Greetings all,
I'm in serious need of advice regarding my 1991 Montero. Here's my tale of woe:
The truck starting have some strange shifting problems. Every shift was way late and would only shift after letting up on the gas. We just adjusted to driving it that way since a new trans was not in the budget. A few months later, the engine oil pump dies, and so the truck got parked. 3 years later, I rebuilt an engine for it and found a used transmission. In the process of pulling the old engine, I discovered what was wrong with the first trans: the throttle cable for the trans had pulled out of the mounting crimp causing it to change length at will. Ok. I decided to replace the trans anyway since the other unit had fewer miles. New engine in, trans bolted in, all is well. New engine runs great. The transmission, however, won't move the vehicle forward or backward. Crud. Checked everything I could think of with no joy. Decided to repair the cable on the first transmission and put it back in as it was a known good unit. Busted a** all weekend, fired it up, and SAME PROBLEM. No drive or reverse. Double crud. Any ideas what could possibly be wrong? I triple checked the torque converter to make sure it was seated properly, and it has a new front seal. The only common piece between the two is the oil cooler. I was extremely careful when removing the valve body to replace the shift cable. It acts like it's not sucking any fluid out of the pan. I put in 3 qts. and having spilled a some out of the torque converter and draining the cooler lines, the dipstick still shows full. It was the same with the first transmission.
I am WIDE open for suggestions as long as it doesn't involve pulling the trans back out. That is the WORST job ever. Thanks for your help!

Any chance the transfer case is stuck in neutral? I'm assuming you had to pull the shifter out.

Kevin

I bet you just nailed it. My buddy moved my truck one day to let someone else out of the driveway and he came back in and said the clutch went out and it wont move. It was a brand new clutch with about 5 miles on it and I knew better. He was just messing with me and put the transfer in neutral. That was the second thing I checked. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> Welcome to the Wire.

Yes, I did have to take the transfer case out, but I didn't remove the shifter. Not fun jockeying everything around. I have put the transfer case into 4WD Hi, 4WD Lo, and back into 2WD and it doesn't seem to make any difference. Moving the shift lever feels like it's engaging/disengaging something. Is it still possible to be stuck in neutral?

Edit: I looked at my Raider and it DOES have a neutral position. The '91 Montero does not.

Do you have the FSM? A line pressure check would be a good first test.

Assuming you have the gear selector working and the flex plates bolts are in.

A good transfer case check is to see if the rear drive shaft is locked up with the tranny in park. You will want both rear wheels off the ground. Put it in neutral and you should be able to turn the drive shaft.

Kevin

Are the brakes rusted shut?

Nope, brakes are fine as I pushed it into the shop before disassembly. Even if they were stuck, the engine should still load down when it's put into gear. Somehow I'm missing something as I can't believe both transmissions would exhibit the same problem. What makes it even more puzzling is except for the new engine(which was out of another Gen I Montero) everything is essentially back the way it was. I was thinking maybe the flex plate might be on backwards(and thus pulling the torque converter too far out), but I don't think it has an offset and I would think I'd be having starter issues at that point. I am frustrated almost to the point of being insane. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" />

This is my guess. Take it for what its worth (2 cents). You could have a busted T case shifter. It could have gotten broken if you left it in while removing/installing. Theres a cast collar on the shifter thats kinda fragile. If the tcase was in neutral when it broke...

Mine broke on the trail once, but luckily it broke in 4 Hi so I was able to get hme and fix it.

Can you push it in park?

Kevin

I will try pushing it in Park next time I'm at the shop(later this week). I'm kinda liking the transfer case theory. Here's a bit of additional info: when fiddling with transfer case selector, I was able to get the 4WD light to come on. Seems strange to me. I thought forward motion was required(from the pulser) to illuminate the light. Thanks so much for all your help!!