When I come out of 4H back into 2, it stays in 4H. I found if I go into reverse is when it drops back into 2.

Also, my front drive shaft (if that what you call it) has some play to it. I can hold it with my hand and jiggle it, causing it to rotate back and forth slightly. When I do this, I can hear a clucking in the front diff. This could explain why I get a slight grinding/pinch noise going from N into 4H. Or is this normal?

Any suggestions?

 

some tc will disengage instantly some need a little help its normal,put tranny in neutral whe shifting the noise is ring and pinion making contact one thig i would do check fluid in both...

 

Shift from 2H to 4H while driving in a straight line at speed. Let off gas, pull lever, tap gas and let off, step on gas.

 

I have had to do the same thing with 3 of my 4 XJ's. It's not uncommon to have to back up a few feet to get it out of 4 wheel drive. As for being able jiggle your drive shaft, It sounds like it's time for some U-joints.

 

The first couple of times I went out, I wondered what was wrong with my TC too. Seems like it will engage more often if rolling slowly in N, or at a complete stop sometimes it needs to be moved a couple feet in D and R before it engages. My roommates 98 TJ has the 231 and it engages w/o issue whenever she pulls lever... Pisses me off...

And yes, hit the JY and get a new front cv shaft for ~80. The install is a matter of removing 8, 13mm bolts (I think 13mm..) and bam! No more DS BS!

 

If rear DS was making noise, then replacing the u joint is the way, but the front is double cardon cv joint and it's easier to just replace entire shaft... Less I'm mistaken!!

 

The yolk does not move up and down... The driveshaft just rotates slightly, which is turning the pinion inside the diff. This is in 2WD. I'm wondering if I engage the 4WD, if it will tighten up. Going to check that now.

 

Okay. I put it into 4H and the front drive shaft lost nearly 99% of it's play. I can maybe rotate it .5 degrees in either direction, and that's trying. So I'm no longer worried about this issue. To verify, no the yolk isn't moving at all. Also, the u-joints are new thank to the PO. Had a mechanic verify as well. He was impressed.

Now I just need to reverse to put it back into 2WD, drive foward, then back out of my driveway to go get a coffee lol.