Drained T-case and found this

[MoparManiac]

The shift fork i spoke of earlier was a 231 from an 87 YJ, it was worn where the pads seat. I attempted to remove the rollpin that attaches it to the shift rail without luck. And the shift rail i had from a parts 94 231 was different and unusable.

I ended up buying a shiftrail and fork attached that did match.

Oh sorry I meant interchange between a 242 and a 231 as Begster has a 242.

 

[Begster]

So I just decided to update this thread, even though its quite old, as I finally got around to puling the case out earlier this year, and I finally got around to opening it up this past weekend.

I will say that I continued to use the transfercase for a while, it was quite angry when I was driving around in 4wd full time last December, it was HOWLING horribly.


First:

I do have AAA. Out of the 2 times I've called them, I've ended up having to cancel the tow both times. Who knows, 3rd times a charm.

Oh man, I wish I could return to those days. I've used AAA so much in the past year and a half, I almost maxed out my tows last year. AAA gold is one of the best things you can get.



As far as the case goes, those pieces were NOT the shift pads, as previously suggested in this thread, and the case was not cooked.

When I opened it up, these 3 pieces also fell out:

I found the magnet to look like this:

I noticed this crack. Originally I was thinking it might have been from when I was opening the case, but judging from the second picture, you can see the fluid stain that has dried right below the area of the crack.
Not sure how that crack got there.

The stain below the cracked area, crack, which goes through the bolt hole, visible at top of picture:

Found this:

And the shift forks. The center one is crooked because I took it off, and just through it back on there for the picture.

So that is as far as I got with the case. I have a feeling it is from inside the differential for the full time. It seemed to have quite a bit of backlash before the visible gears would start spinning, and it was howling before I took it out. I'll take that apart whenever I get a chance, which won't be soon.

 

[Begster]

For tech sake, I thought I would update this since I have found out what the piece was, and where the metal shavings were coming from. Upon cleaning my garage, I decided to tear the case apart fully. I wouldn't have found it unless I had been trying to remove the input shaft. (Ya, I'm pretty slow, considering when I started this thread)

The culprit was the low range gear.

The magnet, don't mind the split ring.

A planetary with both plastic washers intact.

The planetary with one washer, and some chipped teeth.

And where the metal came from. The gear turned into a mill.

 

[DieselSJ]

That is really a testimonial to the durability of these cases. How many years did you run it after you found the part? All those miles with those metal shavings in those bearings and no catastrophic failure?

I can't wait to dig into the 229 that is in my DieselWag...30K+ miles with a blown viscous. And I know there are pieces laying around inside the case.

 

[Begster]

Good luck on that 229.

Well I posted this thread Nov '08, and I don't think I had changed the fluid for a while before I found the initial part, so it ran full of metal for a while. I only went on 2 offroad trips after that, and was mainly street, beach, winter driving, or sitting a lot, due to school and/or it being broken. Finally changed the case out in Jan '10. The case lightly howled depending on which selection it was in, but no there were never any catastrophic failures. (Not even after a shift into 4wd going 30, with a stationary front shaft due to not remembering my hubs were unlocked)

I think I'm a little cursed with transfercases. I replaced the old case with a 241OR. First time I changed the fluid on that one, I found metal shavings too :gee: (Thankfully there wasn't nearly the same amount. I'm sure that was from first blown motor mounts, then a blown tranny mount after a wheeling trip. In both cases, hard take offs would torque it and try to shift the case.)


I'm just curious as to how that little plastic bushing broke in the first place. Seems a little odd.

 

[cracked-butt]

Begster, glad you cought your t-case problem before any catastrofic failure. i wasn't so lucky, mine decided to pull the grenade going down route 81 with a full load at about 65ph.
was stranded in a gas station parking lot for a week while i searched the yards (over the phone) for a replacement 242. had to do all the work with no jack, jack-stands etc. and a cinder block behind the rear tire, to keep it from rolling as the lot was a slight grade.

 

[DieselSJ]

Good luck on that 229.

Thanks. Actually have a 208 sitting in the garage waiting to go in.