LT230 stuck in high, removed solenoid, still jammed, WTF

[low_49]

Hey all, tried the search function but nothing that covered what's going on with this thing. Long story short, haven't had to put the truck it low for about a year now, went to lock it in low and completely jammed. The diff-lock works, but the case will not shift from high into low. Tried all the tricks, tried rolling it, tried when it was hot, nothing. Pulled out the solenoid and still no worky. At a total loss for what else it might be.

Thoughts...

 

[K-rover]

Could be something stuck around the shifter like coins or trash. Sounds like you might want to pull the center console and have a look for something obvious externally before diving into the internals of the T-case

 

[low_49]

Nope, no trash or debris. I've had the center console out and have complete access to the shifter and linkage. I've even tried to move the lever with a prybar and nothing.
Bump for any more ideas.

 

[Jeff Blake]

Disconnect the shifter from the lever, and make sure it has proper range of motion?

The lever can be pretty tough to move... I wouldn't try to move it without the shifter with the case in the truck... even on my freshly rebuilt transfer case, it needs just the right alignment and a fair bit of force to move it

I'm assuming you know all the tricks like rolling the truck very slowly in forward and reverse

Drain and refill, keep trying? try to squirt as much oil onto the output differential and hi-lo selector fork

Beyond that... I don't know, you could try removing the hi-low housing on top of the case and rule out if its the selector fork shaft or the finger arm binding, as well as pump more gear oil in from there

If you pull the bottom cover you can see the hi-low selector ring, but unlikely that'll reveal anything obvious