a near stop whilst I line up for the next stage, it’s then it has jumped out.

Once engaged that pattern might be repeated and it doesn’t jump out, so I suspect you are correct sometimes I just don’t engage it with enough force, or something is stopping the lever from going back as far as it needs to do.

Robin

Not a false neutral but I found yesterday that I need to be certain that I have engaged low in bellerophon, it's not hard to do it wrong seemingly. I also don't know what they thought was wrong with having a little light on the dashboard say low is actually engaged instead of the selection of yellow warning lights, must be progress?

Lambert wrote:

Not a false neutral but I found yesterday that I need to be certain that I have engaged low in bellerophon, it's not hard to do it wrong seemingly. I also don't know what they thought was wrong with having a little light on the dashboard say low is actually engaged instead of the selection of yellow warning lights, must be progress?
 

I can't remember what mine does when I select low now, it definitely beeps and I think flashes up that some of the driver aids are disabled, but it happily does that before it is fully engaged and the car won't move (I soon found that out)

I suspect Suzuki just added a lever to the electric transfer case from the late Gen3 rather than went back to the original design, and maybe they didn't quite get the tolerances right as regards available lever travel. If I had it apart on the bench I could probably figure out a way to get the selector to move far enough by filing something, or building something up, as it feels like I'm having to bend something to get a tiny bit of extra movement at the selector.