no 4WD Low

[mike]

2007 Liberty, 3.7, CommandTrac transfer case, 72,246 miles, completely stock. Owned since 2010, hardly ever drive it. The other day I drove it around the block to "exercise" it. Included driving through an alley (no traffic). Shifted from 2WD to 4 High just fine. Wasn't able to pull the lever any further, either neutral or 4 Low. Shifted the auto trans. to neutral and was coasting <5 MPH before attempting to shift from 4 High to neutral or 4 Low. Followed the transfer case shifting instructions in the owners manual. What's wrong? Mechanical or operator error?

 

[JeepJeepster]

Doesnt sound like user error. Slowly rolling with the trans in N, it should pop right into 4low.

 

[mike]

Thanks JeepJeepster. I might add that I kept my foot off the brake pedal while trying to shift to 4 low.

 

[cas123]

2007 Liberty, 3.7, CommandTrac transfer case, 72,246 miles, completely stock. Owned since 2010, hardly ever drive it. The other day I drove it around the block to "exercise" it. Included driving through an alley (no traffic). Shifted from 2WD to 4 High just fine. Wasn't able to pull the lever any further, either neutral or 4 Low. Shifted the auto trans. to neutral and was coasting <5 MPH before attempting to shift from 4 High to neutral or 4 Low. Followed the transfer case shifting instructions in the owners manual. What's wrong? Mechanical or operator error?

Try from a complete stop. I never use low. It really would rarely be needed. But I did have a broken bushing once and had trouble getting it into 4WD to stay. Make sure you are in something slippery to use 4WD anyway, not on dry pavement.

 

[JeepJeepster]

Anytime I've tried to get my KJ into 4low while stopped, I need to keep pulling back on the transfer case shifter while shifting into drive. Otherwise, it just pops right back out of 4low.

 

[cas123]

Might be that bushing. Should not be that hard to shift in and out.

 

[mike]

Thanks cas123. I was on dry pavement to perform the test. I didn't think it would matter, being in 4 low briefly, just to be sure it worked. What bushing needed replaced?
Thanks again JeepJeepster. Mayhaps I'll try that next time I 'exercise' the Jeep.

 

[cas123]

Jeep Liberty Shift Cable Bushing Options

www.bushingfix.com

 

[Shankster]

As long as you're going straight there would be no risk shifting into low range.

If I were you I'd crawl under the vehicle with a flashlight and find the lever on the transfer case - if memory serves it's between where the TC attaches to the transmission and the front driveshaft. There is a pin on that lever where the bushing mounts and the end of the cable has an eye on it that fits over the outside of the bushing. Hopefully you can see if anything is causing the issue. If nothing obvious you could pull the cable off of the pin and hopefully actuate the lever on the TC manually through all its positions, including 4lo. Be warned that the bushing (if original) is probably brittle and will break easily so you might want to have a new one on hand or you could fabricate something temporary. My bushing broke and fell off so I had to make something temporary - I used a short piece of thick walled plastic hose with a wire tie around it as a temporary bushing till I got my new bushing - generic ones are cheap on ebay or Amazon and just as good as the Mopar ones which are silly expensive. Anyway, you should be able to isolate the issue to either the shift lever, the bushing, or the internals of the transfer case and go from there. I think replacing the bushing is good preventive maintenance - if yours hasn't broken already it likely will. The generic ones are so cheap I bought 2 and keep a spare in my center console just in case I get a failure on the trail.

 

[mike]

Thanks for the link cas123. I'll probably order one to have on hand before I try what Shankster suggests.

 

[mike]

I crawled under the Jeep to look at the bushing that should be replaced, as Shankster mentioned. When I go to the link provided by cas123 it's not clear which bushing I should order. While I was under the Jeep I took some pictures, I'll attach them to this post. I need to know what bushing to have. I want to have a replacement bushing before I follow Shanksters instructions. Transfer case is a New Process 231.

