sirjoseph

I was driving on the highway and the xj started bucking and popping almost like antilag then my rpm's skyrocketed so i took my foot off the gas and coasted to the side of the roads checked oil pressure, i was in drive. I checked all gears including park, drive, neutral, reverse, 1-2,3 none of them had any movement, I put it back in park and the jeep made sort of a buzzing or slight grinding sound. the transmissions fluid pan wasnt leaking i had my buddy tow me home. I: checked the fluid level and it was low but wasnt bone dry which is odd because i checked it a few weeks ago and it was a perfect level but i dont have any leaks. the front pinion yoke on the transfer case spins freely, and the rear driveshaft spins as well, nut the transfer case makes a slight grinding sound when spinning the driveshaft, the jeep was towed in neutral perfectly so i believe the diffs are fine. do i need to rebuild the trans? do I need a new transfer case? theres no check engine light either.

dave1123

Sounds to me like a broken t/case chain that momentarily locked up the transmission as well and trashed that. Only a teardown will prove that. I hope you had the rear wheels off the ground when you said the rear driveshaft spun freely because if not, the rear diff is blown too. It's possible the trans is okay and isn't doing anything because there is no load on it to show it works.

The rear diff in my WJ shattered it's carrier case which locked it up solid at 55 mph. The t/case popped out of 2wd and wouldn't go back in so after rocking the jeep enough to get the rear axle loose and removing the driveshaft, I put it in 4wd Part time and creeped it home. I wound up with both a t/case and rear axle replaced with good low mileage used parts.