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Did something in my Grand Cherokee Just exploded?!!

Hi,

I have very recently purchased a V8 Grand Jeep Cherokee 2001 with the Selectrac transmition. The car runs so smooth compared to my older V6 Quadra 1999 Grand Cherokee that you wouldn't beleive it. I was driving the car in 2WD mode for about three days now without a hitch.

This morning, i decided to put the Selectrac in 4WD Full Time. So, i start my car, and while it is on the "P" position, i shift the Selectrac stick to "4WD Full Time". Everything is OK so far, well, beside the minimal snapping sound that the shifiting to the 4wd produced, and the stiffness of the handle. But i guess those are all normal issue.

Let's continue the story....Well, I shift the gear to the "D" prostion and i gently hit the gas. The car barely rolls 1 meter and i hear this weird explosion ( more like a very loud snapping sound ) coming out of the car! There was a passing pedestrian on the street that literallu jumped of terror! So, i asked that person ( while i was still sitting on the inside of the car ) if i have hit something, and she answers no....So i drive to work. Upon arriving at work, i inspect the car, and everything seems to be fine, no sign of any collision whatsoever...

I am wondering now what the heck might have happened. Could it be that the transmittion "snapped" into place when i switched from 2WD to

4WD? Is it supposed to make a loud noise like that?

My other hypothesis is that i might have run over a bottle of water or a can of coke or something, i will inspect the runway as soon as i return home.

Anyone ever had this snapping sound happen to them when changing 2WD to 4WD setting? If the 4WD mode is "broken", how do i know that my car is really in 4WD?

Thanks guy for the help ans sorry if i am confusing anyone whith my english. ( i am a native german, and my english is not that great )

Reply to
Alouf Zen
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Sounds like you drove it a short distance in 4WD on a hard surface. If so, that can generat a lot of binding in the drive train such that the bang was the gears releasing all the stress as they were freed up. I had a 89 Cherokee that would get bound up so tight like that (even on snow) that when I wanted to shift back to 2WD, I would occasionally need to jack up a tire to release the stress before it would let me shift.

Reply to
ppdavid

Selec-trac is a shift on the fly 4wd system. It should be shifted into and out of 4wd while moving, if you shift into 4wd in park, you may hear a POP when you start moving.

Reply to
Mark12211

Hi Mark,

Thanks for your reply. I did not know that the SelecTrac was supposed to be shifted while moving that is good to know.

Now, how do i know that nothing broke on the selectrac with this popping sound? I mean, i am seeing no irregulat behavior, and everything is smooth and fine. But i just want to make sure that nothing was broken. Is there a way to check that the 4WD is working correctly?

Thanks all!

Reply to
Alouf Zen

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