Anyone Want To See The Inside of their Transfer Case?

[Ruger]

I'm a bit confused. The tech wrote that they removed the shift motor and were unable to manually shift the transfer case, which would lead me to think something was stuck inside. Now, I know some dealers back then were having issue getting parts, etc, not sure if they gave you that option of a rebuild or not. Regardless, I would always prefer a new part over a rebuilt one myself. Not taking the dealers side here, but just pointing out the obvious, unless I read something wrong, which wouldn't be the first time, lol. Nice letter too, way too nice for my style, ha ha.

I drove the truck into the dealership in 2WD. They removed the shift motor and tried to manually shift the transfer case. They succeeded - in a way. They got it into 4HI and then couldn't shift it back to 2WD, so I left the dealership in 4HI and was told to keep the speed under 50mph until the transfer case could be replaced. I was NOT given the option of a rebuild. The service invoice says that a replacement was necessary, and it says it twice.

Ah, about my letter. This is the only Ford dealership within 180 miles. There are three others, but they are all over 250 miles away. I've had nothing but good experiences with this dealership's service department in the past in service encounters on my truck and my wife's car. So I'm treating this as a curiosity and only implying in the most oblique way that it might have been an oops. If I am to get anything beneficial from this encounter, I must engage with the service manager in a positive way. I think of this as a cheap experiment. No matter what kind of response I get from the service manager, I will learn something - even if I get no response at all. Cheap experiments can be very illuminating. (But I like beer better.)

 

[Ruger]

Anyone who knew anything at all about the 09-14 trucks would have gone right to the shift motor.

I wish I had known that!!!
But after they got it stuck in 4HI, a new shift motor may or may not have resolved the problem.
This has several layers. I am hoping that the service manager is willing to peel the onion with me.

 

[EricM]

I wish I had known that!!!
But after they got it stuck in 4HI, a new shift motor may or may not have resolved the problem.
This has several layers. I am hoping that the service manager is willing to peel the onion with me.

Good luck.

The transfer case on a 11th Gen F150 is pretty damn simple. Some gears, a chain and a shift fork. Back in the day, you shifted a t/case manually. Now there are electric motors that move the shift fork for you.

The fact the dealer couldn't identify the shift motor as the issue with a modern non-functioning Ford t/case is a huge red flag. Assuming the wiring to and into the motor is good (which is also problematic), what else could realistically have gone wrong if it wasn't making internal death noises? The fact that they went inside and stated dicking around with the shift fork manually before trying a known good shift motor on it was flat out moronic in my opinion.

If I was a Ford tech working on 09-14 trucks as a profession, given the number produced and the age of them at this point, I'd have a good used spare shift motor on hand to prove it out. They are cake to swap out. My spare shift motor cost me $20 at the pull-n-pay lot. Might get me home some day.

 

[Ruger]

@EricM, you make a good point. And I have a theory. Just about every time I need a part from that dealership they have to order it - fluids aside. The surface of the aluminum thermostat gooseneck on my Raptor became pitted and started leaking a little bit. It's a cheap aluminum part - a casting. They had to order it! So I am thinking that even though the shift motor may be a common failure, they didn't have one in stock. So they did what they thought was the next best thing to diagnose the problem, and that's how they got it stuck in 4HI and therefore concluded that the transfer case had an internal failure.

After examining the internal mechanism, I can see how they might have come to that conclusion. They might even be right. The engagement between the device on the end of the shaft that the shift motor acts upon and the shift fork assembly is critical to the functioning of the transfer case. A failure at that point might not produce much debris. A failure of the bearing that the shaft turns in might not produce any debris at all. So they might have come to the correct diagnosis, and then took the easy way out and ordered a new transfer case rather than repairing the one I had. This is all guesswork, of course, because I can't see anything wrong with the thing! And that's why I really hope that the service manager can say something like, "Here - see this? This should turn, and it's seized," or, "I've never seen a failure like this before, but here it is." I want to be able to trust this service department because they're the only Ford dealership in 180 miles, and I'm giving them the opportunity to prove that they're honest and trustworthy.

About the wiring. They installed the new transfer case, tested it, gave the truck back to me, and 7,000 miles later there are no issues. I was not charged for a new wiring harness, and no work was done on it to my knowledge.

 

[CoronaRaptor]

The issue appears to be: why did they not offer to rebuild the transmission. My guess is, one of two possible scenario's:
1) they are a small dealership and may not have a transmission rebuilder on staff (or not at the time of your issue).
2) you come across as grumpy rigid old man with OCD and they thought the best course of action was to order you in a new case.

I could be talking about myself in #2

 

[bigrig]

After reading this I was interested in the process of swapping out the shift motor. I found a nice video of the process here...

Thanks for the exploded t-case pics! Those were great! Good luck with your refund!

 

[Ruger]

^^^Oh @bigrig , I sincerely doubt that there will be a refund. For one thing, I waited too long. For another, I got a brand new transfer case and all the benefits appertaining thereto! That's worth something to me, and it certainly cost them something. They might be willing to refund what I was charged for labor, and maybe even the difference between what I paid them for the TC and what they paid for it. But a full $1,720 refund? I'd be speechless, and that doesn't happen easily or often. But if they dock the mechanic's pay to refund anything to me, I'll decline it. She works to live and I'm retired. I won't take food money or rent money from her, and I'll need clear-eyed assurance and a handshake before I accept a refund. It's a matter of principle.

 

[bigrig]

Sounds like you are a good guy trying to do the right thing. I will hope for the best outcome for you!

 

[Ruger]

Thank you very much, Mr. @CoronaRaptor !

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Thank you very much, Mr. @CoronaRaptor !

No worries, I’ve been known to be inappropriate at times, lol