briansgarage

So I was taking a short test drive today, I put it in 4wd, and it kicked in nice and smooth. I dropped it back into 2wd, and it stayed in 4wd for awhile, till I was almost moving at idle speed and then I got a big "clunk" and it was in 2wd.
Is this normal? To give a bang, coming out of 4wd?

Deserthooliganxj

They said its better if ur jeep is movin at 5 mph or slower to engage or disengage the 4x4 cuz it helps it put it in or take it out. But a clunk are signs of transfercase gears are going bad, it happen to me, I ended breakin my transfer :/.. how many miles does ur xj have?

briansgarage

182k..
4wd works. Just clunk shifting to 2wd..
Maybe I should grab a used on eBay or something and keep it handy for a swap if I blow this one this winter..

Deserthooliganxj

Yea mine ended breakin at 185k :/
Does ur jeep have a lift?
Cuz if u lift than 4 in u have to get a transfer drop, so no grindin will happen.
I have a spare transfercase out of a 01 sport incase I blow it,again with these sand drags lol

crystalion

Mine started doing that EXACT same thing this past winter. I put it 4H and everything is fine -then dropping it back into 2H it would stay in for up tp 30 seconds or so then BANG and it would be in 2WD. I only used 4WD 3X the past winter and fixed every other problem I have had in my Jeep EXCEPT this. I will probably look into this soon. Its not something that the Jeep was building up to since I didn't put it in 4WD for months.

crystalion

This has happened to no-one else ? I find that hard to Imagine. Any help or start points would be appreciated.

Deserthooliganxj

Its prolly your gears crysralion. How many miles is on your jeep?

crystalion

2000 XJ -70K original miles

Like I said worked great the last 4 winters -this last one the first time it banged-also one or 2 times coming out it gave this clicking/grinding noise like the gears were half meshed-meaning they werent coming out of gear all the way for some time..

Deserthooliganxj

same happen with mine, started clunking, then grindin, and boom, it breaks, I would take it out and open and inspect it, or take it to a mechanic. I waited to long, now gotta fork out 500 bucks a new one :/

98sportjeep

98 sport with 152k. Goes in and out of 4h and 4l smooth. Maybe a small thump going into 4h and low, but def not a bang!!

94JeepCherokeeMan

Mine will make a light thump in cold weather when it disengages. 200000 miles, but no rough use and definitely haven't pushed it beyond its means

crystalion

My XJ has been babied but I'll fix that when I move to Nevada. I'm gonna open or at least drain the transfer case Monday since the weekend is already spoken 4. Mine was a bang and I shifted out properly. Havn't used it since because i know a few more and something will break. You can feel the Jeep actually jump a bit as if the driveline had compressed some then let go.

Potatowalker

I've had my 96 for four years, got it with 160K and now at 194K. Mine's done that (light thud, not scary bang) since I got it, only when disengaging the TC from 4H to 2H. I've found that when you do this at speeds over 10/15mph, it will take a few seconds to disengage - BUT if I let off the gas just after I shift the TC, to take the torque off the driveline, it will disengage immediately. There has always been a bit of a thud at any speed over 10/15 but it hasn't gotten worse or stopped working. I always just figured this was normal. I use my 4H almost every day from the end of Nov. to the end of Mar. and have for the four years I've owned it. It hasn't changed at all or gotten worse. I did notice it got a little less pronounced when I changed my TC fluid. Have you checked your fluid condition/level in the TC? If the fluid was old or low I could see it allowing extra friction and causing the slow-disengage maybe? Now I'm hoping mines not just going bad real slow-like...

Also, were you shifting on dry pavement or on loose ground like dirt/gravel? It will definitely bind up a bit if you shift into or outta 4H on dry pavement!

98sportjeep

So I got a wuestion about shifting the TC into 4h or 4l.. I always put the Jeep in nuetral and then put the TC in 4h or 4l. And I see some people saying they do it up to 15mph?? What do you guys feel is best? I have done this with my 79ford for over 10 yrs with no problems putting the truck in nuetral first that is..

Potatowalker

You are definitely supposed to shift into 4H while the vehicle is moving in gear. You are definitely supposed to stop, put tranny in N before going to 4L. This is per the owners manual. I do it this way and it seems just fine. I've shifted into 4H at over 50mph before without any problems. Do it around 35 most of the time when on snowy roads. Just try not to go into 4H with a lot of load on the tranny! And try to avoid using either 4H or 4L on dry pavement!

This is definitely a little different than a lot of other 4wds I've had too!