Engage 4WD - Transfer case problem?

[stevensbrendan]

Hi Guys,
Im brand new here, well I have been browsing for a while now, but first time poster. And I am in the process of selling my KJ because I wish to do some travel overseas. My 02 Cherokee has been my daily drive for a few years now and I love it to bits, but it has to go in order to help fund my trip.

THE PROBLEM: Someone has come to buy my car - and engaged my 4WD - I was like yeah sure, no problems. BUT it does not go past 4WD FULL TIME into Neutral or 4WD LOW.

I freaked on the spot - as I don't use it - there is no reason for me to, I drive a small distance in the city. When I first got the car I was curious, so I engaged it once or twice - but that is it. I now understand that I should have been putting some miles in on 4WD at least once a month.

See the link HERE to see what I mean.

The gentleman said (and excuse me if this dos not make complete sense, and I'm not mechanically minded) that I could be a matter of removing the transfer case, cleaning it and making sure it re-lubricates. It's labor intensive but shouldn't be a problem. So we agreed to drop some money off the price and then he will the repair it himself as he was a mechanic.

The following day he kindly called me and said that he had spoken to a transmission friend and it may be a little complicated - worse case scenario $4000 new transfer case complicated.

Rightly so I freaked out, actually I still am.

Without taking it to a transmission specialist I realise I cant get a definitive answer, but a complete transfer case in a car that has been immaculately maintained? Is that possible?

could it be something like a transfer case selector bushing like this post courtesy of Glend HERE

or this guy on

YOUTUBE

Or am I absolutely mince meat? I have trawled through the forum I can't find something similar, unless I missed it, worst case scenario this thread may be able to help another like me in the future.

Thank you

Brendan (terrified)

[axiom]

Don't be freaking out everything from what I can see on the video looks normal.

I purchased my KJ of a bloke who had never even put it in 4WD and had done city duty for 4 years. Now I have definitely given it a workout and no issues with the transfer case.

Not going into Neutral or 4WD LOW, that's just because you essentially need to have the car stopped, below 5kmh and the transmission in neutral, then the transfer case lever will go left and into neutral then with a slight crunch into low range. The same going back the other way. The crunch with practice can be minimized but it will be always there, your are engaging 2 gear sets in the transfer without syncros.

As for your clunck/chugging when going to 2wd that's normal symptoms of driveline windup/binding. Once again it just takes practice to minimize it when shifting.

[axiom]

Oh and seeing as all this is normal I wouldn't bother knocking off anymore money... If he's a mechanic he's probably having a lend of you trying to haggle the price lower, this is all normal behavior for a 4WD and as a mechanic he should know that.

[Stressball]

X2 on what axiom says, seriously, put the vehicle into neutral (not drive) before attempting to touch the 4wd selection lever and be rolling at like 5km/h and you'll find it'll be fine. The exact reason it scares me buying second hand. People with no idea and the lack of knowledge of drivers trying to use stuff they think they know about but clearly don't. Same goes for demos, imagine what happens to them eg, driving the block or further in part time 4wd. It makes me shudder...... It's all spelled out in the manual but who needs to read those.. right!

[axiom]

Originally Posted by Stressball

X2 on what axiom says, seriously, put the vehicle into neutral (not drive) before attempting to touch the 4wd selection lever and be rolling at like 5km/h and you'll find it'll be fine. The exact reason it scares me buying second hand. People with no idea and the lack of knowledge of drivers trying to use stuff they think they know about but clearly don't. Same goes for demos, imagine what happens to them eg, driving the block or further in part time 4wd. It makes me shudder...... It's all spelled out in the manual but who needs to read those.. right!

You can go between 2WD through 4WD Part-Time to 4WDFullTime in Drive and in fact travelling at any speed under 60km/h or so as the manual says, however i seem to have best luck with it in drive just coasting at about 20kmh. If you keep your hand on the lever (with practice) you can feel the click of the transfer case as front driveshaft engages and disengages. If it doesn't happen right about, give the accelerator a very slight blip, as to load up the drivetrain and then let go, what you are then creating is a period of no load on the transfer case, which seems to dis/engage 4WD

[Stressball]

Yep but I can't help but think that the order of 4wd full time and 4wd part time should be swapped about. If that were the case there would be no need to select through part time to engage between 2wd and full time 4wd. Surely there would be less chance of binding etc in this proposed scenario.

[stevensbrendan]

Guys,
I CANT THANK YOU ENOUGH!!! Thank you for your help!
This morning I had a play around after reading some forums last night and reading what you said, plus a little manual knowledge.

Thankfully I was able to engage and disengage the 4wd a few times until it re-lubricated, then it finally clicked into 4WD-LOW.

I am so pleased ... thank you again for all your help

THANK YOU