Questions on NP208

[J10Mike]

hi guys,
sorry to keep bringing this up. i discovered something wierd about my 208. in earlier posts, i mentioned that it will not go into 2wd. ok...here's the wierd thing. when the flag lever is in 4wd, the 4wd dash light is on, and the front drive shaft is disengaged....in 2wd. when i push the flag lever to 2wd, the 4wd dash light goes out, but, the front drive shaft is engaged and in 4wd. it's reversed. the po had told me that both the tranny and 208 had been rebuilt. is it possible that there is a gear that is reversed inside the case?
i guess i can drive it that way for now. it doesn't make any noise and feels solid.
oh, by the way, if i was in 2wd drive last month in the mud, my rear locker must be good.
any opinions?

[SBJeep]

My opinion is that's just wierd. Of course, now Crazy Jeepman has told me that my linkage is not a 208 linkage so I don't have any good advise. Maybe yours has been messed with during the rebuild. Normally a 208 goes 2hi 4hi N 4lo. Does this mean yours goes 4hi 2hi N 4lo? If it works fine, I'd just drive it that way. But I'm lazy.

[J10Mike]

ya tom, it is 4hi 2hi N 4lo. it's wierd. but, i can live with it for now. although, i would like to know how it could be like that. i did get under the truck tonight and observed that the linkage is somewhat adjustable as well.

[J10Mike]

i was sort of hoping that the np208 guys would chime in here with their thoughts or ideas as to what would cause this.

[graham]

Mike check My NP 208 post (http://www.ifsja.org/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=025331#000017)

[graham]

Originally posted by SBJeep:
My opinion is that's just wierd. Of course, now Crazy Jeepman has told me that my linkage is not a 208 linkage so I don't have any good advise. Tom i think CJ's a little of the mark about your linkage, or we've got stranger Jeeps than we thought. Mines exactly the same as the pic you posted.

[j10jim]

Is it possible that the wiring for the switch is backwards? I will have to check my J10 with the 208 and see if that is possible.

Jim

[SBJeep]

It's interesting that you guys do have the adjustable linkage. I couldn't say for sure what I had as the adjustable part of the linkage was attached to the 208 I bought, and the rest of the linkage was factory(for the 229). They just bolted together.

Mike - I haven't taken apart a 208 before so I don't know about the internals. But on the 229 and the 228 which I did have apart, it seemed the parts only go in one way. When you shift into 4WD, a sliding collar connects two shafts together. You couldn't get them in backwards. I don't know how different those are from the 208. Possibly alot, I guess.

I'm grasping here, but an '82 wagoneer I saw with a stick that had a completely different shifter for the transfer case. I know the case was a 208. Is the shift pattern for a manual 208 different than one for the automatic? If the patterns are different, then maybe this could help explain things.

[J10Mike]

i believe the shift pattern for both auto and manual is 2h 4h N 4l. i believe that pattern is standard in the auto industry.
i'm starting to think that the problem is in the linkage.

[ February 19, 2004, 12:42 PM: Message edited by: J10Mike ]

[J10Mike]

well....after replacing wheel bearings front and back today, i can report that i have no more wierd noises. however, i'm back to not being able to shift into 2h. after i shift into 2h, the front driveshaft stays engaged.
where are all those np208 guys when i need them?

[bigrob]

Is the lever all the way up when you are in 4wd?
On my 82 with np208, 4LO is all the way up.

[J10Mike]

rob,
on my 208, the lever goes all the way up for 4lo. right now, it won't shift out of 4wd. the lever itself goes to 2wd. but, the front driveshaft stays engaged.

[bigrob]

Oh, ok, I misunderstood you smile.gif

[SBJeep]

Does the shifter hit the floor and not go far enough down? Mine has 1/2 inch between the floor and shifter in 2WD.

[graham]

Originally posted by SBJeep:
Does the shifter hit the floor and not go far enough down? Mine has 1/2 inch between the floor and shifter in 2WD.Tom I think your on the money. This is what the adjustment is for and Mikes was recently re-installed, so could be incorrect.
According to Haynes ( page 7C-2 Pic 2.9 ) in 2Hi lever should be 1/2 to 1" above floor. I'm thinking theres not enough movement to allow dis-engagement of 4HI belofre the 'range lever' hits the floor inside.

[joe]

Originally posted by J10Mike:
i believe the shift pattern for both auto and manual is 2h 4h N 4l. i believe that pattern is standard in the auto industry.
i'm starting to think that the problem is in the linkage.Well it is and it isn't the same between the two. If you relate forward in one to up in the other they're different. The flag lever on the AT 208's pattern is 4L-N-4H-2H with 4L being up. The 208's behind MT's use a conventional top mount shifter and the pattern is 2H-4H-N-4L with 2H being forward.

