Hey I Recently got a 91 XJ 4x4 and I went out wheelin a bit to check the 4 wheel drive and it seems that its not working. The front drive shaft engages and turns but no power is going to either of the front wheels. Any idea why this may be? Thanks.

 

ok hmmmm.

how do you know the ds is spinning from the tcase and not the axle?

and how do you know 4wd is engaging also?
jack stands, 4wd and see what happens then go from there

i would guess the tcase isnt engaging or its broken before anything in your axle was destroyed.

 

it means that you probably have a vacuum disconnect front axle there known to have lots of problems either you have a vacuum leak or the shift motor (the big thing on the backsided of the front axle on the passenger side with lines going to it) has gone bad theres easy ways to fix it just search around a little youll find plenty of info about it

 

In 2wd the shaft doesn't spin.



I believe you're right, Upon further inspection i noticed the lines were capped off going to the Actuator.

Hooked it up and still nothing, but I picked up a new one a few mins ago, gunna try that out. We shall see.

 

news to me? can you elaborate on why it does not spin in 2wd?

 

never mind, found it myself. you have manual hubs my friend.

The front axle disconnects are prone to failure as they are vacuum actuated and the hoses can rot, come off, tear out or the actuator can leak itself. OR in the case of my 1984 XJ, the metal "fork" that slides the collar breaks and you get to remove the actuator housing and slide the collar over and secure it with a hoseclamp. Thus making the front driveshaft spin all the time like the later years and cause the pinion seal to start leaking due to the front driveshaft not spinning for 25 years. :P

 

it does not have manual hubs The axle disconnect locks the Passenger side wheel to the axle shaft that is connected to the spider gears in the Differential. When it is un engaged, the passenger wheel turns but the axle at the spider does not turn and thus the driveshaft is not turning. On the drivers side the wheel turns, the axle turns and the spider gears turn but the ring gear and pinion and drive shaft do not turn. If you have it un engaged and put the jeep in 4 wheel the driveshaft spins but all of the power is put to the un engaged passenger shaft rather than to the wheels and you get no effective power up front. A posi lock is an aftermarket shifter assembly that uses a cable to engage the axle rather than the vacuum slider that is factory i would suggest one of these or lock the shift fork over all the time theres plenty of info about both on the web

 

sweet sweet. new to cherokees. i just found that other members were posting about manual hubs coming on 91 and older. my bad.