Don't know for certain if I have a problem or not.
I have a 1995 Cherokee Sport 4.0 manual transmission 4WD 2-door and
recently bought a 1996 Cherokee Sport 4.0 automatic transmission 4WD
4-door. I always love the stick-shift especially for the MPG. The '96 automatic does have a 'drinking problem' but I can live with it.

What is difficult to live with is what appears to be a difference between the
two in how the wheels (front and back relationship) deliver power to the
ground in 4W low(range). In the '95 stick-shift front and back wheels deliver
power to the ground simultaneously under all load conditions. It seems that
the '96 auto will deliver power to only the front or rear wheels, but not both.
The wheels (front or back only) with the least resistance will deliver power,
and thus spinning, but not both front and back. So I then put in 4WH and
both front and back will deliver power to the wheels. But in 4WH of course
it doesn't have the low end pulling power. Anyone out there run across this?
Maybe something is not working correctly on the '96 in 4WL or maybe it is
suppose to operate this way which would be giving up a significant advantage
in 4WL. David Bruski bruskidave@gmail.com Northern Michigan

 

Shouldn't work that way. Do both Jeeps have the transfer case plate that read 2H 4H N 4L?

 

I'll have to check the data plates on the transfer cases
when the weather improves here in northern Michigan.
Winter ending with freezing rain for the next three days.
The console indicators for for Cherokees are the same (I think).
Thanks for replying. David Bruski

 

I hear you on the weather - it iced and slushed this morning, just rain here now. Not great weather to do any work in!

While you're under there, consider a fluid change and check the linkage

 

I will review the You Tube link you provided.
When spring arrives, I need to do more comprehensive testing.
I need to view both vehicles' linkage with their respective selector
handles in like positions and how the linkage compares underneath.
Maybe, as is often the case, it's not the machine but ME.

All this began when I had a load of firewood on a trailer and I tried
to back up in the mud. The back wheels of the auto spun and the
front ones (where all the weight is did not turn) (I think). Then I put
it in 4WH and it back out OK. So then later with the '96 auto I tried
climbing a frozen snowbank. It started up the bank and then the front
wheels spun (back ones did not). I then tried climbing the bank in the
same tire tracks with the '95 stick in 4WL and it walked right up the bank.
No wheel spin front or back. I will assume the back wheels on good groud
were doing the pushing. I have more research, investigation, and testing
to do. Thanks so far. No further this issue. David Bruski