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Help! T-Case locked up?

R

rydesolow

NAXJA Forum User
Location
rochester, mn
Ok, I have a 1991 Jeep Cherokee XJ Laredo. NP242 T-Case, 4-speed auto trans, D30/35. Inline 6. A few weeks ago(slightly warm out), I got stuck in 4 feet of water. Was in for about an hour or two or three, cant remember, lol. I just replaced my interior carpet and seats and such, and my starter and alternator. It starts up and runs good now, but then when I shifted it into all the gears it wouldn't go into any of them, and remained in park. I just did a tranny flush, the fluid was light pink. I put in new fluid after running boiling water through it a couple of times to unfreeze anything(its freezing out now). Now the tranny shifts really well into drive, park, reverse, etc. Before it felt like there was no tension when shifting it into anything. Now that is good, and the reverse lights come on and everything. Now the only problem is, it wont move! :( The brakes are not locked up either, I checked. Thing is, when I put it into reverse and give it some gas, the driveshaft tries to move at the T-Case output, and the Jeep rocks to the left, but doesnt budge. When I put it in a forward gear/drive, it rocks the jeep to the right, trying to turn the driveshaft. The tranny is good, but something is frozen up, and im not sure what! The driveshaft rotates more closer to the T-Case output, I was thinking maybe my differential is full of frozen water? Would that do it? Anybody have this happen before? Any help? I need it bad:) It's my only means of transportation. If you guys have any ideas, please help me! I'd really appreciate it!

Alex
[email protected]
 
If the jeep is "rocking" power is getting to the axles, so I would look at something wrong there. Try 4 lo.
 
rydesolow said:
Ok, I have a 1991 Jeep Cherokee XJ Laredo. NP242 T-Case, 4-speed auto trans, D30/35. Inline 6. A few weeks ago(slightly warm out), I got stuck in 4 feet of water. Was in for about an hour or two or three, cant remember, lol. I just replaced my interior carpet and seats and such, and my starter and alternator. It starts up and runs good now, but then when I shifted it into all the gears it wouldn't go into any of them, and remained in park. I just did a tranny flush, the fluid was light pink. I put in new fluid after running boiling water through it a couple of times to unfreeze anything(its freezing out now). Now the tranny shifts really well into drive, park, reverse, etc. Before it felt like there was no tension when shifting it into anything. Now that is good, and the reverse lights come on and everything. Now the only problem is, it wont move! :( The brakes are not locked up either, I checked. Thing is, when I put it into reverse and give it some gas, the driveshaft tries to move at the T-Case output, and the Jeep rocks to the left, but doesnt budge. When I put it in a forward gear/drive, it rocks the jeep to the right, trying to turn the driveshaft. The tranny is good, but something is frozen up, and im not sure what! The driveshaft rotates more closer to the T-Case output, I was thinking maybe my differential is full of frozen water? Would that do it? Anybody have this happen before? Any help? I need it bad:) It's my only means of transportation. If you guys have any ideas, please help me! I'd really appreciate it!

Alex
[email protected]
Click to expand...
After sitting that deep it water you need to change all lub.
The t-case and axles surely have water in them.
They have vents that were also under the water.
 
I can change from 2Hi, to all the 4wd positions, and they all seem to work. In 4Lo it rocks my entire engine, tranny, case, and such when it tries to move. Seems like its locked up in the t-case. I'll change the t-case fluid and the diff. fluids tomorrow morning, and see if that frees it up. If you can image the jeep working, and then imagine a big block of frozen water in the diff's and the t-case, thats what it seems like it is. You'd think all that torque would tear the ice apart? I don't know. I'll change it out in the morning and let you guys know what's up. Oh, and I tried it in 4Lo, still wont move, but it almost tears my jeep in half. lol.
 
rydesolow said:
I can change from 2Hi, to all the 4wd positions, and they all seem to work. In 4Lo it rocks my entire engine, tranny, case, and such when it tries to move. Seems like its locked up in the t-case. I'll change the t-case fluid and the diff. fluids tomorrow morning, and see if that frees it up. If you can image the jeep working, and then imagine a big block of frozen water in the diff's and the t-case, thats what it seems like it is. You'd think all that torque would tear the ice apart? I don't know. I'll change it out in the morning and let you guys know what's up. Oh, and I tried it in 4Lo, still wont move, but it almost tears my jeep in half. lol.
Click to expand...
If the T-case was froze up it would not rock anything, the drive shafts are trying to turn the diff.
Your going to have to get some heat on the diff to get the ice out.
Why don't you think the brakes are froze?
 
I took off the Diff. covers and they were huge blocks of ice. After melting and chipping them all off, thought that was a good step. Now I can put it in drive or reverse, and I have to give it a bit of gas and it will work hard to turn the tires a little bit. I did move 1 foot backwards, but I cant seem to go anywhere. The front tires refuse to move. Had to drag em to go that foot. All the ice is cleared out of the differentials, so the t-case is the last place to look right? I dont think the brakes are froze because I can rock the jeep back and forth, and if I hit the brakes it stops instantly. I Dont know though, where do you think the ice would be in the brakes? In the drums in back or inside the pistons of the calipers? ARG that would suck taking my 35's off to redo brakes. And its freezing out and snowy:( What do you think?
 
if your near an a/c outlet i would try and rent/borrow one of them big kerosene heaters with the blower on it. point it toward them axles an let the heat warm things up under there. your gonna break something if things are that locked up from ice.
 
i chipped out all the ice from inside the differentials allready, i think its something in the transfer case, is there a vent in the t-case that water could of gotten in?
 
rydesolow said:
i chipped out all the ice from inside the differentials allready, i think its something in the transfer case, is there a vent in the t-case that water could of gotten in?
Click to expand...
Yes there's a vent in the t-case
What about water in the axle tubes?
 
Have you opened the filler plug to the transfer case and stuck you finger in for a sample?

My guess is you sucked alot of water in when you stopped in water. Hot transfer case and fluid inside + cold water outside = vacuum.

Same with your diffs
 
Lol ok so I finally got the filler plugs off, and saw that the inside of my case was nothing but pure ice. Just like the ice blocks in my differentials. I ran a lot of boiling water through the case, and then filled it back up with fluid and locked her up. She still didnt move, but if it was in neutral you could push it. Good sign I guess that the driveshafts were now moving. I slapped it in reverse, and noticed the reverse lights didnt come on. Guess what that means. Neutral Safety Switch. I've replaced mine once before, because it was cracked and not working, and there IS a small vent in the top of it. I figure well, it probably filled with water, froze, and now the little lever in there cant switch with the shifter, not allowing it to go into gears. So me and my friend pulled it down into my heated garage, let it sit, and she started right up and drove around freely. My Reverse lights came on. I took off my NSS switch and drained the water. Finally, the end of problems. So, I hope this thread helps anyone who has gotten stuck in water, then had things die, and then freeze. This is pretty much what you gotta do to fix it. Oh, I also replaced my starter because they corrode and die after a few days of being submerged. I also replaced my entire interior carpet because it smelled like bog water. It was all a lot of work, so my advise is, dont get stuck in a lot of water. Lol.
 
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