Another stupid 4WD question

alclubb · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:59 pm

I dont' know if this question should be in this forum or in the FAQ forum. I have a 2005 Liberty Limited CRD. I has the Selec-Trac system. Up until yesterday, I had never had it out of 2WD, but I had been told that I needed to at least occasionally shift it into the 4WD mode to keep everything lubricated. Yesterday was a rainy and supposed to be icy day, so the manual said that I could run it in 4WD Full on any surface, including dry hard roads. I thought I would try it out. So I was parked in the driveway, put the transmission in neutral, shifted into 4WD Full, moved the transmission lever back and forth between "D" and "R" like it says in the manual, and backed out. Everything seemed fine - no noises or hesitations. I ran errands all day and then when I got back home, shifted it back into 2WD. After sitting all night, I thought I would try it again today, so I did the same thing I did yesterday, but this time, when I started backing out, there was a very loud "CLUNK". I stopped the car, put it into "D" and went forward a few feet, then back into "R" and backed out again. This time there was no noise and everything seemed fine. Did I do something wrong, or is the "clunk" a normal sound? Thanks.

rpapkey · **Joined:** Sun Jan 14, 2007 4:48 pm **Posts:** 39

Your fine. You'll get a clunk once in a while if you shift it in from a dead stop. Personally i'd always like to be moving 5-10 miles an hour. Remember the gears have to match up in there or the won't mesh. What you just heard is the gears resting against each other, then when you started moving they meshed and fell into place with a loud clunk. If your moving a slow clip they will find mesh much smoother.

Re-read your manual, I've never read this neutral-drive-reverse procedure. I think you've read it wrong.

crd liberty · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:42 pm

I had similar problems when towing my CRD behind the motorhome so I took it to the dealer and
what the book doesnt say is when switching into gears, the motor should be running. Just never shift
transmission into P when the transfer case is in N.
I was going thru the tow position with the engine off so the gears were not meshing up and was getting the clunk.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:46 pm

For Selec-Trac you should be moving forward when engagin or disengaging and give it a second before you give it gas.

alclubb · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:57 pm

Thank you to everyone. I may not have made it clear what my owner's manual says. It says that if the vehicle is stopped, you may need to shift the automatic transmission from drive to reverse back to drive to allow full engagement of the transfer case position. I think I had the car in neutral when I first shifted into 4WD and then did the drive to reverse thing. From now on, I will just have the car moving when I put it in 4WD. I had this fear of stripping some gears or something if it was moving when I did it. But, I warned you about me being a newbie! Thanks again for all your advice. I'm printing it out and putting it in my owner's manual.

Another stupid 4WD question

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