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Stuck in four-wheel-drive

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pch858

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last week I purchased my 1st GMC Jimmy am not sure if it's a 1980 or 81 the pink slip says 80 and purchased an 81. The individual or purchases off of said his friend left it in four-wheel drive and then he didn't drive it for 10 years or so because he couldn't get a California smogged. I was told by somebody if I drove around for about a half hour or so to warm everything up I could probably shifted out of four-wheel drive back into 2 wheel. But with no luck it's still an four-wheel-drive low. The truck has automatic locking hubs and this weekend since I'm on spring break I'm going to swap them out for manual hubs. But I'm not sure if that's really going to fix the situation. Could someone help with some suggestions on what to look for or what the problem could be quite rebuild the transfer case etc.. There are some other electrical problems as well like the power locks when I hit the switch on the inside the locks will not unlock and even when I tried to manually pull the locks up they are stuck. So it seems like him to have a lot of little stuff to do as well over my spring break. One of the other things was also lowering it back to stock height and switching out the gears because I believe they are 4.88 and I want to go down to 3.73 because it is going to be a daily driver. Thank you everyone for your help and any suggestion since this is my 1st Jimmy before this I was a Volkswagen or Ford guy and I'm really excited about this truck.
 
Do you happen to know what T-Case is in it? And have you looked at the linkage underneath? Could be something binding or messed up. Take a picture of it
 
post a pic...The 80 would have a np205 t-case, the 81 would have a 208 t-case. Is it aluminum or steel? The bodystyle changed from 80 to 81 as well, the front marker lights, if there vertical its an 80, if theyre horizontal, its an 81. If its stuck in 4low, is the shifter close to the dash, or close to the seat?
 
the seller told me that his friend put on a suburban front end to get the headlights in a horizontal position. I think it's at 208 transfer case but not sure. I am going home a week from today to start work on the truck I can send a picture of them thank you for your help
 
pch858 said:
the seller told me that his friend put on a suburban front end to get the headlights in a horizontal position. I think it's at 208 transfer case but not sure. I am going home a week from today to start work on the truck I can send a picture of them thank you for your help
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Well pics will help determine exactly what you have, but if it's a 208 or 205, and you can't get it out of 4wd back up and try to take it off that way, it usually is binding from going forward and going backwards releases it.
If it has full time hubs instead of automatic hubs then it might be a fulltime 4wd which means it's a 203.
Pics will definitely help or at least go under and read and describe what tcase you have and tell us about the hub if it's a chrome cover with nothing on, or it has a 4x4 in black on it, and some small screws.
 
the hubs on the truck have GMC 4x4 on them with the 6 or 8 screws around the outer edge. Inside the truck on the floorboard in between the passenger and driver seats in front of the center console I have the option on the shifter for 2 Wheel Dr. and four-wheel high and low. When I start the car the 4 x 4 light on the instrument gauge is lit up. When I pulled it out of the driveway and got onto a flat surface I tried to put the shift lever up to 2 Wheel Dr. and back it up for about 35 to 50 feet. The four-wheel-drive light went out and it seemed to be in 2 Wheel Dr. within there was some clunking noise and then it seemed to be a neutral as I stepped on the gas and nothing happened I placed it back into four-wheel-drive went around the block and backed up into the driveway and there it sits. When I get home next week I will get underneath the the truck and take a look at the transfer case and see if I can read any of the numbers. Thanks again for your help
 
Well from the description you just gave, this is a 81 model year, I will venture and guess it has a th350 with a 208 tcase and auto locking hubs.
Looks like the shifter needs adjustment, or the tcase is dry.
The other thing I am thinking is possible that the rear output is not working and the only way you are moving is from the front when in 4wd.
Now it might be just that you didn't engage it all the way forward into 2wd and it's in neutral, you just need to push it all the way forward.
pch858 said:
the hubs on the truck have GMC 4x4 on them with the 6 or 8 screws around the outer edge. Inside the truck on the floorboard in between the passenger and driver seats in front of the center console I have the option on the shifter for 2 Wheel Dr. and four-wheel high and low. When I start the car the 4 x 4 light on the instrument gauge is lit up. When I pulled it out of the driveway and got onto a flat surface I tried to put the shift lever up to 2 Wheel Dr. and back it up for about 35 to 50 feet. The four-wheel-drive light went out and it seemed to be in 2 Wheel Dr. within there was some clunking noise and then it seemed to be a neutral as I stepped on the gas and nothing happened I placed it back into four-wheel-drive went around the block and backed up into the driveway and there it sits. When I get home next week I will get underneath the the truck and take a look at the transfer case and see if I can read any of the numbers. Thanks again for your help
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Well, he is trying to get out of 4-lo and into 2-hi so he should have it in neutral to make the shift. My old '81 GMC I often had to back up 30-40 feet, pop into neutral and then make the shift out of low range and into 2-hi.

208's just seem to like to bind up harder in my experience. 205's I've had seemed easier to get back 2 hi even when they were bound up a bit.
 
Odd, my 208 shifts in and out just sittin there. Never had any issues
 
Sometimes you can shift between LO and HI in park, but sometimes you need neutral. The vehicle has to be stopped either way. Between 2 and 4HI is no problem.

If it will only go in low range, it could be that the range fork is too worn to push it back into HI, but it's possible that an adjustment to the linkage would still let it shift. You can also bypass the linkage temporarily and move the lever on the case from underneath to take that out of the equation for troubleshooting.

The idea of no rear drive seems unlikely unless the rear driveshaft is missing. It seems almost impossible for a chain drive case to power the front but not the rear. This should be obvious from driving, though - sharp turns on pavement are quite jerky in 4WD even with open diffs.

Now if it was a 203, you couldn't move at all without putting the case in LOCK if the rear driveline was gone.
 
Well, "park" is "neutral" with the addition of the park pawl. Either one should work fine for shifting between lo and hi range.
 
tRustyK5 said:
Well, "park" is "neutral" with the addition of the park pawl. Either one should work fine for shifting between lo and hi range.
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I like neutral more, just seems to slip in and out easier. Letting it roll some helps too.

For me anyway.
 
tRustyK5 said:
Well, "park" is "neutral" with the addition of the park pawl. Either one should work fine for shifting between lo and hi range.
Click to expand...
Park locks the input shaft of the T-case, while Neutral does not. With the output also kind of locked by the tires you might not be able to shift. It depends on how well the teeth are lined up wherever you happened to stop.
 
Ok its a 208 transfer case and it was dry it also looks like I need to replace the rear seal. But its still stuck in four wheel drive I have tried to adjust the linkage and backing up 30 feet or so but still stuck.
 
Have you tried disconnecting the linkage and manually turning the input shaft on the T-case? If you push it all the way back, that should be 2HI. There are two shift forks attached to this lever. The range fork is what gets you in and out of low range. The mode fork engages and disengages the chain and front output. So if it won't shift manually either a fork is worn through or something is fused up inside (not unexpected since the case was dry). Either way the case has to be pulled and torn apart.

It is not uncommon for a 208 to eat the forks if you run long enough with the linkage mis-adjusted. First it eats through the teflon pads, then through the steel of the forks themselves.
 
tRustyK5 said:
Well, he is trying to get out of 4-lo and into 2-hi so he should have it in neutral to make the shift. My old '81 GMC I often had to back up 30-40 feet, pop into neutral and then make the shift out of low range and into 2-hi.

208's just seem to like to bind up harder in my experience. 205's I've had seemed easier to get back 2 hi even when they were bound up a bit.
Click to expand...

Yea... My 208's a pita.
It loooooves to stay in 4HI. :doah:
 
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