First off I want to say hi to everyone. I just signed up for this forum since I've been driving a 2000 Grand Cherokee Laredo for about two months now and found this site while researching about my Jeep. I'm not really a Jeep or off-road enthusiast but I live in OH and travel for a living so a 4WD SUV was a necessity for me.

I ran into an interesting issue today with the "part time" 4WD setting and it has me pretty stumped and a bit concerned. The weather today was pretty crappy (pouring rain) and I was driving down a less than stellar country road so I put the Jeep in "full-time" 4WD to get extra traction. I drove through the bad weather so I put the car back into 2WD but the "part time" light on my dash stayed on. I thought this was odd but didn't think much of it until I went to leave later on. I had pulled into a parking spot and had a really hard time backing out (the "part time" light was still on). I know now that this is because the "part time" 4WD locks the drivetrain but what I don't understand is why the Jeep wouldn't go into 2WD. The owner's guide says you can shift between 2WD, part time, and full time at "any legal speed" and I wasn't going in excess of what could possibly be considered "any legal speed."

I was able to eventually get the car back into 2WD after cycling between the three repeatedly but I'm curious as to why this happened. Is something wrong with my Jeep? Is there an easier way to get it back in 2WD than just cycling through 2WD, Part Time, Full Time over and over? It seemed to be really rough on the drivetrain to be "stuck" in "part time" 4WD.

Thanks in advance for the help!
Anthony

if the system has not been used in a long time they stick
with the shifter in 2wd and backing strait back 100' or so should release it
next time you are on a dirt road shift into part time 4wd to get thing lubricated

I don't find myself on them often ... it will probably snow first, would heavy snow be OK? Thanks for the other info. I'll try the 100' straight back if I get stuck again.

I attached a pic (although a crappy one taken with my phone). I figured I should since one is generally mandatory on your first post

Well I thought the car was out of part time 4wd but when I hopped in to go get some dinner the Part Time light was on. Maybe I had just moved the shifter enough times to confuse it before. I tried driving backwards for about 100' (probably much more to be honest) a couple times and it never came off. I can shift into Full Time 4wd and the light goes off, just not 2wd. I can drive the car in full time 4wd but parking lots kinda suck...

I also found this: http://www.automotiveforums.com/t885...part_time.html
Do our Jeeps have the same sort of shift lever? I'm mechanically inclined and could check this given direction but I generally try to stay away from transmission/driveline related stuff so I don't think i can just guess.

x2


had the same issue a while back, i changed my t case fluid and used the heck out of it for a while shifts like butter now.

Here's a little info. http://www.wjjeeps.com/tcases.htm
You have the NV242 Selec-Trac transfer case.
And Welcome to CF.

Yes, that is definitely the one I have. It seems perfectly sufficient for my needs, however, if I had designed it I would have made the order

2wd
full time 4wd
part time 4wd

rather than the other way around. It seems a bit crazy to me that to shift into full time 4wd you have to go through a setting that locks your drivetrain. Couldn't this cause some unsafe driving conditions (say you engaged it in a turn on a slippery road)?

I agree, but there must be a technical reason for the design. They would have made it simpler if they could. At least for safety reasons. Don't you think? JMO

The idea is to have a slipery surface so as not to damage you drive train when driving in part time 4wd.

So I'd think if there was so much snow that the tires didn't contact the pavement, you'd be OK.

The 242 usually requires that the load momentarily be released to fully engage/disengage,i.e,quickly taking your foot off the accelerator once or twice if shifting while driving or moving the trans shifter from D to R if stationary.

However,sounds to me like you need your linkage adjusted.

that would be a good idea if it wont release by backing up

for now drive it in full time to keep from damaging any thing

Quick update: My Jeep did finally shift back into 2WD but I have no idea why. I have a mechanic friend that's familiar with 4WD drivetrains that's going to give me a hand changing all the fluids (transfer case, differentials) and check the linkage.

how do you adjust the linkage i have the same problkem but mine is with 4 low

I'm having this same issue...did you ever resolve? What's the verdict?