1986 Cherokee, 4wd problems.

Hey folks, Im strongly looking at picking up a Jeep. Matter of fact I already gave the guy some "hold money" and am working on the rest, but thats another story.


I took the old girl out for a little test drive, and best as I can tell the High-range 4wd is working fine. I found a little mud on the test drive and did my very best to get stuck, but couldnt seem too:biggrin:

It also seems to switch fine between 2wd and 4wd. If I start off in 2 high, then flip over to 4 once Im moving I feel a little kick and it keeps on chugging.


The problem is in the low range, it will not engage 4 low. If I put it park and move to 4Low then put it in drive all I hear is a whirring/grinding sound, and the truck will not move. If I put back in High range while its in drive it engages and heads on down the road.

What could the problem be?

Its also got a few other problems, but I think I can handle those.

All in all I should be getting a 86 Cherokee Pioneer with 158,xxx miles on it, that runs and drives pretty well (aside from that anemic 2.8) for $500.

When shifting into 4Lo, have the transmission in neutral while coasting at 3-5mph. Move the shifter firmly into 4Lo. Shifting OUT of 4Lo is the same.

I put the truck in neutral while sitting still and it wouldnt go into low. Does it need to be moving?

I cant test the moving thing right now, I dont have ownership of it just yet, and I dont want to bother to old gent again today.

I asked the owner about it, he said the 4 LO had never worked while he had it.

"While moving 3-5mph" is the method for every Jeep my wife and I have ever owned.

If he's been trying to engage it while stopped, it's no wonder it has never worked. Is the the original owner and if so does he have the owner's manual?

Alright, Ill take your word for it, after some more googling, more people are saying the same thing, so Ill give it a try.

Sorry, Ive only worked with a handful of 4wd vehicles in my time, the only other one Im used too is an '80 Chevy pickup, and you can engage Low while stopped, in fact its hard to get it engaged while moving, but its also a manual transmission so its probably apples and oranges.

Thanks though. Ill be back if I cant get it.

Alright, Ill take your word for it, after some more googling, more people are saying the same thing, so Ill give it a try.

Sorry, Ive only worked with a handful of 4wd vehicles in my time, the only other one Im used too is an '80 Chevy pickup, and you can engage Low while stopped, in fact its hard to get it engaged while moving, but its also a manual transmission so its probably apples and oranges.

Thanks though. Ill be back if I cant get it.


:biggrin: No problem...manufacturers just make their stuff different; so if you were used to Chebbies, then hey that's the way it is. Reason for it is that there are teeth in the Jeep transfer case and a little bit of rotation is needed for them to engage.

Oooh I see.

Well. What can I say I am a GM fan. But I have always heard good things about the Jeep line, so I figured it would make a good beater.

Funny thing is, the one Im getting ends up having a Chevy engine after all. I knew there was something special about it haha.

Its gonna take a little work to make it highway-worthy, so I may be around here a lot.

Well, I took ownership Tuesday, got a chance to piddle with it a bit today.

I tried your suggestion of shifting into L when in N going 3-5 mph and it still didnt work. When I placed it back in drive I had no power, I could just hear a faint whirring sound.

Unless Im just doing something wrong, the Low side wont work. The High side works fine, matter of fact I did some minor offroading today and those front tires were makin' some mud fly.

Id like to know what the problem could be, so I can look into fixing it. Theres only a few places around here where it would be nice to have Low, I could survive with High but Low would be better. For example its easier to crawl over the rocks at our river crossing easier in Low than High, but this is an automatic so at least it wont stall out in High, at least not as easily.

Well ok I guess it doesn't work ...but the whirring sound would indicate to me that it's not engaging (duh!). Since he said it has never worked, I'd think that the linkage needs to be adjusted...the shift lever isn't moving far enough to engage the 4Lo.

Well ok I guess it doesn't work ...but the whirring sound would indicate to me that it's not engaging (duh!). Since he said it has never worked, I'd think that the linkage needs to be adjusted...the shift lever isn't moving far enough to engage the 4Lo.

Is this the Selec-Trac transfer case?? It sounds like it is...

I have an '84 V6 Cherokee, the same as the one posted in this thread.
My TC will do exactly the same thing if the linkage is not maintained.

The linkage must be shifted occasionally to keep it free and loose. Obviously if the original owner says it's 'never worked' he has never used it enough to keep it free enough to work.

If the linkage or any pivot points are stiff or rusty, they need to be cleaned up and lubed. Any binding or stiffness means the linkage is simply bending, instead of throwing the shift lever (on the side of the case) far enough to engage low range.

BTW the owners manual suggests shifting between high and low while moving slowly as Fred noted above. This does produce a bit of a crunching noise.
On both my Jeeps (XJ and CJ), I can shift the case when stopped with the trans in neutral. This produces a crunch-free shift and works 90% of the time.

Yeah, another forum suggested I check the linkage as well. I will most certainly have to do that. I just have bigger Jeep priorities right now, for example, I need effective brakes more than I need 4 LO :) but thats another thread for another time.

Thanks for the help guys (and gals perhaps).