Reese_XJ

well today I went to the beach and I parked nose down in a ditch. When I went to reverse out of the ditch my rear tires were spinning in the loose sand. So I put it 4 full time, due to the fact I was on a pretty good slant I really couldnt do the normal put in drive to engage the 4 wheel drive. So when I put it into reverse and pushed the accelerator it jammed into 4 wheel drive,making a pretty loud clank, after that I pulled forward a little then pushed the accelerator and backed out of the ditch no problem, but now after taking it out of 4 wheel drive when I turn it acts like it is still in 4 wheel drive. I checked all my linkages to make sure nothing was broken, and tried putting back in 4 wheel drive and and taking it out but nothin seems to work. So I left it in a parking lot because driving it didnt seem very safe. Does anyone have any suggestions, or know what my problem may be? And also if I was to disconnect the front driveshaft would it be driveable?

jeeptech

No clue as to what happened, but you can remove one of the driveshafts and drive it in 4wheel.

Reese_XJ

I forgot to mention that it is definitely the front axle that is the problem. It is either stuck in 4 wheel drive or I tore up some gears. But I think if I tore up some gears then driving strait it would also make some kind of noise and whenever I backed out of the ditch my 4 wheel drive wouldnt have worked.

Kyle

Its really hard to say, and you are sure that your TC is properly disengaging?

whowey

If you have the NP 242 transfer case(it has the full-time setting on the bezel) you can drive in full-time setting. You can do highway speeds in 4wd full time. The 242 has a center differential lock that will disengage allowing you to drive on dry pavement. But... Without actually being there its hard to tell if the Jeep is actually in 4wd full time mode.

If your transfer case hasn't been taken care of then it could stick in 4wd when you are trying to release it. Lube the heck out of the linkages and work the shifter back and forth.. When I had an XJ with the 242, I had to shift it into neutral then back to 2wd to get 4wd full time to release. After I lubed and adjusted the linkages, and changed the fluid it worked perfectly.

muddeprived

You can try this: let the jeep move forward slowly in Drive and then shift to neutral and then put it in 2wd. let it roll on its own and listen for a clunk or click. That's 4wd disengaging. I used to do this with my tj when it wouldn't shift back to 2wd *same tcase*.

Otherwise disco the front shaft and drive it home to inspect it. Check front axle u-joints as well.

BlueXJ

I also have a 242t/c and this suggestion made by whowey usually works for mine. You may try the other trick that I use and that is to accelerate and let off the skinny pedal and shift while t/c is in a decelleration condition. That had worked for me before I lubed everything up. Good Luck.

Reese_XJ

I also talked to a guy I work with who also owns and XJ. He told me to try what everyone has said, 2morrow i will try it out and see if I can get it to disengage. So I dont have to disco the front driveshaft. I have the 242 TC so it sounds like a common problem with these TCs. Thanks everyone and I will let everyone know if it works out.

Reese_XJ

well I went and got my xj today, couldnt get back in 2wd so I drove it in 4wd full time since I could turn it on pavement. Got back to my place and goin about 20 mph I put my tranny in neutral and shifted the tc into 2hi and it went back into 2wd. So thanks everyone for the advice.