Good morning all,
I have 2 2000 cherokees, and have to replace the transmission in one of them. The wife was driving back from the store when th return line to the stock oil cooler blew off of the transmission. Needless to say, the rest of the story is history. After searching through the posts, I have not been able to find the answer to the following question: is it better to pull the transfer case first, or should I pull t-case and trans as 1 unit.

thanks in advance for your input.
Peter

 

That is up to you. I have pulled my transmission 3 times in the last month and did I different ways. (Mine is with a Dodge V8 and dodge transmission swapped into my 2000 XJ, but same concept). I guess it depends on how you are doing it? In the drive way with a jack of some kind. On a lift with a tall transmission jack. Are you swapping the transfer cases too? Biggest thing is pulling the transfer case will make it lighter! So if you want to try and make it a little lighter, then pull the transfer case first. It can be tough to get to all the nuts, but isn't too hard.

 

I'm only going to change the transmission, so i'll have to remove the transfer case either way. I just wanted to know if it's a pain to remove first.
Peter

 

It's a toss-up.

BUT, be aware of this:

The trans to engine bolts on top are special headed. Loosen/remove them before the other mounting bolts.

 

This tool.

 

I have a set of those wierd sockets. I think that I will pull the tc first. At the very least, it should make the trans a little lighter.
thanks for the info
Peter

 

Good choice. Remember there are 6 nuts to remove the TC from the trans.....

 

Have you tried adding more fluid and driving it?

That same exact line slipped off ... three times on my cherokee. (i used to be an idiot). All three times i drove it until it wouldn't drive anymore. All three times i just added fluid and it worked again.

Last time was probably about 25k miles ago (i finally fixed it right). Since then the jeep has been used to beat around town, tow a 1.5-2k pound trailer, jockey a 4k pound trailer around the yard, etc. It hasn't had an easy life but it's still shifting perfect.

These transmission are tough to kill.

 

True story.....

 

The transmission does not slip at all. Just strange whirring noises at slow speeds. Makes me feel that there is a breakdown on the way ! I have of course checked the fluid. After the initial line break, I added over 6 qts to bring it back up to full. Then we drove the car for about 400 miles, dumped the fluid and checked for gold dust and material. None found. Any ideas as to the noise ?

 

How's the fluid level in the transfer case?

Engine or trans mounts sagged causing a component with internal moving parts to "ground out" and send sounds through the chassis?

 

Drive that thing until it dies. I'd just about bet that it'll drive just like it is now for longer than you own it. AW4's don't give up that easy.

 

Tc fluid fresh. I think that the trans fluid got low enough to cause damage to the front pump,and that that very likely is my noise. engine mounts look and check good !

 

We live in the sticks. A breakdown out here is not an option.

 

Remove the front driveshaft and see if the noise goes away. Worked on my '99. Had the get the DS rebuilt..