Transfercase swap...

I know it's not an XJ question but I figure you guys would be my best bet to figure this out...

My brother is buying a really nice little 95 ZJ... 3" lift, auto, 31's, V8, D44 rear etc...

Only problem is I think the transfercase is going on it. It's making some pretty rough sounds and I assume the chain is stretched inside. Right now the case only has a 4H N 4L though... I have no idea what case that is but we're thinking it'd be nice to swap in a 231 or 242 so he has the option of 2WD if he wants. So my questions are this:

What case is the old one? Is it a decent case worth rebuilding or are we better off doing a swap?

And can we swap in a 231 or 242 from an XJ without too much trouble?


Also, does anyone know what transmission the auto is? It'd be nice to throw the AW shifter in there if it's an AW4...

Thanks,
Mark

First off, the trans. is not an AW4. It's a 44 or 46re. The transfer case that is currently in his ZJ is a NP249 and is very problematic. The easiest swap is a NP242. The front half of the cases is identical between the NP249 and NP242. Basically, pull the NP249 out of the rig, tear it down by removing the rear half of the case, mainshaft, all internals, etc. leaving the input shaft. Do the same to the NP242, mate the guts and rear half of the NP242 /w the front half of the NP249 and you're set without having to mess /w finding the correct input shaft length, etc. We've done this exact swap a half-dozen times and it works perfectly.

John

if it doesnt have 4H full time its a 231 i have parts for it if you want

ok maybe i was wrong lol i didnt read it was a zj

Avanteone said:

First off, the trans. is not an AW4. It's a 44 or 46re. The transfer case that is currently in his ZJ is a NP249 and is very problematic. The easiest swap is a NP242. The front half of the cases is identical between the NP249 and NP242. Basically, pull the NP249 out of the rig, tear it down by removing the rear half of the case, mainshaft, all internals, etc. leaving the input shaft. Do the same to the NP242, mate the guts and rear half of the NP242 /w the front half of the NP249 and you're set without having to mess /w finding the correct input shaft length, etc. We've done this exact swap a half-dozen times and it works perfectly.

John

Click to expand...

Perfect! That's what I wanted to know

I'm assuming then that the stock ZJ shifting linkage from his 249 will be fine to use with the 242 then?

Some educational material
http://www.nagca.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27930

ert01 said:

Perfect! That's what I wanted to know

I'm assuming then that the stock ZJ shifting linkage from his 249 will be fine to use with the 242 then?

Click to expand...

Maybe. Sometimes they've worked perfectly, sometimes we've had to trim like 1" off of the end of it to make it work, always been very simple though.

J

Thanks guys! That totally helps. Now I just gotta go find me a 242

Update:

We got a 242 now. Pulled it from an 88XJ at the junkyard. We spent the morning wrestling that thing out and the afternoon jacking up the ZJ and getting it all ready to go so now we have the 2 cases sitting on the ground side by side...

You mentioned just swapping the guts and the rear half of the 242 with the front half and input shaft of the 249, and I'm thinking that's where we should start, but the speedo sensor on the 242 is different then the one on the 249... is that going to be an issue? Should we swap the 249 tailcone with it's sensor onto the 242 case?


Or do we need a different year 242 case?

They both have the same 13mm bolt that hold them in. The XJ case will have the mechanical speedo connection and your case has the electronic speedo sensor, but they are interchangable.

J

Perfect! Will hopefully finish the swap today or tomorrow

Thanks!

Well after a few troubles getting parts to rebuild the case we finally have it in. Now we have an issue with the linkage though...

There's a piece of flatbar that mounts directly to the case that the linkage hooks up to. When we have the original flatbar from the 242 case on there, it sits at the wrong angle and we can't shift it through all the positions.

When we have the 249 flatbar on there the angle is right but the bar is too long so again, we can't shift through all the positions.

I tried drilling a hole in the 249 flatbar to make it the proper length but it's case hardened steel and it ate my cobalt bits. Took it to a friends shop and tried to get him to punch a hole in it, but no luck. Took it to another machine shop to get a hole turned in it with a lathe and no go there either. Only option they said is EDM which would cost a lot of money for a stupid little hole.


What did you guys do for the linkage?

I'll double check /w my other tech, but one of them I think we just shorted the rod (cut it and welded it back together).

J

Avanteone said:

I'll double check /w my other tech, but one of them I think we just shorted the rod (cut it and welded it back together).

J

Click to expand...

I had a heck of a time organizing it while I was at work today, but I got the rod to a shop and I got them to cut and weld it for me so once I get off work I'll pick it up and try installing it. I have a feeling it'll work though...

Thanks again! This thread has been a godsend during this process. If I could buy you a beer I would.