jiggie

So i bought my zj today for a meer 1300 bucks. Its a 94 with the 5.2 v8. When i tried the 4lo to make sure everything was working correctly it did, and i returned the shifter to the full time setting and came home. Then i noticed it was binding like it did in 4lo but only going around corners or making a sharp turn. The service 4 wheel drive switch light came on in the vic. But then i noticed when i pull the lever in to what should be the nutural position its still engaged and drives. If i pull it back more which shows in between n and 4lo it goes in to nutural then 4lo. The 4lo setting on the handle is almost stright up and down like a pistol grip on an old mopar. The tag on the t case says 242, the dealership confermed this with the vin. Im confused to whats happening. My last zj was a i6 with the full time 4wd and 4lo setting and it wasnt like this. Is it possible a previous owner acidently swapped a bad t case for a 242 with 2wd 4part time and 4lo? I cant find much on google. Thanks for any help. Other than this issue tires is the only thing wrong thats not cosmetic.

jiggie

This is what my shift bezel looks like

jiggie

But it still drives when in this position. Between 4all time and nutural. The first picture is nutural.

andrewmp6

Crawl under it look at the t case find the round tag and get the np number off it.And while your down there look at the t case shifter linkage make sure its not messed up or anything wrong with it.

2heapjeeps

I have the same jeep with the same problem. To my understanding, it's the Vicious coupler. I think 94 zj was the only year they had that. And that's why you other zj didnt do it. I dont claim to be 100% right on the subject.

andrewmp6

The Vicious coupler is used in the awd t cases found in the zjs,Its kinda like a limited slip diff in how it works,But its made a lot different and a pain to replace.The odds are it could have went out and some one swapped t cases and not the shift indicator,Or his linkage is out of wack and things are not where they should be.I would crawl under it look at the round badge on the t case it will say np and some numbers behide that,That is the t case you have.

dave1123

He said the tag says 242 so it's pretty obvious someone changed the t/case from a 249 to the 242 and didn't change the bezel. They probably didn't change the shift linkage arm on the side of it either so everything is messed up. He needs the shorter linkage arm on the t/case so he can use all the ranges. Just push it all the way forward and see if it goes into 2wd. If you've got 2wd and all the way back is 4lo, all you need is the bezel. The actual 242 shifter has a detent where you have to move the lever sideways to get to neutral, then 4lo.

The 242 shift pattern is 2wd, 4pt, 4ft, N, 4lo. If you're getting the binding and "hoppies" when turning, you're probably in 4 part time. Full time 4wd is just forward of neutral.

jiggie

At the aamco now and they verified its binding. The bald tires on the front are not helping but they think it's the vc.

jiggie

Dealership also verified it has a 249 from the factory. So questions answered. Thanks everyone!!! Now to decide on if I will do a 242 swap or rebuild the 249.

jiggie

So they think that the transfer case needs to come out because the vicious coupling is bad. Not sure if I should go ahead and attempt to rebuild the 249 that's in it or if I should go to the junkyard and get a different T case and swap that in. I wonder if I can just pull the front driveshaft so that way I can at least drive it until I can get it fixed.

Bustedback

Don't waste your time rebuilding a 249 case. Swap in a pre-95 231 or 242 case.

jiggie

Got ya. I've noticed in my research that it's a fairly easy swap

jiggie

Picked up a 231 for 60 bucks and got a 249 out of a running driving 94 for free. Guy just had it rebuilt a year ago and the the engine started nocking. So my buddy bought the Jeep to rebuild the engine and use that and the tranny for his CJ build and gave me the transfer case. Never thought that the jeep that I drove to his house two months ago I'd end up with parts from it LOL.