Issues with Transfer Case (Rebuild?)

2nd owner of Gen1, truck has had issues getting in and out of 4lo since i got it.

started to work on what the issue might be, and have zero'd in on the Tcase. First step was to drain and check fluids.

Fluids looked good no metal, but this plastic piece came out with the fluids (not good). Ive had some comments that its off the range fork which would make some sense as I cant get into 4lo anymore.

Any thoughts, was going to swap the Tcase motor next although I think the issue is in the case and not the motor at this point.

Whats the level of effort to pull the Tcase, pull the case apart and fix vs finding a replacement and swapping those?

Thanks all.

I had issues getting out of 4-Lo with my Gen 1 while under warranty. From what I remember it was a faulty circlip allowing a gear to walk out and bind. This resulted in a difficult shifting out of 4-Lo, shifting in and out of 4-High was good. Ford rebuilt the transfer case, no issues since. Service Advisor said it was somewhat common.


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I have a 2011 Raptor with a brand new transfer case. Lucky me! I sometimes got the wrench warning on the dash when shifting into 4WD high, and it became increasingly frequent. I eventually took it to the dealership, and in the process of diagnosing the problem they managed to get it stuck in 4WD high. It was nice of them to warn me to keep it under 50 mph until they received a replacement transfer case.

The replacement transfer case cost $1,155.82, new bolts cost $24.00, and labor was $540.00. When I got it home I discovered that my new transfer case was 7 ounces low on fluid. (They neglected to warn me about that!) I asked them if they could repair the transfer case, and they indicated that they could not.

I did learn something that might be useful to you. They told me that the shift fork in the original transfer case was plastic, and that's what failed. (I'm uncertain how they know that because they didn't open the case.) And they told me that the replacement transfer case was more robust. I hope they're right.

Don't waste time trying to take it apart yourself, either let the dealer rebuild it, or get a new (rebuilt) case and do it yourself, big jobs like that, I usually leave to the dealer, but if you have the tools and a buddy, it shouldn't take you but a saturday morning to do the transfer.

I was all fired up to tell you to rebuild it yourself, then I checked car-part and there is one with 8k miles for $175, the overhaul kit without any replacement parts is $135. Find a local place on there or go to a local pick-a-part. All the 2009-2014 f150's with the electronic shift should have a BW 4419.

Removal is straight forward, lift, support, drain, remove driveshafts, disconnect electronics, unbolt remove.

Plastic internal fork did my T case in with symptoms very similar to the OP. Mine increasingly gave me grief going from 4l to 4h only to almost strand me in the middle of nowhere with a trailer in a tight spot attached. It's final gasp of life was a metal grinding noise and shudder I never want to experience again. Had to hand push the truck forward to get it to engage back into 2h. Thank God I had a bunch of teenage boys with me to push. I too was told the rebuild was more robust with metal parts not plastic.

Not sure why anyone would replace a transfer case instead of having it repaired, unless the damage is catastrophic or the case is damaged. They are very simple internally and the parts are not overly expensive. If you have a good trans shop in the area and the ability to remove/install it yourself, you could save quite a lot of money by having it repaired.

FordTechOne said:

Not sure why anyone would replace a transfer case instead of having it repaired, unless the damage is catastrophic or the case is damaged. They are very simple internally and the parts are not overly expensive. If you have a good trans shop in the area and the ability to remove/install it yourself, you could save quite a lot of money by having it repaired.

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Perhaps, but Ford is warrantying my new transfer case.

I speculate that the original proprietary Ford Transfer Case Fluid (for which Ford never published the specs) might have contributed to the failure. I drained and replaced the fluid at regular intervals and installed a magnetic drain plug, but the spec for the replacement transfer case is Mercon LV.

I had the same issue, Here is what my work sheet from Ford stated following ---"No shift from 4LO to 4HI.test TCCM,KOEC-PASS,KOEO-PASS,KOER-PASS. Refer to symptom Chart-Perform PP test C. Found Transfer case shift actuator binding with motor removed. Internal case fault. Remove transfer case. Found Front thrust bearing Failed-Damage to planetary gear. 7A398/30.

Kirkw said:

Plastic internal fork did my T case in with symptoms very similar to the OP. Mine increasingly gave me grief going from 4l to 4h only to almost strand me in the middle of nowhere with a trailer in a tight spot attached. It's final gasp of life was a metal grinding noise and shudder I never want to experience again. Had to hand push the truck forward to get it to engage back into 2h. Thank God I had a bunch of teenage boys with me to push. I too was told the rebuild was more robust with metal parts not plastic.

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Thats pretty much where Im at, 4lo is pretty much worthless.