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Transfer Case Problems

T

tweber2

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Utah
I've owned my 99 Cherokee for 4 days now and already need a new T-case. I'm definetely back in the club! Does anyone know where I could get a remanufactured or rebuilt NP231?
 
tweber2 said:
I've owned my 99 Cherokee for 4 days now and already need a new T-case. I'm definetely back in the club! Does anyone know where I could get a remanufactured or rebuilt NP231?
Click to expand...
What's wrong with your tcase? Are you sure it's bad?
 
I'm not positive yet. Initially, I thought my front differential was bad. I thought the bearings needed to be replaced. I have a growling / howling noise above about 20MPH that seems to get louder the faster I go. It doesn't seem to change pitches from 2wd to 4wd. My mechanic took off the front diff cover today and the fluid was just fine. There weren't any metal pieces in it. When he used a stethascope, the sound seems to be coming from the front output shaft in the t-case. They drained some of the fluid and it is almost black. It also seems to not shift to and from 4wd as easily as it should. Maybe, it's just the bearing in the output shaft. But I'm a little nervous since the fluid was so bad. They're going to split the case tomorrow and have a look at it.
 
hmm, mine does this too. Except mine shifts into 4wd nicely. I think the noise on mine is with my front driveshaft ujoints or the double cardan joint. I didnt consider the bearings on the outputshaft. Mine starting making this noise after my first wheeling trip, I I figured it was my front DS messed up. I guess I will take it off and see if the noise is still there.
 
Unfortunetly, the noise is still there with the front ds removed. The color of the t-case fluid really worries me.
 
As far as the color of the fluid is concerned, it could be a badly worn shift fork. It's made of aluminum and turns the fluid gray. Does the fluid look kinda shiny or metallic? Happened to my 231 and it wouldn't go into 4 low.

As far as the noise is concerned.....?

K
 
The grey fluid could also be gear lube intead of ATF.
Wouldn't be the first time someone has filled the t-case with the wrong stuff. Agreed about the shift fork though. After rebuilding my t-case, I discovered that the rebuild kit came with plastic fork pads that did not fit quite right. Of course I realized this after I cut the old ones off. Now my case makes noise but I'm not too worried about it since I'm pretty fairly sure of the source. There is a company that makes a steel fork upgrade I saw somewhere online but don't remember where. Whatever the case, a complete rebuild by a mechanic shouldn't cost more than $500 plus parts. I know this because I asked and I live in a very spendy area. I'd go that route before investing in a new t-case. Good Luck with it.
 
a 231 in a 99, hell by a rebuilt kit (all your bearing/seals) for like $100 and just replace everything, your chain will still be good and the gears shouldn't be messed up from the wrong fluid, lube your linkage, hell even try flushing it with atf a couple fo times and see if it gets better, if you do overhaul your t-case the hardest part is removing and replacing, if you are mechanically inclined
 
http://www.jbconversions.com/pages/products/rebuild/index.html

Be forwarned that there a a couple of special tools you will need to get the t-case apart. Foremost are snap-ring pliers as well as seal and bearing pullers unless you have the know-how to get along without them. Furthermore if you are unfamiliar with the innards, take lots of pictures as you disassemble. You should scout out some on-line writeups on the subject before attempting to do this yourself if you have no experience.

I'm not trying to scare you off but think its alot to tackle for someone who sounds like a newbie. Even riskier if this is a daily driver. My apologies if I'm wrong.
 
Last edited:
I too had a howling noise in the front end in my 2001 XJ, similar to yours.
I thought it was the TC and so did a couple of Jeep mechanics that looked at it. I tore the TC apart twice but did not find anything seriously wrong. I even changed a couple of marginal bearings with no effect.
I remove the DS and the noise stayed the same. I finally removed the axles from the D30, using large nuts, bolts and washers to hold the hub bearings together. A quick road test verified that this cured the noise and isolated it to the axle. When I pulled the axle apart, I found that a pinon shaft bearing was pitted, causing the noise.
It was funny that when rotating the axle flange by hand, it felt smooth. It was only noisy when rotated at speed.
What a pain to find but there was no other way of finding the noise.
 
The t-case and the front diff have now been torn apart and reassembled and no problems found. I'm now being told it's a wheel bearing. These things are so difficult to diagnose sometimes. The guys at the shop are great but they've spent hours in the front end and t-case. For $700 bucks I'm going to end up with a new wheel bearing and fluids! I guess it's not their fault though. When I took it into them I told them I was sure it was a bearing in the front diff. I hope this fixes the problem.
 
tweber2 said:
The t-case and the front diff have now been torn apart and reassembled and no problems found. I'm now being told it's a wheel bearing. These things are so difficult to diagnose sometimes. The guys at the shop are great but they've spent hours in the front end and t-case. For $700 bucks I'm going to end up with a new wheel bearing and fluids! I guess it's not their fault though. When I took it into them I told them I was sure it was a bearing in the front diff. I hope this fixes the problem.
Click to expand...

daaaaaamn, that just doesn't sound right.
 
I wouldn't have taken it to these guys but I was SURE it was the front diff. They were quicker and cheaper then the other mechanics. It got out of hand when that wasn't the problem. I should have taken it to the dealer and paid them $90 to diagnose. Now I'm kicking myself. What do you do when your Jeep's in pieces? Couldn't exactly drive it out of the shop down to the dealer. Besides, they would have charged close to that for a wheel bearing and fluids anyways. You really pay for this stuff unless you have the time to do it yourself. I just need my Jeep back now. It sucks only having one car to drive around. I'll probably dicker with them over the price when I go to pick it up. The way it works out is the labor to figure out the problem is like $250. That's where I'm really eating it. I would have paid $450 to have the wheel bearing replaced and fluids in the t-case and both diffs. Vaseline might have made it feel a little better. They're not cute.
 


Most states require a written estimate for that much work
and only allow a 10% over cost. Did you get anything in writing before you started?



Most good Stealers will credit the diagnostics to the repair so it ends up costing you nothing.​

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