Transmission / Transfer case LOCK UP

[TonyT]

Well here goes..

I own a 93 Tsi AWD and a week ago the transfer case seized up on me while i was driving down a street at about 60 km/h. It was partly my fault as i never checked it for a leak. Took it to a chrysler dealership and left it there for the remainder of the week. They call me up and let me know that they replaced it with a brand new transfer case. Lucky me. (the previous owner had not performed the transfer case recall so they didnt hassle me too much)

I go over to pick it up and i encounter some serious problems. There is an extremely loud rattling noise that originates from somewhere within the tranny. Also I have serious issues with trying to get the car into 2nd and 4th. I get some heavy grinding while shifting into 2nd and getting it into 4th is pretty much impossible unless i slam the gear into place. You get the idea. This was a perfect tranny before the transfer case seized up on me. No grinding or other difficulties.

I did a search and i have narrowed it down to the retaining ball and clip at the end of the output shaft as a possible cause of the loud rattling that i hear. Maybe when the transfer case seized (along with the output shaft) the retaining ball and clip would have dislodged and may now be bouncing around somewhere in the tranny. But i am clueless to the reason why the other problems have occurred.

I really hope you guys can help me out here. I cannot afford a new tranny nor can i drive around like this (this car is essential to my job). Im hoping to get Chrysler to either fix the problem or replace it with a new tranny, as this was a perfect tranny before the seizure of the TC..it was a direct result of the lock up. How exactly does the seizure of a TC screw up a tranny ?Any ideas?

I appreciate any helpful comments. Tony

ps: sorry for the long post, but im really anxious/nervous...no car = no job

 

[Mike1992]

If it wasnt grinding into gears before, take it back to the dealer and explain the problem. They should fix it to.

 

[slvrstingray]

When you locked up the transfercase, you probably blew up the center differential in the transmission! Hope that they cover that under a warranty! Good luck.

 

[TonyT]

Hopefully they will fix it under the warranty, even though technically its not covered. But i guess since its a direct result from a t-case failure I may have a decent argument.

And slvrstingray, what are the chances of a center differential blowing up due to a t-case lock up? I was doing about 60km/h when it happened (not THAT fast)...is a busted center diff a common result of a t-case screw up?

I really hope they do it under warranty, or else it is bye-bye talon for me.

 

[JPGRL]

After getting my Laser back after the transfer case locked up on me, I got no more than a mile away from the dealership and it locked up again. I had to pay to tow it back, and a day later they called me to tell me that "their transmission guy said it was the transmission, not the transfer case this time". I argued that I just had the transmission rebuilt 6,000 miles ago (true), and if it was broken it was definitely the result of the t-case lockup and they needed to fix it. They refused, I got it back home and got a quick course in tranny rebuilding. Funny thing is, after getting the tranny apart I found nothing wrong. I put it back together and it's been working fine ever since.

Every dealership is different. I think I found the worst one ever (I had to fight them every step of the way to get the work done). Hope you have a better experience...