change my transmission fluid today..wow can't believe how black the fluid come out. i'll probably change again next month or two. since i have couple bottle of trans fluid left i decide to go ahead and change the t-case fluid too. after pulling off the drain plug, there's like only one to two drops of fluid dripping out of the t case. the t case was dried up inside. i pour some fluid inside to clean out the old dirty fluid, put the drain plug in and fill it up til the fluid run out the hole.

my question is, is the t case bad now? how can i tell or know if it's going bad soon? i don't know how long the p.o. been driving the with no fluid in the t case. all he told me was the xj was sat for 10 months.

So...

I'm assuming you own a Jeep XJ because you're posting here. What year is it? Which transfer case does it have?

Is the transfer case making noise?

yup i own a xj bought it a month ago. it's a 92 with NP231. i haven't heard any noise yet. when shifting to 4L or up to 4H it really hard to shift. like it's stuck or something. i have to push it real hard to get to the gear.

Just an opportunity to hammer home a point here..

Why do people buy used venicles and then just drive them without having all the fluid levels and condition checked first thing?

Probably just a little rusty in there.

1. They're commonly difficult to shift.
2. If it still works then just fill it and drive it.

Turbo, when you get a "new to you" vehicle, do you check all the fluids, do an undercarriage inspection, and check u-joints and the like? Or do you just get in it and drive?

I usually end up spending the weekend doing bumper to bumper. There is plenty of time to drive it after, when you know you won't be stranded.

Thank you for your response. I knew what it was gonna be. These guys act all frickin surprised when there's no lube, grease, etc in their "new" Jeeps when they have a perfect opportunity to inspect them and prevent expensive problems right down the road.

Cruiser, nobody does that. Zero, zip, none. Either; 1) They're too lazy to inspect it. 2) They lie about inspecting it. I'm #1.

Makes no sense to me. A few minutes spent on maintenance means hours saved on repairs.

Not to mention the safety factor.

I also replace ALL fluids, all belts, all hoses, and anything else questionable.
Crawl under,over, around, and under again inspecting.

I give any vehicle I drive a once over, and the ones I buy are thorough. Granted you can only prevent so much from inspection, but I agree with cruisers point

Yeah, like pulling the wheels and inspecting the brakes, torquing the lug nuts properly and that stuff. but no. Duh, I'm just gonna drive it and call it a POS when it fails.