[joe]

Mike, I think the folks above might be on the right track with the linkage not having enough room. Possible worn badly. The split collar on the linkage can wear and get pretty sloppy. The AT linkage is a bit involded compared to that of the 208 behind an MT. I've got the blowup of the 208 AT shifter if you need it. I've also got the one for manual trannies if you want to compare them. If the 208 was swapped in the linkage may be a combo of earlier 229 parts and later 208 stuff?

[J10Mike]

tom, graham,
from inside, at 2wd, the flag shifter appears to stop at about 1/2 inch from the floor
joe,
please send me that blow up of the linkage to my email. i was looking at the linkage from underneath last night. the actual lever on the tc is as far back towards the rear as it will go in 2wd and seems to touch the tc. my question is, can that lever on the tc be adjusted forward? i can't tell if the lever is slotted and if it only mounts on that bolt one way.

[ February 22, 2004, 11:19 AM: Message edited by: J10Mike ]

[joe]

Mike in case the linkage is a hodgepodge of 209/229 stuff I'll send all three.

[SBJeep]

I don't know if the lever on the case itself can be adjusted forward, but I though I'd go take a look at mine. Mine stops about 3/8" before it would hit the case.

[BIGYELLOW78J10]

I have a similar issue and did a little work on it this weekend.

While your flag seems to be returning to the right spot, mine is hitting the floor before I can get FULLY out of two wheel drive. It feels like the front shaft is disengaged, but the light is still on and I never feel a solid shift click.

I know I have two issues. One is the entire shift mechanism (auto) is not fully secured at the rear. There is an L-shaped piece of the shifter assembly that should be secured to the front side of the 208 case with a 3/8" fine thread nut to a stud that was hanging loosely after I had shifting problems and was stuck in 4-low. After getting it mostly snugged down, I found problem number two. This 208 is a swapped one and the flag must be a little different from the old one as it hits the floor. There is an adjustment block on the lower side of the cam that is most directly connected to the 208 shift arm. Next chance i get, I'm going to run the adjustment as far forward as seems reasonable and see if that gets the flag off the floor and lets me shift fulling into 2wd.

I hope I haven't chewed anything up trying to check things out in almost 2wd!

Good luck!

If you can wait a few weekends, I might get some pics.

Daniel

[Chevelleguy]

You must not have seen the date on that thread. It's 4 years old.

[BIGYELLOW78J10]

Fair enough.

But can anyone tell me if the shift adjustment sounds about right?

Every time I search or post about the 208, no one ever seems to have a clear answer.


Why did I have to find an 85 J-20 instead of something plain from the 70's that I actually know something about...

[Chevelleguy]

I haven't done my swap yet, so I can't say for sure. Everything I have read says the shifters are the same. I would think you can adjust enough.

You do need to make sure all brackets are tight though.

[J10Mike]

You must not have seen the date on that thread. It's 4 years old.
Wow...That is an old thread. The problem with my 208 was that it needed rebuilding.
While I was at it, I swapped in a regular floor shifter out of a 80s manual tranny FSJ. Worked great.
Maybe this diagram will help:
http://www.j10mike.com/jeepdocs/np208linkage_at2.JPG

[BIGYELLOW78J10]

Got the one for the Auto with the flag shifter? I'd be nice to see if all my parts are there!

Thanks!

Daniel

[j20brett]

Here is mine out of an 81 with 727 auto...

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m146/brett6819/Parts%20Diagrams%20and%20Pics/DSC00881.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m146/brett6819/Parts%20Diagrams%20and%20Pics/DSC00883.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m146/brett6819/Parts%20Diagrams%20and%20Pics/DSC00880.jpg

[J10Mike]

Got the one for the Auto with the flag shifter? I'd be nice to see if all my parts are there!

Thanks!

Daniel
That diagram is for a flag shifter. Don't be confused by the shift knob.

[BIGYELLOW78J10]

Ok. I'm seeing it now. I think I'd like the flag shifter more if it DID have a knob.

Methinks I am just out of adjustment. Just hope running around in the yard almost out of gear has been ok. Hopefully it's less likely to be in between than my Q-tracs.


Thanks for the answers on this old thread!

Pretty good when the original poster can come back in on an old thread and fill in the blanks!


Thanks abunch!

Daniel

[ChuckWag]

Hey guys,

This thread has me pretty sure I've got problems inside my 208. Here's what's happening:

I put Chuckwag on jackstands tonight, pulled the front shaft, and removed the linkage to test each shift position. The case fully engages both output shafts in 4-lo and 4-hi, but in neutral and 2-hi, the front output shaft still turns just a little and clunks inside as if it is not fully disengaged. The shift lever on the case is all the way back, but it's just not fully disengaging the front output.

At this point I'm thinking something must be wrong inside the t-case. Is there any internal adjustment that might correct this? The only other thing I can think of is to re-check the connection of the rear flat bracket that the case shift shaft attaches to...everything else seems correct based on all the feedback.

You guys think I've got problems inside the case? Any other thoughts appreciated. (Daniel, maybe we should get together and compare linkage, symptoms, and shifters...maybe we're having the same problems!

Charles

[j20brett]

Shift fork pads worn out??