4x4 trouble with 88 cherokee please help a.s.a.p.

Whenever you are shifting your transfer case, make sure you are only going straight forward and do not turn the wheel. as you hold the shift lever in position, step on the gas and then let up on the gas to relieve any binding and let it shift. You should not drive it or use it on pavement until you know what position the transfer case is in and what is broken. Driving it broken will result in more breakage. Most likely it is just your shift linkage that needs adjusting. Your description of what happened does not sound good though and you may have broken something. Get someone who knows what they are doing to look at it asap. Do not drive it any more on pavement until then. It is ok to drive on pavement in 2wd or in the green full time position ONLY. Part time amber light and pavement = broken jeep. It is possible for the indicator lights to be off and it still be in part time. Your transfer case uses transmission fluid for lubricant so that is probably what is leaking. The big clink turning left does not sound good and could be a front axle u joint. KH

4x4 high full time and back into 2wd it might go away, well now it it pulls to the right, it make's a humming noise ( i guess it's in 4x4 ? ) it smells like burned tranny fluid which now it is starting to drip ? it feels a lot weaker ( kinda like it's being held back ) and now it say's "part time" in amber on the dash ? and i cant get it back into 2wd. and it also made a big "CLINK" noise when i was turning left into a parking space. all this just happend tonight, im going to check it out more tomorow. but i dont know anything about these truck's, so if any one has any idea what is wrong with it or how to get into 2wd so i can drive it please let me know. any help will be greatly appreciated.

lucky me..... well i guess im going to get under it today ( probably wont do any good ) i will post any findings later. any other oppinions or solutions would be appreciated. thank's again.

The shift linkage is under there. Its a rod with a nut on it and it probably slipped or bent. You can try loosening it and adjusting it to get you back into 2wd. Good luck. KH

Hi Brad,

I'm speaking from experience with the NP231 'command-trac' case, but same principles should apply for your NP242 'selec-trac'.

First thing to check is the transfer case linkage adjustment. Block the tires, set transmission to N, and shift the t-case handle to 4 low. Grab a 13 mm wrench and crawl under the jeep below your t-case shift handle. Look for a linkage rod that passes through a trunnion with a bolt. Loosen the bolt. Then rotate the little shift lever arm on the transfer case itself as far as it will go to ensure it is fully engaged in low range. Tighten the bolt. Lubricate the entire linkage assembly. Try the shift handle action in all positions. The handle should lay flat in 2 high.

Even with the linkage in proper adjustment, it may not operate correctly if the shift rod bushings (little plastic rings) are worn. Get replacements from the dealer.

Check that you are really in 2 wd by putting the front end on stands. Front wheels and drive shaft should turn freely with the transmission in gear. Take it for short test drive on the nearest loose surface to try

4x4 modes. If noise persists stop immediately and put it back to 2wd (from underneath if necessary) so you can drive without further damage.

Next thing to do is drain the tcase (look for metal bits), drop it, and open it up to look for damaged parts:

The mode fork and/or range fork can fail because of missing or worn pad inserts. Also look for failed bushings and springs on the fork shift rail. Hope you don't find crunched up gears.

Steve

Brad Johns> lucky me..... well i guess im going to get under it today ( probably

thank's steve, im going to try to adjust it today. if i could just get it into 2wd i'll be happy. i don't have the money to fix anything now..... i will check the transfer case in a few day's......

You need to do a close inspection of the front axle u-joints too. If you damaged one of them by being in 4x4 on pavement, they can blow out causing expensive damage. New joint for $12.00 or new axles and a tow if it blows.

Sometimes you literally have to spin the tires or burn rubber in reverse to get it to release if it wound up the t-case in 4x4 part time.

Hopefully some grease on the linkage and a tighten on a loose vacuum line is all you need. The vacuum lines are cheap to replace, look down near the exhaust for a potential melted line.

Oh, you will likely get more responses if you post in a format everyone can read. Microcrap HTML is only good for other microcrap users and this is a text group.

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Brad Johns>

but the message was in plain text ascii. Is my news reader just being smarter than I am about the encoding?

WebTV-Mail-17878-12785

[snip] [snip]

I don't know what the OP was using, but the version of PINE that I use here will jump to MIME format in a reply if it encounters _any_ high-bit ASCII in the quoted post, like the stuff that Bill inserts into his messages. Some folks will see the resulting message as a MIME-garbled mess, others see it as a text file, depending on what they are reading with. Vis my recent thread "What's it worth?"

Since I don't have much of a choice but to use PINE, I just try to be careful about quoting non-standard text and strip out non-standard characters by hand. (When I catch them. It also means having to open the reply twice in order to convince PINE not to go to MIME.)

hello again ( i removed the signature sorry ) i just started to check out the jeep yesterday and i got it back into

2wd, apperently the 4wd part time was stuck, i think because it was bound up to tight from driving on pavement. all i had to do was take it in some dirt rev it up a bit and shift it in & out of 4wd p/t to 2wd, thank's mike now it's just like it was before, except i found a broken and melted coil post in the distributor cap so i replaced it and the rotor, plug's wire's, and air filter. apperently the only maintenance that was kept up on was oil ( woman sigh.. ) suprisingly with all the trouble i had and the badly needed tune up, it was averging 16-17 mpg mixed frwy/city how many mpg should i expect ? also about the 4wd system, which is probably in need of some help. but i cant afford to fix nor do i need it now, so i will deal with that later. and mike how do a check the front joint ? thank's for all the help everyone, i realy appreciate it being a newcomer to the jeep community.

The front driveshaft u-joints can be checked in neutral with the wheels blocked, same as the rear ones. Look for any movement in the caps and rust stains around the caps.

The front axle ones can be checked easiest with each front wheel jacked up by itself. You jack it and turn the steering to the side then spin the tire while looking at and feeling the u-joint in behind the wheel. Same thing, look for play in the caps or a bind when you spin the wheel.

I get the impression your 4x4 is working perfect by the by.

Mike

Brad Johns>

thank's mike im going to check them out tomorow.