Just replaced transfer case shift motor sunday as well as front axle disconnect. All was good after install inspected visible wires and traced back wires in loom to look for chafes or corrosion and it all looked good. My problem came up yesterday when i was heading home from work and started the truck. The 4wd light flashed once then went away so i thought that was odd and went ahead put it in drive and went down the road about a km then the t-case must’ve slipped into neutral or better gears or something so i flipped the 4x4 switch to auto then back to 2wd and all was good. Happened once again today this time a little bit more of a bad situation about the 4th time starting truck to do some errands and same thing 4wd light flashed once then went away i went down the road a little and it felt jerky then as i came to a stop there felt like alot of pressure pushing me forward into the intersection then as i begin to ease onto the throttle i hear a grinding so i immediately put it into neutral flipped 4x4 switch then back to 2wd and it was all good. I tested it when i got back to my neighbourhood and all 4wd modes function and lock in. I have a feeling it has to do with the tipm.. keep in mind ive been having 4x4 problems since i bought the truck 2 years ago and have replaced the shift motor and front axle disconnect twice now any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

Isn't there a transfer case control module on yours as well?

 

yes i do believe you are correct

 

You certainly could be correct, and tossing random parts at the problem are many times going to make things worse. Trouble shoot before parts changing. (now sometimes parts changing is a step in troubleshooting)

TIPM, you can carefully remove the fuse box (tipm) and all the plugs (take pictures of how the wires are arranged by the factory)
Inspect for loose pins in both sides of the connectors, green gooky corrosion, burnt wires or melting... anything out of the ordinary.
CRC Contact cleaner (like aerosol brake clean but for electrical components) even if you don't identify something, many times you may fix a gremlin simply by unplug the re-plug connections.

Try that and let us know if you find things either better - worse - same.

Hey, if you would, even if you end up taking this somewhere like a dealer or however.... please make it a point to return and let us know how you fixed you 4x4 fault gremlin...
Cheers!

(you have probably read many similar threads and I've found that suddenly the thread goes silent... no answer... the Bloke got his minivan running and forgot all about everyone who are invested in helping...) please don't be 'that guy'
Fabriccio

 

thank you for the detailed response! I plan to take a detailed look at the tipm and connections beneath and clean with deoxit D5 this weekend i also planned on trying to disconnect the ac circuit harness because i have read that it gives a false signal to the tipm and it then in turn it causes the 4wd system to malfunction or engage. I have done extensive research and reading on this topic and every fourm or thread ive come across is always a dead end its extremely frustrating for the readeds who are invested in helping as you said or for the readers who are having a similar problem. All im looking for is a solution and if when i find the solution to my problem helps others then thats even better!! These trucks are great machines but all great things still have flaws. Again thank you for the response, something else i feel is important on a forum without response there really is no point in posting problems or issues.

 

Had a little bit of time today to investigate started by starting the truck up to be certain it ran before i touched the wires. So and i was looking at the wiring moving things looking for chafed wires or anything that would point to a connection problem on the passenger side under the hood. then i went to drivers side looked underneath the tipm and moved a few junction blocks around then i go to start the truck up to make sure it still ran before i left it and i had a no bus code come up. So i go to where i started first on the passenger side wiggle wires, try to start, no bus…. Went under the tipm wiggle wiggle and boom back running. I now have a bit of direction towards my problem. Unfortunately i can’t do anymore today so tomorrows plan is to disconnect the tipm clean and dielectric grease connections.

 

Took the TIPM apart today and meticulously cleaned it. I didn’t really find anything concerning like corrosion or split wires, although i found a wire with a nic and a bit of corrosion so i made a repair to it. I looked at the pin out for it i cant recall what it was for but it was unrelated so i proceeded with putting the TIPM back in place and reconnecting everything. Started the truck up it ran fine then i put it in drive and it died….. so i went back under the TIPM made sure all the connections were plugged in solid and the seemed to be so i tried again nothing but starter cranking so i jiggled and then it started up and went into gear all fine this was not the first time this has happened either about this time last year it threw a message on the cluster saying “no bus” as well as about a month ago when i was checking out my headlights it all of a sudden shut down when i moved the harness under the tipm so a jiggle solved that i suppose… next test was the 4x4. Went under the truck plugged in the transfer case shift motor started truck back up tried to engage a 4x4 mode and not even a light on the dash…. It atleast went into a mode when I selected it with the switch before i unplugged the T-case shift motor. Ive chased the wires from the transfer case back to a plug that is up by the air filter cleaned and greased that then back to the TIPM. Im not certain what my next step should be. I guess check for 5V power supply to shift motor?

any help would be greatly appreciated

 

What year is your truck?

 

it is an 06 with 340,000KM

 

You can find a wiring diagram for the system here. Looks like the 'smart' part of the system is indeed integrated into the TIPM..... which is NOT good news.....