NP231 Stuck in Neutral

I have a '98 xj that I recently put a RE 4.5" lift on and at the same time had a SYE installed on the 231. Last weekend I was doing some mild wheeling and while going from 2 wheel drive to 4-lo, I lost everything: 2-hi, 4-hi, 4-lo, "Park", etc.

The shifter basically went soft, it was almost like the linkage was disconnected. I tried shifting the case manually but it still felt like the arm on the transfer case wasn't attached to anything inside the case. The guys that towed me back to civilization told me it had to be the fork.

I had used the transfer case probably 10 times that day and probably another 10 times a couple of weeks ago w/o any problems. Is the fork a weak link or could something have been put together wrong during the SYE conversion?

I tried some searches and came across a thread that mentioned the sleeve for the fork can be installed backwards. Could that be what happened?

Thank you for any and all help.

Jon

xj2tow said:

The shifter basically went soft, it was almost like the linkage was disconnected. I tried shifting the case manually but it still felt like the arm on the transfer case wasn't attached to anything inside the case. The guys that towed me back to civilization told me it had to be the fork.
Jon

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By manually shifting, do you mean that you climbed underneath and using a wrench, shifted it and nothing happened? There is actualy two shift forks. One shifts 2 wheel to 4 wheel and the other shifts High to low. I have a NP231 apart right now, I'll take a look and see if i can duplicate your problem.:cheers:

Was that you on the top of Miller on Sat 5-20 in a Purple XJ???? Glad you made it out ok. If so, I was the guy that radioed for help in the White XJ. Best to open up the rear cover:repair: . You'll probably find either the shaft on the selector inside the case broke, or shift forks broke. But you need to crack it open & get a look inside, because that's where you'll find the problem.

:lecture: Lesson to be learned, Never go alone & always have a radio. Kudos to the Trailblazers from Bakersfield for dragging you out :thumbup: :cheers:

Rob $.02

Good luck on the fix.

You got me. The Trailblazers saved my butt, they got me all the way to the parking lot. If any of you guys are on here, I'd just like to say, "thanks again."

I appreciate the radio call you made for me Rob.

I ordered front tow hooks from Rusty's last night and I'm buying a radio this weekend. And to think my cherokee was supposed to be my daily driver so I could leave my camaro alone. . ..

It's no excuse, but I do usually go in groups of at least 4 trucks (some of the other guys carry radios) and this was just supposed to be a scouting trip. I know I broke the two most important rules and rest assured that it won't happen again.

By manually shifting, do you mean that you climbed underneath and using a wrench, shifted it and nothing happened? There is actualy two shift forks. One shifts 2 wheel to 4 wheel and the other shifts High to low.

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Yeah, I tried several times while still on the trail, but there was nothing there. Any insight would be great. I'll probably pull it soon and get it cracked open.

It doesn't really bother me that something broke as long as I can figure out why it broke and how I can decrease the chance of it happening again.

xj2tow said:

I appreciate the radio call you made for me Rob.
I ordered front tow hooks from Rusty's last night and I'm buying a radio this weekend. And to think my cherokee was supposed to be my daily driver so I could leave my camaro alone. . ..
It's no excuse, but I do usually go in groups of at least 4 trucks (some of the other guys carry radios) and this was just supposed to be a scouting trip. I know I broke the two most important rules and rest assured that it won't happen again.

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Glad we could get you some help. Would of tried myself, but figured they were close & had a lot more man power than the 2 of us & wasn't sure I could drag you up from where you were. Good man on the Hooks & radio
Shouldn't have to drop the Tcase to open the back & find out whats going on. Just pull the drive shafts, front yoke & pull the back cover & take a look inside, Shouldn't be too hard to find. On the shift forks, there should be some rubber like pads that engage the shift collars, if not, that can cause trouble as well. Good luck with it.

Rob