Only 4Lo??

[ltd02]

It's been a pretty cold and wet here today and I got into some mud while parking in my yard this evening. Haven't used 4wd in months but thought I'd throw it in "part time" to finish (I have the NP242 select trac). I was completely stopped, shifted, and the light came on but only the rear wheels spun. Stopped completely again and tried "full time" and same thing. Stopped completely again and shifted to neutral with brake on and pulled it into 4 Lo and everything worked. Went and repeated with part time and full time again while rolling slowly and still no front engagement. Shifter resistance seems normal and checked fluid recently and it was clean and okay. Never really made much noise when engaging in PT or FT before so nothing seemed unusual this time. I'll mess with it tomorrow morning when I can actually see something but any suggestions in the meantime? :shrug:

 

[belvedere]

I would start with shift linkage adjustment.

 

[ltd02]

Thanks, Good starting point. Guess I should have looked things over more carefully last time I checked the Tcase. I just replaced the bushing at the tcase in the beginning of the summer and all was fine. Then I had the console off a couple months back to check the airbag module but didn't really check the shifter linkage. May have to get back in there. Wonder if I disturbed something. Just noticed I have a back tire that is pretty low. Wonder if that could be screwing things up. Always heard the 242 was finicky about tire pressure but never experienced it.

 

[sota]

I was going to ask, how do you know it's 4LO it's actually in? with a stick I know it's easy just based on crawl speed at idle. I don't know if that works or what the indicator is in an auto though.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

With an auto it is easy to tell between 4LO and high range with the crawl speed. That's a strange issue for sure. At least it seems like it's in the linkage for sure since the front does get power.

 

[sota]

good to know. I know on mine it's about 2.5mph idling in 1st, and about 1mph in 4LO. (makes sense... 2.42:1 ratio in the t-case.) wasn't sure if that translates to the autos or not.

does the shifter feel like it's hitting the detents as you're moving it though the positions? from what I remember the only detent plate is inside the t-case to give that feeling.

 

[ltd02]

Sorry for the delayed reply. No access to this forum at work and a long day. Like HJ said it is easy to tell that the Tcase shifted to 4LO with the auto too. Mine will crawl right up my steep drive in 4LO without touching the gas. But really don't know if the fronts were locked at that point. My belief is that LO will change everything. Definitely not a 4WD expert so not sure if this is true or not. I'm assuming they were since I gave it some gas in 4LO that I figured would spin the back wheels in the mud like they did in PT and FT if that was all I had engaged. They didn't spin and I wouldn't have moved if the fronts weren't locked since they had the traction at the time. As for the detents, felt like normal. Not at all sloppy and felt good resistance but no binding at all.

So this morning as I climbed out of my muddy spot I left it in 2WD (I had shifted it back in after getting into my final spot last night). As I hit the pave of my driveway I felt the front binding as if it was now in some level of 4wd. It's done this before so not too shocking. My tires are very worn and it was a but wet so it sort of slowly skipped along, nothing too violent. I reached the end of the drive turned left on my street and it popped out of 4WD. I shifted on the fly a few times during my 40 mile drive usually around 10-20 mph and it seemed to go in and out of FT just like it should. So long story short, I'm definitely going to check my linkage and fluid levels again this weekend. I'm leaning toward the linkage being a bit off for FT and PT yet okay for Lo if possible. The lack of use for the past few months probably isn't helping either. I gotta get it out in a field and let it stretch it's legs a bit.

Thanks for the replies and I'll update when I get a better look at things. Any additional advice or observations would be greatly appreciated.

 

[TwoBobsKJ]

Good idea to put it into a Full Time frequently to keep the clutches lubed up and everything moving. Since it is a Full Time T-case you can run it 12 months a year like an All Wheel Drive vehicle.

And don't underestimate the tire sizes - if they're off by just 1/32" it WILL cause shifting problems.

Bob

 

[ltd02]

Good idea to put it into a Full Time frequently to keep the clutches lubed up and everything moving. Since it is a Full Time T-case you can run it 12 months a year like an All Wheel Drive vehicle.

I did run in FT a couple times a week in the past and never had any of these troubles, then for some reason I just haven't done so much since that Tcase bushing went even though I replaced it right away. I will from now on. Use it or lose it I guess.

And don't underestimate the tire sizes - if they're off by just 1/32" it WILL cause shifting problems.

Wow, 1/32". That's a very likely problem too. I've heard this many times but never experienced it. I've got two that have slow leaks right now too so I'm due a set of tires very soon. I've put 80k on my Michelin's and they were not new when I bought the KJ.

Beginning to sound like a whole lot of little thing adding up. :icon_frown:

 

[mass-hole]

Arnt you supposed to be rolling to shift into Part-time and full-time 4wd? It sounds like you were already stopped when you tried to engage it based on your description. I know that mine wont engage until I roll a bit.

 

[ltd02]

Arnt you supposed to be rolling to shift into Part-time and full-time 4wd? It sounds like you were already stopped when you tried to engage it based on your description. I know that mine wont engage until I roll a bit.

I had thought about that to since I usually am almost always moving when shifting into PT or FT and never had problems. According to my manual for the Select Trac it says you can shift to either PT or FT when stopped or moving up to 55mph. Actually says you should be rolling 2-3 mph in neutral to shift into LO. Last part sort of surprised me.

 

[HoosierJeeper]

One thing that helped mine is lubing the shifting rod thing...silicone spray or something. Makes it shift easier/ more definitively.

 

[ltd02]

One thing that helped mine is lubing the shifting rod thing...silicone spray or something. Makes it shift easier/ more definitively.

Thanks for the replies. I checked things thoroughly today. Everything looked good and appears to be working properly. I lubed a few moving parts as recommended and checked fluid levels etc. Definitely shifts smoother now. I'm going to have to blame it on lack of use. One thing I didn't do when trying to get it into PT and FT the other day was cycle into drive and reverse. I saw this in my manual and I guess that may help it drop in when you have to shift into 4WD but aren't able to roll or move. Tires definitely need to be "retired" (pun intended). Not much tread left so no wonder I was spinning in a little mud.

(libpatblue)