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[JeepJeepster]

Is anything loose? It confuses me that it will go in 4wd but not 4low. I suppose if there is some slop in the bushing, maybe it wouldnt let it push it on into 4low.

 

[mike]

Is anything loose? It confuses me that it will go in 4wd but not 4low. I suppose if there is some slop in the bushing, maybe it wouldnt let it push it on into 4low.

I don't know if anything's loose, I didn't touch anything for fear that the bushing would break. I didn't want to have a broken bushing without a replacememnt. All I did when I was under the Jeep is take pictures. When I know what part (bushing) to buy I'll take the cable end off the lever and do what Shankster suggests. When I drove it up and down the alley to 'exercise' it, everything seemed normal (tight) when in the drivers seat.

 

[CheddarGau]

I don't know if anything's loose, I didn't touch anything for fear that the bushing would break. I didn't want to have a broken bushing without a replacememnt. All I did when I was under the Jeep is take pictures. When I know what part (bushing) to buy I'll take the cable end off the lever and do what Shankster suggests. When I drove it up and down the alley to 'exercise' it, everything seemed normal (tight) when in the drivers seat.

If the bushing ever pops off, you can move the t-case lever by hand (small pry bar). You can also use a cotter pin to hold the shift cable on the lever in a pinch and it will shift very poorly, but sometimes better than nothing. Also any sort of rubber hose or rubber anything with a cotter pin to keep the cable from sliding off will work perfectly. It just needs to take up the space. My nieces cable couldn't get the proper bushing to fit, so I improvised and it's been going strong for 3 years.

 

[mike]

Thanks CheddarGau.

 

[Shankster]

I crawled under the Jeep to look at the bushing that should be replaced, as Shankster mentioned. When I go to the link provided by cas123 it's not clear which bushing I should order. While I was under the Jeep I took some pictures, I'll attach them to this post. I need to know what bushing to have. I want to have a replacement bushing before I follow Shanksters instructions. Transfer case is a New Process 231.

Hmm, that bushing looks in good shape to me (although as discussed it could be brittle and break any time) and I doubt it's causing your issues. Also, that's a different bushing than on my 02 which has a NV242 transfer case. When you figure out which bushing I'd still replace it, but while you have the cable disconnected I'd move the lever on the TC into the 4LO position and test to see if it goes into 4LO - if it does then your issue is likely the shifter or cable, if it doesn't then it's probably the transfer case itself. I don't see that you can buy just the cable so you'd have to buy the whole shifter assembly which looks like almost $400 new - salvage yard would be the way to go if that turns out to be the issue.

 

[Shankster]

I crawled under the Jeep to look at the bushing that should be replaced, as Shankster mentioned. When I go to the link provided by cas123 it's not clear which bushing I should order. While I was under the Jeep I took some pictures, I'll attach them to this post. I need to know what bushing to have. I want to have a replacement bushing before I follow Shanksters instructions. Transfer case is a New Process 231.

But WOW! that's one clean KJ Mike. 19 years old and the underside basically looks brand new - isn't it great to live out west

 

[JeepJeepster]

Just a heads up, set the parking brake and block the wheels very well if you ever try to manually shift the tcase. Putting the tcase in neutral will allow the Jeep to just roll away.

 

[mercdudecbr600]

I always come to a complete stop and shift into neutral before going into 4 low. Even still, sometimes it takes a good pull to get into gear.

tc bushing looks intact to me. When mine went bad, the cable end was just casually hanging around the arm rod.

 

[CheddarGau]

I also find vehicles that aren't driven much and also don't go to 4H and 2H often, tend to have a harder time with moving the lever. I nothing scientific, but more of an observation. Trying going to 4H and 2H a bunch and see if that helps. I had a JK wrangler recently that was about 8 years old, and was never shifted out of 2H, the sales guys sold it, but it wouldn't shift and I got it all fixed in 10 mins, simply by doing that. Its not their fault, they know enough to not shift on dry pavement, but the new owner wanted to test it out.