Ruger
FRF Addict
The wrench icon appeared at 85,195 miles on my GEN1, so of course I took it to the local dealer. (Same dealer my wife bought her Ford Edge from.) In the process of diagnosing the problem they managed to get it stuck in 4WD High, and told me that the shift fork in the transfer case had broken. I was instructed to keep the speed under 50mph until they could get a replacement transfer case delivered. The new transfer case cost $1,155.82, new bolts of two types cost $24.00, and labor was $540.00.
I asked for and received my old transfer case, and now 17 months later I've finally gotten around to splitting the case (quite easily done) and look inside. As you can see, both sides of the shift fork are not broken and in fact are unmarred and show no appreciable wear. I serviced that transfer case twice with the then-spec Ford Transfer Case Fluid during its 85K life, and even installed a magnetic drain plug.
I thought some FRF members might like to see what the inside of their Borg-Warner transfer case looks like, hope someone can tell me where to look to identify the failure mode, and that there might be cautions to be aware of when the dealer says, "We can have a new transfer case here for you in a couple of days." Having seen how clean the guts of the transfer case are and there are no bits and pieces of stuff inside, I think maybe the solenoid on the outside of the transfer case might have been the true point of failure. If true, the cost of the repair would have been a small fraction of what I was charged. I can't help but wonder how to test that solenoid.
I asked for and received my old transfer case, and now 17 months later I've finally gotten around to splitting the case (quite easily done) and look inside. As you can see, both sides of the shift fork are not broken and in fact are unmarred and show no appreciable wear. I serviced that transfer case twice with the then-spec Ford Transfer Case Fluid during its 85K life, and even installed a magnetic drain plug.
I thought some FRF members might like to see what the inside of their Borg-Warner transfer case looks like, hope someone can tell me where to look to identify the failure mode, and that there might be cautions to be aware of when the dealer says, "We can have a new transfer case here for you in a couple of days." Having seen how clean the guts of the transfer case are and there are no bits and pieces of stuff inside, I think maybe the solenoid on the outside of the transfer case might have been the true point of failure. If true, the cost of the repair would have been a small fraction of what I was charged. I can't help but wonder how to test that solenoid.
