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I have a 1990 Geo Tracker, man. trans, man. hubs, 4 wheel drive. When it is being towed, and while going downhill and braking, the transfer case tries to engage into 4 hi which causes a grinding of the gears. While sitting in the tracker when it is being towed under these conditions, you can see the shifter move slightly towards the rear as it tries to engage and the gears grind. Does anybody have any ideas or suggestions? thanks
Do you have manual locking hubs? Are they unlocking? If automatic are they staying unlocked? If you have auto hubs, convert them to manual. Auto hubs will lock up if wheel brgs are loose or badly worn. More likely your transfer case is worn out. Remove the transfer case and check for extremly worn chain, bearings, shift fork, and transmission output shaft bearingsn(and transmission). Also the front and rear driveshaft output shaft brgs and U joints should be checked. Any leaks at the transfer case? They don't hold much lubricant and a small leak will lead to prompt failure. How many miles are on your Tracker? The transfer case maintenance is commonly ignored in this country..leading to failure. In any event, they are not high-milage vehicles. Sort of throw-away jeeps. Find a good low milage trans and transfer case unit and install it. Broken motor or trans mounts can cause this sort of condition under a load, but I would not think so while towing. Worn transfer and trans are common in those vehicles. Generally, trying to rebuild the things costs more than they are worth. Good used complete assy's are the way to go. Good luck! JR
JR, The hubs are manual, and it is towed with the hubs unlocked. The tracker has about 85,000 miles. We bought it from the original owner (a friend) and she used it as a commuter vehicle and she could not remember a single time that she had ever had it in 4 wheel drive. I don't know if the chain is spinning in two wheel drive, but she had immaculate service records from the chevy dealer. Everything in the trans and transfer case work perfectly i.e. there is no slop, all shifts are crisp and sincros are still intact. I don't believe these items have a wear issue. Any other ideas? thanks todd
Yep. Got more ideas. Be sure that the front driveshaft is not turning when you are towing the unit. Tape it up with duct tape. If the tape breaks, your front hubs are problematic. If that test is negative for problems, remove the rear driveshaft and tow the vehicle. If the problem resolves itself, the transfer case output bearings and chain are worn. These things wear out at rather quickly. I've seen 5spd trans and transfer cases in Suzuki's (Tracker's same)fail at 40K miles. When the transfer case is in neutral, the only thing turning is the center shaft and the chain drum. The trans is not turning, although a bearing failure in the output shaft in the transmission would result in misalignment of the tranfer case input shaft. Also, be sure that the transmission and transfer case mounting bolts are tight. Keep in mind that the chains are quiet until they break. When towing, the chain is loading on the backside and this changes the dynamics of the design. The slack is on the wrong side of the drums..it may "chatter" or vibrate. It rattles around until it shifts into 4WD (tries) without input. If not repaired soon, the specific part failing will become quite apparent. Protect your wallet. JR
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