4wd odd behavior

[ILWillyFreewheelin]

So my kid has a 99 TJ automatic 3 speed, 4.0. He was driving home in the rain and had it in 4 High. (I've told him 4wd is not for the rain many times but he "forgot". Anyway, he went around a corner and the Jeep made a aweful noise and then acted like it was in neutral. He throws the automatic transmission in neutral and rolls to the side of the road. Once there with the engine on but in neutral, he cant shift to park, reverse or drive, nor can he get the tranfer case into 2H. After some fighting he gets it into 4L and proceeds to drive at 5 miles per hour and the same thing happens again, Acts like its in neutral, can't get the transfercase selector to move. After 5 minutes of fighting, he gets it into 2H and gets home the last half mile.

once at home he runs it though the gears and the tranfer case and everything seems fine now.

Any ideas, transfer case going bad? bad linkage?

BTW, he would run it in 4H in the rain previously on crappy old tires, but as of last week, has shinny new sticky tires.

Could it have popped the transfer case into neutral around the corner when one wheel was was wanting to travel faster then the other?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[jjvw]

Probably this where your son panicked and forgot how to shift the transfer case...

Thread 'Unable to move car forward or backward' https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/unable-to-move-car-forward-or-backward.73462/

 

[bbaldwin237]

Could be the linkage for sure. You could try adjusting it (search the forum or YouTube) or upgrade it to a cable shifter. I haven't done my cable shifter yet but when my TC pops out of gear I have to let the Jeep roll a bit to get everything positioned right to re-engage the handle. Mine will usually grind when it pops out and then if you don't go to neutral and rock it a bit it will grind trying to get it shifted. Cable shifter is next on my list before winter gets here.

 

[ILWillyFreewheelin]

Probably this where your son panicked and forgot how to shift the transfer case...

Thread 'Unable to move car forward or backward' https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/unable-to-move-car-forward-or-backward.73462/

Oh, I'm sure there was panic, and he probably changed his underwear when he got home thinking he just broke his jeep

 

[AndyG]

That is a linkage issue most of the time and if you will get a shifter cable and really teach him the shift process he will be OK-

The stock linkage is a little overly complicated and eventually it is one plastic grommet from being unpredictable-

He needs to basically forget four-wheel-drive exist until he’s off road or stranded somewhere and has to drive home in the snow.

 

[B1Toad]

Wouldn't running in 4WD on pavement cause the transfer case to bind up with the possibility of it violently chucking itself out of gear?

 

[jjvw]

Wouldn't running in 4WD on pavement cause the transfer case to bind up with the possibility of it violently chucking itself out of gear?

No. Only if it wasn't fully engaged. The transfer case does not bind up in 4wd. Think about Moab.