T-case Issue Or Just A Fluke?

ZR1Vette09 · January 22, 2011

2005 Z71, pushbutton 4wd.

Driving home tonight, I had it in auto4wd with all the snow we've been having. Roads were clear so I decided to go back to 2wd, so I let off the gas, pushed the 2hi button, made sure the light was solid then got back on the gas, to which it just revved sky high. I slowed to a stop, put it in park, which did not engage. I was just rolling in park. After lots of metallic scrapes and knocks, drive began working again but no park. I stopped, let it sit off for a while, turned it back on and pushed auto4wd which seemed to fix the problem mostly. Few more knocks and then everything seemed to work alright.

Now ever since I bought it, when in auto4wd there has seemed to be a rubbing/vibration noise. Very faint, very come and go. Almost like a wheel bearing, but I figured it was just part of having a four wheel drive vehicle. Same rubbing is now louder above 25mph but went away by the time I got to highway speeds.

So here's my question, how should I approach this? I'm mechanically inclined but have no experience with 4wd, transfer cases, anything of this matter. Could this have just been a one-time fluke since it got me home? Common problem? Or do I face problems after it going through so much stress? I don't have a lot of time or money being a full time student and working 2 jobs.

SouthCo · January 22, 2011

Not a common problem as I have gone from 4auto to 2wd and vice versa in my '03 tahoe with 177k miles quite a few time and have never noticed any noises and never had it act as if it was in neutral and rev up. With that being said, if mine did 1 time and then straightened out, I'd keep on trucking. If it did it a few more times, I may just stay out of 4auto. Any repair isn't going to be cheap.

ZR1Vette09 · January 22, 2011

Well once things started running i put the truck through it's paces to see if everything was working. I guess since there's no common issue I'll see how it goes over the next few days. On the plus side, I'm never mroe than 15 minutes away from home with it.

ZR1Vette09 · January 24, 2011

Alright, happened again tonight. Lost reverse, but still had drive and park. It seems to happen very shortly after I change it to 2wd. Being the third time it has happened I've noticed that, and once we put it back in auto4wd it seems to go away (mostly). If anyone has any tips or know exactly what's going on, feel free to speak up. If not, it may be at the dealer in the next couple days. I would love to do this myself but it's freezing outside, lots of snow, and I would never have more than an hour or two at a time to work on it.