Neutral bolt, help needed

[bamanuke]

Engaged the neutral bolt in anticipation of a tow(more about that later. Anyway it looks like I engaged it without having the transfer case in neutral. Once I backed out and put everything back in the proper position, the gear box will not go into forward or reverse. I have gone back through the proper process at least six more times. Anyone have any ideas on a fix? I'm about 6 hours from the dealer right now.

 

[Jean Mercier]

Hmm, I did it myself to test it some 3 months ago, I think my car was in "Park" mode, everything went fine, apart from a short rattling sound.
Try to push it some centimeters, and try again.

Otherwise, post your question in the SOS thread, perhaps more responses there.

Anyway, don't tow the car, unless it is for a very short distance to put it on a flatbed truck, at least that's what the manual says.

 

[anand]

There is no neutral position for the transfer case, except for running the bolt in.

Unlike the other BMW use-cases where there is a bolt to put the transmission into neutral, on the grenadier it puts the transfer case into neutral

 

[bamanuke]

There is no neutral position for the transfer case, except for running the bolt in.

Unlike the other BMW use-cases where there is a bolt to put the transmission into neutral, on the grenadier it puts the transfer case into neutral

Neutral position for the transfer case is between hi and lo on the shifter. Even get a transfer case in neutral icon on the display.

 

[bamanuke]

Hmm, I did it myself to test it some 3 months ago, I think my car was in "Park" mode, everything went fine, apart from a short rattling sound.
Try to push it some centimeters, and try again.

Otherwise, post your question in the SOS thread, perhaps more responses there.

Anyway, don't tow the car, unless it is for a very short distance to put it on a flatbed truck, at least that's what the manual says.

Tried it , no go. I did engage the center diff and it went into gears fine, took it out, same issue.

 

[Clark Kent]

Engaged the neutral bolt in anticipation of a tow(more about that later. Anyway it looks like I engaged it without having the transfer case in neutral. Once I backed out and put everything back in the proper position, the gear box will not go into forward or reverse. I have gone back through the proper process at least six more times. Anyone have any ideas on a fix? I'm about 6 hours from the dealer right now.

To be clear: You can select Forward and Reverse on the trans shifter but there is no resulting motion?
Also: You're definitely talking about the neutral screw on the transfer case, not the screw on the transmission. That's what Jean is referring to.

Winding the screw in places the transfer case into a neutral state for towing. Winding it back out when the transfer case is in a neutral state allows high or low range to be selected again. There's nothing in the manual about the transfer case selector being in 'neutral' before winding the screw in, but the transfer case must be in a neutral state before winding it back out. Screw clockwise until bottomed = neutral. From neutral, screw anti-clockwise until flush = restored operation.
It sounds like you have inadvertently locked out the transfer case selector. I haven't seen any published info on how to deal with that.
You are backing the screw out to a flush position, as per the last warning in the manual?

 

[bamanuke]

To be clear: You can select Forward and Reverse on the trans shifter but there is no resulting motion?
Also: You're definitely talking about the neutral screw on the transfer case, not the screw on the transmission. That's what Jean is referring to.

Winding the screw in places the transfer case into a neutral state for towing. Winding it back out when the transfer case is in a neutral state allows high or low range to be selected again. There's nothing in the manual about the transfer case selector being in 'neutral' before winding the screw in, but the transfer case must be in a neutral state before winding it back out. Screw clockwise until bottomed = neutral. From neutral, screw anti-clockwise until flush = restored operation.
It sounds like you have inadvertently locked out the transfer case selector. I haven't seen any published info on how to deal with that.
You are backing the screw out to a flush position, as per the last warning in the manual?
View attachment 7865159

Well now I'm questioning myself. I have left the vehicle and am headed home a couple of hours away. If the bolts look the same on the transmission and transfer case, I may have screwed up. And yes, to a flush position on the bolt for restoration.

 

[Clark Kent]

Well now I'm questioning myself. I have left the vehicle and am headed home a couple of hours away. If the bolts look the same on the transmission and transfer case, I may have screwed up. And yes, to a flush position on the bolt for restoration.

I think you got it right. I found Jean's earlier post about neutral positions. The trans has a neutral lever on the LHS. The transfer case has a neutral bolt on the RHS. You would not have misidentified that. My apologies for the added confusion.
So if you have operated the neutral bolt as per the manual and are not getting any drive then you might be up for a trailer recovery. I'm not convinced you have done anything wrong here.

 

[bamanuke]

weird thing is when i engaged the center diff, in both high and low, it shifted correctly. disengaged cd and neither forward or reverse would engage. tried both high & low.

I think you got it right. I found Jean's earlier post about neutral positions. The trans has a neutral lever on the LHS. The transfer case has a neutral bolt on the RHS. You would not have misidentified that. My apologies for the added confusion.
So if you have operated the neutral bolt as per the manual and are not getting any drive then you might be up for a trailer recovery. I'm not convinced you have done anything wrong here.