Good morning everyone,

I found this forum was very helpful for a previous problem I had so I wanted to run a new issue by everyone.

So I bought a used 94 Ram 1500 S/B 5.9 with 115K miles. I knew the guy I bought it from beat on it pretty good but that didn't really bother me since I only paid $2K for it to be mainly used an ice fishing vehicle. Anyway, towards the end of this winter I noticed that when in 4WD, I would hear what sounded like gears or something grinding/skipping when I would accelerate. Sometimes it would pop out of 4WD and I sometimes had to put it in 2WD and back in 4WD again. I have a feeling its something with the transfer case because everything is fine in 2WD. Can anyone tell me the approximate cost of this repair? (It sounds expensive lol) Aside from this, the truck is very mechanically sound and it with a tranny thats only 20K old.

Thanks,

Phil

 

yea, its more than likely something to do with your transfer case. in my opinion you have two options: you can either A) take it out and rebuild it yourself with a rebuild kit, or B)buy a used one from a trusted place and just swap. when mine went bad in my '95, i bought one from a known company(oddly cant remember now lol) and just swapped them. haven't had issues since *knock*knock*

 

Pads on shift forks are worn out and thats why its popping out of 4wd. rebuild or replace

 

It's relatively easy to do this yourself. Just have to get the x-fer case out.
Most likely you'll need this
http://www.jeep4x4center.com/product...number=4798136
NP231 cases are pretty much the same. You might have NP231D which has larger output shaft and does not have speedo splines machined onto the shaft but rather plastic slip ring (with splines) that slides over the shaft.
The whole rebuild should not take more than couple of hours.
Good luck

 

you can search the internet for parts and rebuild kits. it seems like most problems are actually minor. snap rings, chain, fork pads. sometimes people have cracked cases.

you can order a rebuilt one from autozone for about 700-800 or so, can't recall exactly. the safest thing to do would be pull it out, look it over, open it up.. and then decide whether to order parts and try it, or not.

 

Thanks for all your replies. I found a guy on craigslist who has a 231D TC for $250. From what I read this is a good deal. I'm going to get it from him.

Phil