XJ Stuck in part-time 4x4

[Vexta]

So last night I went out to get some groceries in the 96 XJ (I believe its the Selec-trac?  The one with the 5 positions)....

I hadn't been out in about a week so I let the jeep warm up for a long time, everything seemed to be working alright.  About half way out of my parkade, the Part-time light came on without touching the t-case shifter (I was in 2hi and I've never had any problems with the t-case before).  I wasn't just the light too, I could definitely tell it was engaging.  I let it coast for a while, but it didn't go away, so I tried to move it into full time 4hi... but that just seemed to make it worse...  It was really lurching, almost felt like being in the car with someone learning to drive manual transmission.

In a panic (after about 10 minutes of trying to coax it into gear) I tried to limp back to my spot, trying to turn as slowly as possible, which felt just aweful and then.... "SNAP!"  or maybe it was more of a pop sound came from underneath... FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.  I never found out what the snap was from, but it couldn't have been good.

Where it stands now is:
made it back to my spot
Shifter lever is in the 2hi position
all lights are off
Still feels like its for sure stuck in a 4? mode, and any bit of turning feels just aweful
I crawled under and checked out the linkage, everything feels normal and its moving through the whole range

Im suspecting that my sagging old leaf springs plus the low pressure from the cold tires might have put things out of alignment?  Is that possible?  Im mostly talking about of ignorance though.

Ive never had any t-case problems or leaks.  It was just recently inspected and they said the t-case and fluid are in great shape.

I've totally maxed out my mechanical trouble shooting ability.... so I hit the forums.

So far the only suggestion I've found that I haven't tried is to try driving in reverse for a while.  The theory is reverse puts less load on it, is that true?  Im not sure if while Im doing this I should be trying to shift into different modes... or waiting for it to slip into one.  Getting into full time 4hi would be ideal I guess.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, most of the other threads I've found are either linkage problems, or never post back what the solution was.


Also a general question about shifting.  Is it better to shift while the jeep is moving, or standing?  I've always shifted while moving by speeding up a little (still at a slower speeds <50km/h), letting it coast and then shifting.  Is there a better way?  all the manual says is "shift at any legal road speed", so thats not very helpful.

I hope some of this makes sense.. this couldn't have happened at a worse time when I have a million things to worry about.

[apeman]

try pulling the handle back to 4hi...reverse...then go forward again and see if it pops out of part time...

[Vexta]

Phew, I was finally able to get it shifting again going up and down my parkade row forwards and reverse a few times.  It seems to be back to shifting normally again    Something still feels off on when turning though, but at least this is progress.  I popped open the fill plug and the oil is still pretty close to the edge.  It didn't look too dirty, but Im tempted to change it anyway to see if any chunks of gear or anything come out   worth it or waste of time?

I changed my air filter and topped up the fluids while I was out in the cold and couldn't help but notice that Mr. Lube shoved the wrong size of filter in last time I had the oil changed, and it bent the base out over the cover so air is sucking in from the side bypassing the filter.  Nice.  I guess that's what I get for being lazy and not doing it myself.

[JackstandJohnny]

your turning issue is probalby a ujoint, unit bearing  or tie rod.

jack up that tire off the ground and give it a good wiggle. hands at 3 and 9 oclock. and 6 and 12.  there should be no play

[Vexta]

So I jacked it up and did the wiggle test and it was fine in all directions (thankfully because I just replaced all the joints).
Anyway, turns one of the tires was bad.  Threw on my spare and everything is back to normal again.

All is right with the world again... except for not having a spare anymore.  The transfer case is still back to shifting normally again, hopefully it was just a one time fluke?

Thanks for the support as always.

[jeepjones]

Glad to hear it all worked out for you.

[Vexta]

It's still popping into Part-time 4x4 all on its own every once and a while (from 2wd).... very strange.