Shifting issues

2003 jeep liberty. I'm trying to determine if the transmission is actually bad or if there is a different issue. It usually won't go into R unless you are in 4lo. But it gets stuck in 4lo. I drove it for the first time at regular speeds (got up to about 55). There was a lot of vibration/rattling. Then a clunk and it was no longer in a gear. Stopped and played with shifters and it finally went back to drivable but with no vibration. When I turned back onto my county road, it went out of gear again. Played with the shifters and got it going and got it parked.
Any opinions on this behavior?
Thank you in advance!

Are all of your tires the same size? I had a Subaru that clunked out of 4wd for that reason. New shoes solved it. So nice to cross transfer-case off the list.

4low is naturally funky to get in and out of. I think it's supposed to be rolling under 5mph in neutral for easiest 4low engagment and disengagment.

turblediesel said:

Are all of your tires the same size? I had a Subaru that clunked out of 4wd for that reason. New shoes solved it. So nice to cross transfer-case off the list.

4low is naturally funky to get in and out of. I think it's supposed to be rolling under 5mph in neutral for easiest 4low engagment and disengagment.

Click to expand...

Yes. All new tires, all the same size

There's a transfer case lever-linkage bushing that goes bad with an easy fix. Mine hasn't gone bad so I haven't looked at it. Might be worth a search.

Might also consider the shifter/ignition interlock cable. Easily disconnected at the ignition switch or shift lever. Steering column cover (torx) or console need to come off first.

Check transmission fluid?

Some maybes, maybe nots...

I always come to a complete stop put it in N before I put mine in 4lo and it works well in my 06. Although I think I got a bad U Joint that needs replaced.

Shift/ignition cable was disconnected at the shifter. I reconnected it. I think my problem is in the transfer case. The bushing was missing on the linkage. Manually got the transfer case back into 2wd and then I had smooth shifting down the road until I hit a bump. Then it popped out of gear I guess. Getting ready to try to get my transfer case off and look at the fork.