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Yet Another 242 Question

B

bjoehandley

NAXJA Forum User
Location
WeGo, Chi-Town, Ill
I may have the diff going out in my 242 t-case, which should be covered by my warranty, how long do you think it should take a Jeep dealer to diagnose and fix the problem (Dad is the one who thinks it the diff, by the way)? Now before any flaming starts, I know better than to use part-time on dry pavement and only have to get to full-time on the case, and the only time it's been in 4-low has been to get it up on ramps to change the oil, and I backed the truck down the drive once I get off the ramp and put it back into 2wd (maybe not 10 ft, but has been backed up atleast). Right now the only time I use full-time is when the weather is bad (rain, snow, or exessive crosswinds) and I change the fluid myself last November with Valvoline synthetic blend (which is left over from when Dad swapped a new 242 into his '90) a couple thousand past the recommended 60k interval. Dad thinks that maybe a previous owner put two different size tires, or two different brand/same size tires on it and tried running it in full-time. It has had Toyo Open Country tires in 225/70/SR15 since I bought it last June and I've done a decent job of watching air pressure. I've notcied this for quite a while now in full-time and it is finally starting to make noise in 2wd. The truck only has 73k on it (and I've only got 15k to go on my warranty and I've been racking that kind of miles up per year!!). Thanks again!
 
give us info on what year it is.. give the best description possible for what it is doing.. when it makes noise... what it sounds like... forward and reverse.. everything you can think of..
 
Like the two previous responders, I am puzzled. You've told us a lot about your Jeep and your maintenance, but nothing about what the problem is except that you think you might have one.

What is the transfer case doing (or not doing) to suggest that there may be a problem?
 
Sorry, I posted after 1am this morning. For starters It's an '98 Cherokee Limited with the usual suspects (4.0l/auto/242/3.73 gear and towing package). The noise is a growling sound when in full time, and a bit of a vibration when the trans shifts under throttle, which goes away when I let off the gas and the truck shifts. The sound seem to come from under me (which is some of the reason I think it might be the t-case) and not next to me. The noise is also reduced in low traction situations, like in snow and rain. The only think I'm not too sure on is since the exhaust is now on it's last legs and vibrates pretty badly at times itself. If it's not the t-case, might it be the front axle or wheel bearings? It has made this noise almost from the time I bought it, and it didn't change when I put in the Synthetic Blend ATF last November.
 
Remove the front driveshaft yet? F'd up u-joints in the front shaft come to mind, but for that matter, how are the rear u-joints?

3.73 with an AW-4??
 
Haven't tried the front shaft yet Yucca, I didn't look too closely at the joints when I changed the oil and lubed the ball joints earlier this month. As for the 242 and 3.73 gears, that is an educated guess, I do remember that the towing package came with 3.73 gears and Synthetic lube in the rear diff as a factory fill among other things.
 
bjoehandley said:
Haven't tried the front shaft yet Yucca, I didn't look too closely at the joints when I changed the oil and lubed the ball joints earlier this month. As for the 242 and 3.73 gears, that is an educated guess, I do remember that the towing package came with 3.73 gears and Synthetic lube in the rear diff as a factory fill among other things.
Click to expand...
It doesn't affect the diagnosis of this problem, but the tow package did not include 3.73 gears. The tow package got the same 3.54 gears as the other automatics.
 
The tranny mount is something else I need to check out too, forgot about that. Most of the vibration went away today, so that could have been the exhaust making death noises, but I'm still wondering about the growling it makes in full time. My sister's '92 doesn't make nearly as much noise with more than twice the miles on it (it should have about 100k more than mine does), and she's used full time almost constantly since a little ice related off road experiance in Jan of '02.
 
Give the front output shaft a wiggle up and down at the yoke, shouldn´t be more than a couple of thousandths play there. They usually throw some fluid when the front bearings get loose.
Also check for up and down play in the slip splines in your front driveshaft. If the driveshaft has excess play anywhere, it can wear your front transfer bearings pretty fast.
If the tranfer isn´t slinging oil, next best suspect would be a U-joint somehwere, either on the shafts or the axles. Sound travels in the drivetrain, often hard to localize it.
Does the sound change, from forward and reverse?
 
If the sounds changes from forward to reverse it´s usually in the diff.
 
Often in the front or rear, never had the diff go out in the middle, a 242. The front or rear carrier bearings in the diffs., when they wear, will make some noise, kind of a roar. When the carrier bearings wear, the ring and pinion don´t match up well anymore and make noise. Kind of a progressive thing.
A dry axle U-joint will sure enough make it howl some, usually gets worse in 4x and during turns.
I´ve put them up on a lift (frame) and had somebody sit in the drivers seat and run them in gear at a moderate speed, using a little braking to load things up a bit. Kind of dangerous with all the revolving parts down there, but often finds the where the noise is coming from. A mechanics stethescvope or even a section of tubing really helps localize the noise.
I´ve started at the wheel bearings and ended up at the rear tranny bearing, it will fool you, sound travels in the drivetrain pretty well.
 
Last edited:
You guys aren't going to believe this :confused: , The noise in 2wd went away last night on the way home from work, and then I went to use full time on the way to work this morning since it was pretty damp, and I almost didn't hear any noise at all?! That didn't change on lunch or on the drive home tonight either. I've got some things to do on my day off tomorrow so I'm going to use full time some more and see if the noise returns.
 
What about the Technical Service Bulletin about the transfer case shifter. I was told there is a bushing in the linkage that will bind and get noisy.
 
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