OK so 2006 H3 Adventure package, I-5, 94K miles, Automatic, new trans about 2 years or so ago. OK so here it is drove to dinner everything was fine, came out form dinner maybe one and a half hours later or so and start it up and notice a weird rattling sound like maybe something is loose in the front area. got out checked all around found nothing. put in reverse to back out of parking spot and rattle returns but only for a moment. Drove to empty area of parking lot seemed fine again no weird noise or anything. Got out checked again thought maybe exhaust or something or hood was loose not closed all the way? Nope everything seemed fine. pressed on gas a few times to rev it up and seemed ok. Drove home on freeway about 30 miles or so had maybe one more small rattle taking off from a stoplight but nothing else. Stopped for gas, filled her up finished driving home no other rattles. Thought maybe front transferase. Put it in 4 HI lock backed it up a bit drove it forward a bit nothing. Put it in 4 low did same drive it backward a bit, then forward a bit went up the curb in the front of my parking space no problem. Backed it down and backed it up a bit again, then drove forward again into my spot. Put it in natural and then tried to put it in 4 HI lock however this time it would not change out of 4 low, tried button again same thing happened except this time I got the service 4 wheel drive system message on display and the 4 low button was stuck in and could not be pressed. I shifted it out of neutral to park and back again a few times and rolled back a bit while shifting etc, the button finally got unstuck and it went back into 4hi lock but then I could not get it into 4 HI unlock. Put car in park and remembered something similar happened to someone on here but could not remember when or when I read it. I turned car off for a minute then back on and all was back to normal and it went right back into 4 Hi unlock and there was no longer any service 4wheel drive message on display. So my question anyone have any flippin idea what happened or why I got the rattle sound (did not sound like heat shield or exhaust or anything). I also never had that service message before or had any trouble switching to any of the other modes before tonight. Also I do not 4 wheel much, last time I really did some wheeling was about 3 or 4 years ago so it does not come out of 4 hi unlock all that much except when I cycle it to keep it fresh (although admittingly I have not done that in quite a while either). So any ideas or thoughts is most appreciated also do ya think its still ok to drive? It seems to drive ok on the freeway but I would hate to be driving and then suddenly have something lock up at 65 MPH. Let me know what ya think or if this has happened to any of you out there and if ya have any questions I'm happy to try and answer them. Love these forums have learned a lot from them and looking forward to learning much more. Thanks.

 

I'm going to take a stab at this. You probably have two separate problems. A rattle and a transfer case issue. The rattle, at this point, is unknown to me. The transfer case sounds like the encoder motor is failing. If anyone else has some input, let's hear it.

 

 

I would say yes. Four bolts, one plug and it pulls away from the transfer case. Just make sure to line up the transfer case pin to the encoder motor hole at installation.

 

Man I'm not sure I'm capable of all that. Maybe I should take it to the dealer?�� Thanks for the help I'll check into it and hopefully it is something that simple.

p.s. do ya think its ok to drive as long as I'm not switching modes?

 

Before you go running to the stealership, let's see what others have to say about your problems. As far as driving it. So long as the lights indicate the right light on the push button and you don't feel any binding when turning, then yes, it would be okay to drive.

 

 

If the T Case buttons get pop, coffee, juice etc.... on them, they can stick. Happens when you spill something on the dash or if they get real cruddy.

Start with the easy stuff. Clean the buttons.