[mark92xj]

hey i have a 1990 xj limited and it has 4 options for the t/c 2hi, auto 4wd, 4hi, 4lo i think . will any transfer case that comes out of an xj fit to replace that one or no. i think its junk because the handle wont come out of 2hi and the person i got it from said there was something wrong and the front d/s was out of it but 2hi works fine..any thoughts on it being bad?? thanks

[MGrobe]

Sounds like you have the 242 transfercase, which includes a full-time 4wd option. Here is a info link: http://www.novak-adapt.com/knowledge/np242.htm

Notice at the bottom is states that the 242 is among the easiest to rebuild... Might find someone local to you to give you a hand rebuilding, if that is the culprit.

Your problem could be linkage that is messed up. The linkage uder the Jeep that connects the lever to the tcase can be bent and not allowing the t-case to shift. Otherwise I would check the fluid level in the t-case as it might be low. Lastly it would seem a rebuild or swap would be necessary.

Swapping may not be clear cut. Early years of XJ's had 21 spline input shafts, while later had 23 spline. I honestly don't know if that applies to the 242 though and when the year splits were. Also the length of the shaft may be an issue as well.

But at any rate here's a bump for you and hopefully someone else can clean-up what I started.

[HYRYSC]

I have a 91 xj that I just removed the 242 and swapped in a 231 from a yj and it was a 23 spline, but I think 91 was the cutover, anything before that was 21 spline. Good news is that you can usually grab a 21 spline transfer case cheaper than a 23 spline.

But what was said above, it could just be the linkage is tweaked. The 242 is a good transfer case because of the extra option and I would have kept it if the rear output shaft had not snapped off.