Before I get the “did you search”, yes I did. 20 pages of transfer case lock up. None with the actual problem I have just encountered.

A buddy of mine doing about 80mph on the highway had his t-case locked up on him. Luckily he didn’t crash the car. He had flat bedded over to my place to figure it out. I dropped the t-case and open it. It was bone dry and seized. I removed the drive shaft from the rear diff to make sure it would not bounce under the car.

Test 1, the car rolls fine in neutral.
Test 2, clutch goes down, all gears go in while the car is on. I start to release the clutch to get the car to move, and a heavy grind come in. this happens in all gears. Almost like if I’m forcing it into gear. Yet the moment I press the clutch back down, the grind goes away.

Any ideas? Already know I have to drop the trans… just don’t want to immobilize the car at place until I get all the parts in.

Thanks.

Make sure the front axles are in all the way.

In nuetral the only thing spinning is the input shaft. Rolling with no tcase you may not notice anything as there is no significant rpm. Try to let out in a gear all tranny parts are moving. Go back to clutch in everything stops. Youve broken something inside the tranny. You wont know what until you open it.

What do you mean by fwd drive mode? You can't drive it without the transfer case, if you try you are going to ruin the viscous coupler and possibly do other damage.

That car is immobilized and cannot be driven. Flatbed it somewhere if needed. I see no other way than dropping the tranny and having a look.