Transfer case locked

Several months ago I purchased a 2001 XJ with 150K on it. When I test drove it the 4hi and 4lo made some minor engagement noise. The owner said that it hadn't been used in some time and just chocked it up to lack of use. The Jeep is my wifes daily driver and has been great, no issues.

This past weekend we set out on a jeep excursion with friends only to have the transfer case suddenly engage 4hi by itself, attempts to disengage proved pointless. We left the jeep behind and rode with friends.

When we returned that evening we tried to get it out of the parking space and were able back up about 25 feet or so before it lock up the front and rear axles and with the M/T in first gear behaved as if it was in neutral.

I have owned several Jeeps throughout the years CJ, ZJ and now XJ. Any suggestions, i'm thinking new t-case.

Let me add a little info,
2001 XJ, 4.0L, M/T, 231J Tcase, Chrysler 8.25 rear

make sure the shift linkage to the case is in place and properly moving. That's all i got :dunno:

I did check that and found that pivot point had popped out of the bracket. I put it back and it made no difference.

Thought i should update you on the T-case situation. It turns out that the unit was bad. The entire mains shaft assembly had close to a half inch of play for and aft. Pulled the the unit and replaced with a take out with lower miles. Much better now!

I still have the broken unit, maybe if i am feeling energetic i'll open it up and rebuild her.

I think i will also install a cable shifter to eliminate that crazy erector set of a linkage.

Thanks for all your help.

PSoffe said:

Thought i should update you on the T-case situation. It turns out that the unit was bad. The entire mains shaft assembly had close to a half inch of play for and aft. Pulled the the unit and replaced with a take out with lower miles. Much better now!

I still have the broken unit, maybe if i am feeling energetic i'll open it up and rebuild her.

I think i will also install a cable shifter to eliminate that crazy erector set of a linkage.

Thanks for all your help.

Click to expand...

Other than a basic rebuild kit with new seals bearings etc it's not worth rebuilding if there's actual component failure. Most of the big parts in there cost more than a new tcase from a junkyard

The crazy erector set actually works pretty well when it's right, and has the advantage of being easy to adjust. If you're not familiar with the way this is done, it's pretty simple. Loosen the trunnion bolt (the one down under with which the linkage is adjusted) and shift the TC lever into 4 low. Now move the shifter on the TC itself until it clicks into 4 low. Tighten the nut, and you're done. If you don't use the shifter much, every once in a while run it through its paces with the engine off and the transmission in neutral. Make sure you exercise the side-to-side movement of the handle as well as back and forth. Go all the way from 2 high to 4 low over and over until it's nice and free.

As a sort of quick visual check, when the adjustment is correct, the lever should be just about parallel to the floor in 2 high. When it goes out of adjustment, 4 low is often the first to suffer, with incomplete engagement, as repeated shifting between 2 high and 4 high tends to lengthen the linkage.