Update! Vegas trip was expensive NP242 J parts needed

[bradshawtech]

Well on my way to Vegas with my wife we were driving her Jeep Liberty CRD so as to get the best mileage.

On the way up a mountain pass leaving our valley I was about to pass a truck and I heard a loud noise that sounded like I had something rubbing on a tire tread, maybe the plastic inner fender well I thought.

The noise lasted for maybe 1-5 seconds but as I got back on the throttle the noise went away. I stopped at the top of the pass (about 2 miles later) and checked for the noise. I found that the drivers side front inner fender well had at some point come loose and rubbed on the tire so I assumed that was the noise so I kept driving. All the other vital signs were good so I thought it was going to be ok to keep going.

As I was coming down the other side of the pass I noticed that when I was coasting and not on the throttle that there was a "rubbing/slight grinding" noise and that there wasn't any engine braking as you would have with the auto transmission in drive and no throttle.

I kept the throttle in a position to not let it grind and we limped it in to the next town. It was there that I realized that I didn't have reverse at all. I noticed that when I put it into park though that there was a grinding of the park pawl. So with all this I guessed that the problem was in the transfer case.

We limped it in to Barstow CA. and I rented a car to finish out trip to Vegas.
On our return from Vegas we dropped off the rental car and had people on standby to come and help in case we broke down on our trip back home in the Jeep.
I took it real easy and it made it all the way back to Bakersfield without any issues and not very much more grinding.
When I got into traffic in town the transfer case decided to shell and not drive in 2 wheel drive. I shifted to 4 wheel high and drove it about a mile further and then it shelled that gear selection, so I shifted into 4 wheel low and drove it on home about 3-4 miles that way. When I shifted into 4 wheel drive it did not bind at all as I was on pavement so I figured the transfer case was toast.

I got home and rasied the rig up and pulled the drain plug and found the oil to look grey but not black. I fished out some plastic pieces from the drain hole so I do not know whether to try to rebuild or just find a used unit to fix the problem.
I also pulled the cover off the rear axle to make sure it was ok and it looks good, so no damage there.

Long story but I figured that someone here would know where to find a NP242 J transfer case or help me decide to rebulid or what my options are.

 

[zombie1969]

I would pull the thing apart and check it out.Theres not much inside there so easy to fix or if you have to get a used one and take the parts out that you need.If you cant find a j case you may be able to use most the inners from a c case.If you get a used one its a good idea to pull it apart and check it out anway.

 

[munepit]

Damm Tom, you work fast! You have only been home an hr. or so. If you need any help, I told the wife I need to save Tom! That means I have a hall pass! Wanna get some drinks, and talk about what we can do to fix this! I'm buyin! Let me know.

 

[Hogback Fabrication]

I kept the throttle in a position to not let it grind and we limped it in to the next town. It was there that I realized that I didn't have reverse at all. I noticed that when I put it into park though that there was a grinding of the park pawl. So with all this I guessed that the problem was in the transfer case.

These are all symptoms that the trans is toast.

The t-case has nothing to do with reverse and it isn't spinning when you shift into park.

Parts coming out of your t-case may or may not be related but the symptoms you describe don't sound like t-case

 

[4X4HIGH]

I concur, the losing reverse has nothing to do with the t-case. It does sound like there is an obvious issue with the t-case as well though.

 

[bradshawtech]

When I shift the transfer case into a solid gear selection at the different times as it was failing I would have a strong and firm reverse. i also thought the transmission was toast but I can shift it now and it moves in reverse.

I didn't have reverse when it failed at the beginning. Scared me as I think the transmission would be the most expensive to repair. Thats why I was glad to see when I shifted into 4 high I still had reverse.

 

[4X4HIGH]

Something just isn't adding up right here.

The ONLY thing that can affect reverse is the transmission itself, NOT the t-case. Yes you might have reverse at the moment but if you lose it again I can guarantee it has nothing to do with the t-case.

 

[bradshawtech]

I know.... It is weird to me as well. You should have heard me diagnosing it to my wife as we drove home, My ideas as to what was wrong kept changing as different situations came up.

I wonder if there is some way that there is something outside of the transfer case that could have caused this. I am not sure at all as to how this 4x4 system works in this rig when it comes to the front axle setup. I have never had to even check it out as it has been very reliable up til this week.

Off to bed for now for me and I am digging into this in the am.......

More details to follow in the am.

Have patience with me here guys as I know how weird it sounds to you as I described it here. I wanted to give enough details in the first post to have you give informed advice but it has me baffled.... And I was the one driving it at the time.

 

[Fordum]

OK, folks, got a WAG for you.
For those of you who have not had the benefit of years of Professional Engineer Training, a WAG is engineer-speak for Wild Ass Guess.

Consider the symptoms. Parking pawl chatter, no drive, no reverse.

Remember, I am the guy who gets called out for the weird ones.
I finally learned, after having it hammered into me many times, ALWAYS listen to the guy who is describing the problem.
Never assume, no matter how stupid it sounds, that it just can't happen that way. Always, even if only for a short while, try to determine how it might happen that way.

So, here is my WAG as to how the transfer case caused all the problems:

No drive, obvious. Something is coming loose and tearing up in the T-case.

Parking pawl chatter, classic T-case problem.
Caused by no load on the transmission which makes it free wheel faster than the pawl can engage.

No reverse?? Well, I don't know which transmission he has, but some of them have either safetys or governors that will not let you shift into reverse above a certain speed to keep from damaging your drive-train.

If the transmission was free-wheeling, it might have been doing so faster than it could shift.

However, if you read his posts carefully, it looks like he was losing reverse at the same time he was losing drive.
If so, then there is no mystery. The transfer case was dropping out, disconnecting the transmission from the drive-train, so he lost all gears.

Either way, with absolutely no knowledge of what is wrong for sure, I'm voting for the transfer case.

 

[bradshawtech]

Thanks Fordum.

Well it is out and torn down and what do I find?

The front shift fork lost its nylon and the slider gear has worn down the shift fork to a point that the slider gear will not engage the driven gear in the planetary gearset.

I believe the reason that I had forward gear movement is that the bias cut gear was barely "held" engaged in the planetary set and when I went to reverse it had too much "play/clearance" to hold it engaged and it threw the slider gear out of engagement.

I appears that I need a new high range/foreward position shift fork and new nylon pieces for both shift forks and I should probably go ahead and replace the slider that was affected as well. I would like to see a planetart gearset to see if mine is damaged to a point of needing to be replaced.

Thanks for the time and ideas guys but it seems that I have found what was my problem. What do you think, does it seem plausible to you?

Now how about sourcing these parts, what are our sources for these parts? I dont think that the dealer is the place to go but since it is a New Process transfer case then there should be a ton of sources for the parts I would hope.

 

[bradshawtech]

Ttt