I own a 2002 Chev. small blazer with 4 wheel drive available. Largest V-6 available. There is a clunk sound I can hear and feel as this vehicle is shifting OUT of 4 wheel into 2 wheel drive. Going from 2 to 4 wheel drive is perfect. First mechanic (test drove alone) said he would have to tear apart the front transfer case to determine fault. 2nd mechanic (with me along) did power brake slow turns in parking lot. Said the electric shifter was bad and would have to tear apart the transfer case also. Neither mechanic put the vehicle up on a hoist. Has any one out there had this issue?
Don’t let anybody “tear down” the transfer case. You shouldn’t be surprised to hear something when going out of 4WD. You have no noise shifting into 4WD. This seems normal to me. You may even hear the clunk when you stop, put transmission in neutral and shift transfer case to 2WD. Do not allow anybody to test drive your 4WD in a parking lot unless it is icy or snow covered. Do not brake during turns to test it. You could cause damage or unnecessary wear.
I’m with “please”…
The key thing you should be saying is whether or not it works effectively and not the sound it makes. Back when the vehicle was new, the play in the components was less and normal wear will contribute to increase noise and possibly a little vibration.
I have an 04 and it has always made some noise; and I expect it to gradually increase over time. It is much worse while turning…make sure you are going straight ahead and free wheeling when waiting for the shift to occur and NEVER be turning. That’s what you did with the manually engaging ones…IMO, you should do it with the electric ones. Even turning on snow/ice and engaging and disengaging 4wd can be “noisy” and I suspect, more wearing.