242 Wiring

I just replaced my 231 with a 242 and need to know how to get the wiring straight. The 231 has only 2 wires for the lights and the 242 has 4... Any suggestions on how to get the Part Time and Full Time lights to work properly? Thanks.

The transfer case is from a 98 XJ into my 2001 XJ. BTW, everything bolted up perfectly, just need the wiring info.

Wade

That's good to hear that it went in easily. I plan on doing the same swap before winter on my '01. Any tips you can offer? Do you mind telling me what you paid for the 242?

I am interested in the wiring details as well. I have access to all of the diagrams via alldata, and it appears that the 231 and 242 share two wires, with one wire (full time) needing to be added for the 242. It looks as if the harness may be able to be swapped out, but I can't tell for sure. Can you trace from the switch back and see if it goes to a connector inline in the harness with at least three wires? I will look when I get a chance. I know you will need the 242 switch and connector at the very least.

I can provide more details when I get back from camping on Saturday.

Sparkman, pm'd ya..

Wade

Anyone know if there is a third wire inside the dash for the transfer case switch? A buddy of mine traced the 2 wires to the firewall and could not find anything else. Didn't have time to remove the dash. Thanks.

Wade

The full time light is in there but it may not have a bulb. I'd bet on a connector somewhere between the dash and the TC that probably has all the wires but as the TC comes down the assembly line it probably gets either a 2 or 4 wire pigtail on it. Pretty much all the harness is generic, my 98 has a bunch of stuff that is not used because it did not have the options. My original idiot light cluster has the parttime-full time-uparrow bulbs in a row across the top, mine came with a 231, the fulltime bulb is not in there, just the socket for it. Post what you find, this is a mod I've thought of in the event my 231 goes south at some point. What was the story on the drive shaft ??

Thanks.. I hope that's the case. The driveshafts fit fine. No issues. Just the wiring harness.

Wade

Ok, I had a little time to look at alldata before I leave.

The 231 switch should have two wires, BK/RD (part time) and BK (ground). On the 242 the BK/RD (part time) does the same thing, the BK (ground) does the same thing, but it adds a BK/WT (full time) wire. You should be able to trace the wires back from the transfer case and find the black/white wire.

Thanks for the info from alldata.. I also found this, though it's not in english.. But I'll have time to sort this out Saturday morning. I'll post what I find..

http://jeep.avtograd.ru/xfer/xfer_switch.htm

Wade

What did you find?

I did not find anything in the wiring harness and then ended up going to the beach on Saturday and drank too much this afternoon.... I'll have to look sometime this week behind the dash.. I have noticed some noises that I think weren't there before. Seems to be a popping sound from the front driveline gpomg over bumps and letting off of the gas.. Not too concerned, but will investigate. I lubed the driveshaft good, but it did't solve it. Not sure if is an angle issue.. High pinion vs. low pinion. The u-joints don't seem to be in a bind. I might be a little paranoid. Not sure..

Wade

I got a chance to look at the wiring tonight. I looks like there is a short cable, maybe 1' in length, with a two pin connector on the end that connects to the TC switch and a three pin connector on the other end (mounted to the top of the TC) going to the vehicle wiring harness. It looks as if swapping in the proper cable should connect the 242 switch to the vehicle with no cutting or modifying. I looked up the cable in my '01 parts PDF and it lists TRANSFER CASE JUMPER 242 TRANSFER CASE #56041612AA.

I will look again tonight, but do not believe I have that connector, or maybe I do.. I might be blind, though.. Pretty tight quarters with the transfer case in there. I don not want to take it out. I need to adjust the linkage some more, so I'll let you know what I find.

Wade

I need to give this topic a *bump* because I am in the middle of a 231 to 242 swap on my wife's '98 XJ. I have the new case on and bolted up, and the linkage mostly adjusted. Before I do anything else though, I was hoping somebody figured out/knew how to successfully wire it for the Full Time light. From what I have been able to see, there is a plug up in the engine compartment that the wire goes into, but there are so many wires right there that I can't seem to figure it out (multiple black w/ white stripes after some of the plugs, too).

Any updates, anyone? Please reply ASAP if you could.

Thanks guys!

Everything I know about it is in this thread. IIRC the harness you are looking for comes from the direction of the top of the transmission. The colors are listed above. It's the same wire that the 231 was connected to, you just need the other jumper.

I did just get the final go ahead from the boss to purchase the 242 though!! Woohoo!

Thanks for the reply.

I still don't understand where exactly between the transfer case and the dash the black&white wire begins? Does it begin between the dash and firewall, firewall and plug, or plug and T-case? I'm pretty sure it's not the last one, because what I traced tonight showed just the 2 between the T-case and plug in the engine bay. I'm almost wondering if I should just splice my own brand new wire onto the black&white right at the dashboard socket, and then run the length of new wire (protected with tape and/or those round plastic shields) all the way to the tcase connector directly (routed similar to the other wires, of course).

At any rate, do you all think the wiring thing is something I can save for after everything has been bolted back up and the XJ is running & on the street again? Or is it better to mess with the wiring when everything is disconnected from the t-case?

Thanks!

Maybe the '98 is different. Without looking for myself I can't be certain. It may be helpful to look at a FSM for '98.

I would bolt it up and drive it.

If you already have the transfer case out, I would run the new wir to the dash, it's a little tight in there between the transmission and transfer case. I ended up splicing the cable after the connector and extending the black/white wire to the transfer case wiring harness. Works good so far.

Sparkman,

Have you done yours yet? I'm still having a lot of rattling noises that seem to be coming from the front. I don't believe it's the tc chain, since it doesn't do it when I release the gas.. Any ideas??

Wade

Thanks guys.

Wadea, when you say that you spliced the wire at the connector, are you talking about the connecter right at/behind the dash socket? And how/where did you route the wiring down to the t-case connector, did you have to drill any holes in the firewall or anything?

My 242 is bolted on but nothing else is connected. We had to drop the exhaust to get access to one of the nuts when removing the 231, so I still have a decent amount of room to work with the wiring. How hard is it to remove the dash on 97's and up? My Chilton's didn't really tell me anything useful (I don't think).

Thanks again for your help!

I actually have the "third" wire on my wiring harness that goes to the dash, right above the transmission, I used my 231 plug and extended a wire fromt the 242 to the wiring harness above the transmission that goes to the dash. So I did not have to go into the dash to wire anything. My 242 was from a 98 Cherokee. If you don't have the third wire in the harness, then I believe you will have to wire it up to the dash. It will run fine without the light, but it annoys me when something should work but doesn't.. At least on my daily driver, the trail vehicle is a different story..

Wade

Exactly, it wouldn't be as complete without the light. I want my XJ to be like it had the 242 from day one out of the factory. Plus, with the lights, it would be easier to find all of the modes I think (not to mention the "cool factor" of seeing that beautiful green glow of the full-time light ).

I have a 1998 XJ and a 2000 242. I think my XJ should have the same wiring as yours. Now the harness above the tranny that you wired into, that's the one on the passenger side of the engine block and above the oil filter, right? It has like 3 or 4 smaller wiring harnesses running into it?

I think what I'll do so I can get it back up and running again is run wire from the tranfer case connector up into the engine bay. I'll leave plenty of slack, but that way I won't have to mess with the wiring under the Jeep again, and I can bolt everything back up and start driving it again. Then at my leisure I can complete the wiring project.

By the way, did you already have a bulb installed in the Full Time socket? If not, what part number of bulb did you buy? Is the bulb itself green or just the clear part of the indicator light?

Thanks for your help and patience with my endless barrage of questions.