4wd engagement

[VanillaGorilla]

Does anyone else have to beat the hell out of the shifter and pull on it like a strongest man competition to get into 4wd? Then it's hard to get back into 2wd. I tried to grease everything a while back and it had no impact. What can I do? A few former first gen owners have told me they had the same problem. Is this a known issue? Thanks

[CumminsPower59]

Never had a problem with any NP205 that I have owned. Yes, they sometimes can be cranky and take a little finesse to get in 4 low, but never had an issue going into 4 high. As for coming out of 4 high/low, the drivetrain can't be in a bind, so having the wheels straight ahead, on level ground, with the parking brake released, foot off the brake and the transmission in neutral takes the strain off the drivetrain and it should pop right out of 4high/low.

[dazedandconfused]

Have you disassembled the linkage and cleaned it all up? Id pull it apart, clean it up and then resemble and lube it.

[Diesel]

Sounds like you might be trying to do it as it is under strain. As mentioned above go with everything loose and in neutral and it should let out of gear very easily.

[BILTIT]

I too cannot go from 4hi to 2hi on the run or without letting all tension off the driveline. This is strange because my old chevy with the same drivetrain except an auto trans would slip out of 4hi very easily will moving.

[BC847]

I shift in and out of 4wH at most any speed with no problems. Most often, shifting into 4wH at a crawl on up to 35 or so, and shifting out of 4wH as fast as 60 or so.

To me, whether it's 4wH or 4wL, I've got to be at least crawling, to shift easily.

[Philip]

its a known issue. The shifter rails are located in the debris stream from the right front wheel. When the seals go bad they let dirt and everything else in. This debris builds up in the area of the seal and gets between the shift rail and the threw boss inside the 205. If the debris gets into the shift rail detents then it gets real hard to shift.

The only repair is to tear apart and reseal the Tcase.

A lot of times you will not see oil leaking from those bad seals eather.

[NJDodge]

I also have that problem with mine. Goes into 4lo and 4h and neutral with no problem moving or stopped. It wont go into 2h at a stop though. It'll fringe in catch and as soon as I put it in drove it pops out. I have to be going atleast 25 and then put it in 2h for it to catch.