Need help diagnosing if I broke my transfer case or transmission...

I was driving home from Milwaukee to Chicago Friday night, and as I left Milwaukee, I was getting vibrations that felt like a wheel bearing was going out. We stopped at an Oasis, and something was smoking - either the transfer case or the transmission because it smelt like ATF. I decided to proceed on. I wasn't able to get the XJ above 55mph because of the extreme wheel bearing sounding growl, and the drivetrain vibrated a whole bunch - It could have shaken your fillings loose. I was able to get it home to Chicago and was able to drop my buddies off at home. As I was headed home, I was at a stop light - when it turned green I gave it a little gas and I heard this noise that sounded like tick-tick-tick-BOOM. After the boom/pop noise, the XJ wouldn't move at all. I was able get the XJ to move about a foot in 4lo before it wouldn't move any further, but it would not move in 4hi or 2wd. Transfer case also will not shift back into 2wd. I had to have it towed home.

Do you guys think I blew my trans or transfer case? Torque converter perhaps? I have the NP231.

I don't think anything is wrong with my axle's - the truck didn't skip as it was going up or down the tow truck flat bed.

Also, the previous week leading up to this, the truck was idling funny at lights. Sometimes it was stuck at 1200rpm unless i gave it a little bit of gas, other times it felt like it was missing. I replaced the IAC, but that didn't help anything.

Try jacking a rear wheel up, to free up the driveline, and see if the transfer case will shift.
If not, odds are that transfer case is bad.
This is a lot cheaper and easier to replace than a transmission.
The transfer case isn't to hard to pull and open up.
Once the transfer case has been removed, you can run the engine and see if the transmission sounds right. Not sure if it will shift correctly without the speed sensor.

lazyxj said:

Not sure if it will shift correctly without the speed sensor.

Click to expand...

No it will not. You can pull the fuse and manually shift it with the shifter though. If you can push the vehicle with it in park, I'd guess the xfer case.

Thanks everyone. I can push the vehicle in park - I have it chocked because the parking brake has been busted.

Check all the u-joints while you're under there.