Transfer Case Fluid Change
 

I have had my WJ a little over a year and a half. It has 142,000 miles on it, Quadra Drive. I have changed the oil twice and the transmission fluid. It occurred to me to change the transfer case fluid. I kinda forgot about that since all the other vehicles I have owned used gear oil in their T Case and I never changed that.
The stuff that came out was dark. Not the red semi transparent color of the transmission fluid usually is and that's what the owners manual called for. It was very dark, closer to the color of old motor oil and I would guess that's because it hadn't been changed in a long time. My question is what parts in the T Case would be adversely affected by not changing the fluid? I haven't tried putting it in 4 Low yet. I live in a suburban area and I have't found a place to try it but I am wondering if any serious harm can be done by running it without changing the fluid for what may have been a long time..

What could be adversely affected by not changing fluid?

Bearings, Seals, Chain Stretch...

However, I would just refill it back with new MOPAR fluid if its not giving you problems

I used the dexron3/mercon that my manual calls for. I was thinking of leaving that in for a few weeks, then changing it again. Thanks for the bad news! Its working fine now but only time will tell.

Change it again! Right now! The NV247 QuadraDrive requires a Mopar-only fluid (part number 05016796AC).

Or don't. It's up to you.

X2 your all wheel drive will hate you if you don't switch back

WOW! Okay. I drove it about 10-15 miles already. Think it will mess things up?
What a mess.

I changed it out. I don't think I ruined anything given it wasn't in there long nor did I drive very far. I have no idea what I took out though. The MOPAR stuff was clear, kinda the color of corn syrup. Initially I was worried about it just being old. Now I am worried that somebody before me put in ATF.

What would that have done to the guts all these years?

IDK how the 247 operates so I can't tell you, but my power steering was starting to whine, so I decided to change the fluid. The PO had put in the wrong fluid and it was black and stunk. After changing it 3 times, it quieted down and has been fine for 40K miles since then.

can you explain why? whats wrong with using valvoline max life atf? it's synthetic?

What I have learned: The 99 WJ's came off the assembly lines with the ATF in the NV247 TC. The owners manuals were printed to reflect this. Not sure why, perhaps due to premature failure, CHRYSLER formulated their own fluid, and put out a Service Bulletin to dealers to change the ATF out with it. So that's why my OM says what it says. I don't know at what point they started making the TC's with the MOPAR stuff inside. Certainly by the 2000 model, my Jeep was made in 99. What I get is the 4 Low isn't affected by the wrong fluid, just the on demand Qudra Drive function. I called my local Dodge dealer to find out if they had the fluid I needed in stock. They did. I asked the parts guy what he knew about this and knew nothing, but said with the last 9 digits of my VIN he could tell me what the factor spec was. It called for the MOPAR fluid. I have no issue now understanding what the correct fluid is for this TC and if you have one, I'd just go with that.

My concern is not knowing what was in mine when I just changed it and since it has had more than several owners over the last 16 years, I don't know how often its been changed or who put what in, or when. The ATF Dexron 3 is red. The MOPAR stuff is clearish, like corn syrup. I wasn't paying that much attention to it when I was draining it, all I know is that it was dark. I was not experiencing any issues with the TC , no noise, or skipping/slipping of the wheels when making turns, so I guess we'll just wait and see. It's an unnerving feeling not to know if any problems are eminent, but I have no other option.

Freaking Chrysler is always making changes! For instance, the 99 and 2000 use the old green antifreeze and the 01 uses HOAT! Supposedly it's to prevent damage to the aluminum radiator and heads on the 4.7. IDK but it's hard to keep up. I just found out my power steering fluid has been superseded by a THIRD fluid that's formulated to replace BOTH the older ones. Case in point! The fluid specified for my 242 is ATF+4.