Problems with L4

My hometown of Virginia Beach got 8 inches of snow last night (a rarety for this area). After an hour or so of scraping and shoveling, I decided to make sure the driveway was clear enough for the next morning's work day. So I hopped in my 4wd automatic taco and proceeded to put it into H4. No problems. I backed out from a small incline and drove around the snow-covered neighborhood.

I decided to try L4. I went through all the steps (stop, neutral, etc.). The shifter/lever was a bit stiff at first getting into L4, but after a few tentative tries I could hear the gears beneath me engaging into L4 (and the 4wd light came on the dash). I then put the truck in drive and...nothing. I tried reverse. Nothing.
I swear the truck was engaged in L4, I could feel it and hear it and see it (green light), but when I went to shift from neutral to either drive or reverse, there was nothing engaging the automatic transmission.

Once again, H4 (and H2) worked with no problems. But something is amiss with L4. What am I missing??

 

Maybe you didn't push it far enough and were in Neutral with the transfer case.

Have you put it in 4Lo before? You might have to push harder to get it in the next position.

That's all I got

 

That's what someone else suggested as well. I've tried it, but when I push beyond what feels like the natural position, it starts to make a grinding sound and the lever vibrates. Remember that when I shift up into L4 I can feel and hear and see the engagement (the green 4wd light comes on). So as I'm sitting there with the auto transmission in neutral, and the 4wd in L4 (or at least I think I'm in L4), then I move the auto transmission into either Drive or Reverse, the vehicle doesn't move. Nadda.

 

That indicates to me that you are not in 4 low. Gears grinding indicates to me that it won't actually shift into 4 low. Take a picture of the J stick when you have the lever in 4 low position. It should be way up to the right. I'm guessing that if you post a picture, others will chime in that you're not actually in 4 low and that the transfer case is still in neutral.

 

with the engine off, go through the shift pattern.

1. Pull to 4H
2. Shove over
3. Push until you feel the detent for neutral
4. Keep pushing until hard stop (4L)

Repeat with the engine on.

 

please...PLEASE don't let this turn into...this
http://www.nissanpathfinders.net/fo...ing-on-question-help-i-cant-go-4hi-only-down/

 

Agreed.

You did not shift it all the way

 

^Like others have said, it sounds like you got the t-case into neutral instead of 4 low.

 

From your original post, I couldn't be sure if you were seeing the green 4WD indicator light when you initially engaged 4 HI. You only said it came on when you "engaged" 4 LO.

The indicator light should come on as soon as you engage 4HI and stay on (regardless of whether in 4HI or 4LO) until you return to 2WD.

 

You cant shift into 4lo when you are in gear. You need to shift the truck into N or P, then shift into 4lo. You are grinding your gears when you try to shift into 4lo and the truck is in gear and thats bad.

 

This was good advice. With the truck off and in neutral, I was able to push the L4 position much higher than I felt was safe while the truck is running. As I mentioned in my first post, when I tried pushing higher than what felt natural, the shifter/lever started to make a grinding noise, the same kind of noise when you're trying to shift a manual into a gear at too high RPM. Make sense? That sound/feeling made me think I was pushing it too far, but doing that exercise with the truck off was pretty telling.

 

Please see my above post for the answer. You can shift bt 4H and 2H on the fly but to get into 4L WITHOUT GRINDING YOUR GEARS you need to put the truck in PARK or NEUTRAL. The truck SHOULD NOT BE MOVING.

Hope the bold, underline, and caps help .

 

I just had this happen on my 96. check your transfer case fluid and see if there are any chunks of metal....like this

 

the part that broke on me is called the "stopper"

 

I ended up taking the transfer case out and taking it to Carlife transmission on the blvd Witchduck rd

 

Truck was in neutral; not moving. When pushing lever up from H into N and then higher into L, the green 4WD dash light came on. That's what made me think that I was in L4. But going through the same motions with the truck OFF I'm able to push the L4 position much higher.

 

There you go. And mine will grind sometimes going into low even in park. Not sure why, but it does happen.

 

good to hear everything worked out