transfer case locked in 4x4....sorta??

[ponytail]

i believe i have the np2o3 transfer case and here is whats going on. in 4wd low all works well. in 2wd low i get nothing(like neutral) neutral is right. 2wd high i get nothing( like neutral). 4wd high works fine too. i assume this is the shift forks? also when i put truck in gear i get a nice clank. all u joint are good so i assume its coming from loose chain in transfer case? should i pull/rebuilt it or replace with something better? the 205 maybe?

[OrrieG]

Before you dig into the transmission take a look at the shifter. When the 203 factory shifters get worn the handle moves but the levers do not. I got so tired of crawling up under mine to get it back in place with a big screwdriver I got a spare and made a twin stick.

The clunck is probably the chain taking up slack when you put it in gear. If it it really stretched it will jump gears in 4 loc with a noticable clunk and stutter in forward progress when it is really loaded. You can pull the lower front cover and bearing retainer, take care it has a bunch of needle bearings to look at it. If the chain is sloppy you will see it. I rebuilt my 203 with a Doug Nash part time shaft kid in 85 and newer chain and gear and haven't had any problems with it off road. The part time kit goes a long way toward keeping the chain from stretching because it takes the load off of it during normal driving. I kept it this build because I did not want to have to refabricate everything a third time (its in a 59 frame).

If you don't mind rounding up all the pieces a 205 would be the way to go but it is not a direct bolt in replacement for the 203. Around here they are on CL all the time, usually with a 4 speed trans still attached.

[ponytail]

swapping both may be my way to go really. it has a 3 speed auto now and i think i would like having overdrive. this truck is a work horse but anything 60mph+ feals like i am killing the motor. (high rpms). truck is in great condition so it rarely goes off road

[cabcorner]

Do you have lockout hubs on your truck .My truck does the same thing when my hubs are unlocked. The internal differential on the 203 puts all the power to the axel with the least resistance. With the hubs unlocked it wont move in the High or Low positions.I don't think there is anything wrong with your transfer case. Removing a drive shaft will also cause this. The High lock and Low lock positions lock the internal differential in the 203 sending equal power to both the front and rear axels.

[csb#356]

Agree with the above post. Sounds like someone put manual hubs on it and no part time kit. But if theres not manual hubs I agree with Orrie G.

[ponytail]

Originally Posted by cabcorner

Do you have lockout hubs on your truck .My truck does the same thing when my hubs are unlocked. The internal differential on the 203 puts all the power to the axel with the least resistance. With the hubs unlocked it wont move in the High or Low positions.I don't think there is anything wrong with your transfer case. Removing a drive shaft will also cause this. The High lock and Low lock positions lock the internal differential in the 203 sending equal power to both the front and rear axels.

truck does have warn manual hubs. but when i shift to 2wd low or high i get nothing at all. just like neutral. im not sure how hubs would make a difference. its not getting power to either driveshaft

[csb#356]

Theres is a differential inside the transfer case so when you don't have it in lock (which locks the differential) then it works like an open differential sending the power to the path of least resistance (that being the front axle with the hubs unlocked). I bet if you put the truck in gear and got underneath it the front driveshaft would be spinning. Or just lock the hubs in and run it in 4hi (not 4hi lock) and see if the truck moves. I would be willing to bet thats whats going on. Its stumped many before.

[ponytail]

its not the front drive shaft as i took it out a couple weaks back.

first of all.... can i replace chain while in truck? i am assuming not. so if i cant get the part time kit then what? is there no way to free up front drive shaft and diff? just seams like a lot of wear on parts that dont need to be moving. not to mention gas milage or power loss in pushing the extra parts as inute as it may be.