Funny story... do I feel stupid.

Not sure how many of you are familiar with the hewitt ave. tressle up here in everett, no sholders for most of it 55 mph and no way on or off its the end of highway 2 into everett. Story starts this morning with me driving the 1985 cherokee I was given home. Picked up a 3 day temp permit so I could get it through emissions. Headed back into everett across the tressle and just as I was climbing up the far end on the tressle (the part with no shoulder) I lost the tranny. Nothing, had to coast to a stop blocking one of 2 lanes. I was sitting there frantically shifting throught drive reverse and what not to no availe. After about 3 minutes of this an under cover sheriffs depudy pulls up behind me in a chevy truck comes up and says he has to call a tow truck because he doesn't have push bars. I'm thinking "great my free jeep is going to cost me a couple hundred in towing bills". the officer started back to his truck and then doubled back and asked if the transfer case was in nuetral. Looked down and sure enough, this jeep has the NP242 AWD and the transfer case lever goes stright from drive to nuetral then low. It had vibrated out of the high position and was sitting in nuetral. Poped it back and drove off feeling really dumb.:anon: At least the officer kept me from a tow bill.

That is AWESOME! I bet its funny now.. but damn that must have sucked..

squidd said:

1985 cherokee...free....

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Funny story, but...you paid too much.

-----Matt-----

'85 with a 242? Would be more inclined to think 229...

Nick

Is that the all wheel drive transfercase they put in that year? I'm not as familiar with the older cherokee's so I just assumed it was the same as the later. Those years are a mixed bag, chrystler tranny, GM 2.8 and AMC body.

IXNAYXJ said:

Funny story, but...you paid too much.

-----Matt-----

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X2. There's a reason you got it for free, because it's a mis-matched sack of wet turds.

Glad you got it off of the trestle without a tow truck.

Sounds like the time I had my front shaft out and put my NP242 into 4WD Full Time and it took me a few minutes of panicking before I figured out why I was not moving. This was right after I rebuilt my transmission and went on the test drive...

Picked it up for the wife to drive this winter. Oddly enough aside from the complete lack of power its not a bad little rig. Pioneer with more skid plates and tow hooks than you can shake a stick at. Failed emissions but just barely, getting it worked on today.

WebDog said:

Sounds like the time I had my front shaft out and put my NP242 into 4WD Full Time and it took me a few minutes of panicking before I figured out why I was not moving. This was right after I rebuilt my transmission and went on the test drive...

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hahaha i just put two and two together. i had this issue last week with no rear shaft. i was so confused on why it would not move in Full time:doh:

nw-xj-scott said:

hahaha i just put two and two together. i had this issue last week with no rear shaft. i was so confused on why it would not move in Full time:doh:

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LOL Scott-you should know better then that-bet you thought you blew up that shiny new 44!

Nick

Nickfast said:

LOL Scott-you should know better then that-bet you thought you blew up that shiny new 44!

Nick

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no, i couldnt figure out why 4hi was doing the trick but full-time was not:shhh:

Is that because of the differential set up the 242 uses. Full time requires some torque applied front and rear?

squidd said:

Is that because of the differential set up the 242 uses. Full time requires some torque applied front and rear?

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IIRC the front and rear in "part time" are locked together. so both outputs will spin reguardless if there is a missing driveline.

where as in fulltime they are NOT locked together so if there is a missing driveline that output gets all the power.

now.. im sure i got some of this wrong. so dont quote me on it 100% but it is something along those lines:dunno:

Scott I think you nailed it.

The t-case acts kinda like a differential locker, when in "full-time" it's like an open carrier...so as one both drive shafts can spin at different rates and as soon as one loses traction, all of the power goes to the one without traction, much like in an open differential. But in "part-time" and "low" the t-case locks up the front and rear drive shafts so that both spin at the same rate regardless and from there it is dependent on the differential to allow the tires to slip. Which in a sense means you could use part-time to wheel and still have traction, however low obviously provides more torque to get over obstacles.

I could be wrong in some of the above info, but that's MY understanding of things...

~Scott

the 242 is in the same family as the 228 and 229's they put in the fullsize grand wagoneers and cherokees in the 80's up till 91 when they were discontinued. it sucks even worse in them, as they don't have a part time 4hi option. you flip a switch into awd, or you can shift into low from there. be careful trying to drive in full time with a shaft out, you can really f up a tcase with the quickness! they do kick ass in the snow, though! but yeah, you scott guys know what you're talkin about...

thechief86 said:

the 242 is in the same family as the 228 and 229's they put in the fullsize grand wagoneers and cherokees in the 80's up till 91 when they were discontinued. it sucks even worse in them, as they don't have a part time 4hi option. you flip a switch into awd, or you can shift into low from there. be careful trying to drive in full time with a shaft out, you can really f up a tcase with the quickness! they do kick ass in the snow, though! but yeah, you scott guys know what you're talkin about...

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Part-time 4hi is the same as part-time...is it not? Because 4low is "low" part-time, so unless part-time is "medium"...I'm pretty sure it's "hi". As my understanding is "hi" allows you to drive at high speeds.

~Scott

Yes, "hi" is 1:1 ratio, "low" is 2.72:1 or whatever your particular t-case has.

Muddy Beast said:

"hi" allows you to drive at high speeds.

~Scott

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not quite I believe the manual quotes it as "any safe speed" I wouldn't consider a safe speed for an XJ to be very high.

fubar XJ said:

There's a reason you got it for free, because it's a mis-matched sack of wet turds.

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Hahaha!

I'm only here, because I miss the charm and eloquence of your statements.

And we're glad for your company, effin' Jerry. You doing most of your posting on PNWjeep these days? Give me a link to your update thread over there, if you please.

Doug