75 K5 with the 203. Full time 4WD converted with kit to part time by previous owner. Slowly kicks out of 4 low with any engine force.....when climbing/crawling, I will find myself in 2 low without even knowing when it kick out. I slightly adjusted the shifter arm last night thinking it might be causing a partial engagement. Playing in the yard on a hill, it still did the same thing. I can actually see it moving every time I press on the gas hard. Takes about 3 or 4 surges and it's out of 4 low. Any thoughts?
My 205 kicks out of fwd on downhill decel, like when I use the engine for braking. It doesn't do it often enough to warrant a tear down yet.
It could be a bent shift fork preventing a full engagement but kicking out of gear especially with throttle changes like acceleration or decel with a manual transmission, or a transfer case which uses a similar setup, just no brass blocking or synchronized ring (since its not synchronized) it's the sliding collar and possibly the gear worn out.
The small teeth on the gear that the shift collar and the matching teeth inside that collar are cut so that torque keeps them locked together similar to a keystone in an arch. If the metal teeth wear then torque will actually push the collar back to neutral. That's why they don't shift easy when the driveline binds up and why it's so hard to pull a manual transmission out of gear when under throttle.
It may not have visible wear either but if you tear it down and don't find a bent fork I'd replace the gear and shift collar (or synchronizer assembly in a manual trans) on the problem gear.
What about gating the shifter with a lock in kinda like an auto trans shifter, except you have to push the button to free the shifter to move? I imagine that would eventually bend the shift fork if it is caused by the gear wear.
What about gating the shifter with a lock in kinda like an auto trans shifter, except you have to push the button to free the shifter to move? I imagine that would eventually bend the shift fork if it is caused by the gear wear.
I've seen that done before. It may cause extra wear or bent forks like you said. A local well drilling company years ago had an old truck for their drilling rig that they would bring by the shop that was so worn out they had a notched 2x4 in the truck. It was the poor bastards job who got stuck in the middle seat to wedge it between the shifter and dash once the driver got it up in high gear!
