What is a Viscous Coupler? And how do I fix it?

Question

So my 1994 cherokee has been diagnosed with a Viscous Coupler that is going out on me. I know this is in my transfer case, but how serious is this problem? Do I replace the Viscous Coupler, or the whole transfer case? How mechanically inclined must I be to do this?

its a grand cherokee

Answer 1

A viscous coupler is a sealed, fluid filled clutch pack in the transfer case. To replace the coupler you will need to remove and tear down the transfer case. Usually these coupler are quite expensive, you might be able to find a reman transfer case or a used one cheaper.

Answer 2

You must get a repair manual on the transfer case, remove it from the truck, and REPLACE it. Unfortunately that is around $700 in parts. Now, I assume you have constant and unlockable 4 wheel drive correct?...If not,,you don't have one!!!


WAIT A MINUTE>>>You said Cherokee,,not Grand Cherokee???????????? YOU DO NOT HAVE ONE!!! FIND SOMEONE HONEST!!!!

Ok,,with new information..yes, you do have a viscous clutch in that transfer case..Consider one of the other cases in that year as a less expensive alternative, but you will have to check carefully parts interchangeablitly.

Answer 3

How many miles on your Grand ?, The fluid has it ever been changed ? , If it just starting to make noise and doesn't have a ton of miles on it, I'd start by draining it look at the color of the fluid, run some cheep Tanny fluid thought it, fill with cheep Tanny fluid drive 5 to 10 miles, drain it again and fill with a very good syntactic fluid that the grand calls for, this may help it if at is not to bad, you may need to done it two or three times, good luck I've saved some T-Case's this way on all wheel drive ford explorers.

Answer 4

your vehicle’s 4 wheel drive is full time ready but is rear wheel drive most of the time. Most of the available engine torque/power is directed to the rear wheels during normal driving. When the weather becomes a challenge a device in the transfer case called a viscous coupler will direct the engine power to the front wheels as well. The transition from 2 to 4 and back to 2 wheel drive is seamless unless the viscous coupler is starting to fail. When a viscous coupler starts to fail they seem to like to lock into the 4-wheel drive mode and stay there. The fix requires a replacement viscous coupler. In most cases this can be replaced without even removing the transfer case from the vehicle. A word of caution, if the viscous coupler is failing it needs to be replaced. Even though your vehicle is a 4-wheel type vehicle is it not meant to be operated in 4-wheel drive all the time. If driven too long in 4wd, damage to the drive train of the vehicle can occur. Dealer says about $2000. to replace,check ur self. go to this link for a page full of usefull links:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=What+is+a+Viscous+Coupler%3F+And+how+do+I+fix+it&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ques&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAgwXkmM3HGi52_VNpYqDXwk1xgt.%2FSIG%3D11ig9thu3%2FEXP%3D1184357903%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAo_8ABAFA62Pupir7HgSWM01xgt.%2FSIG%3D121073s0j%2FEXP%3D1184357903%2F*-http%253A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=What+is+a+Viscous+Coupler%3F+And+how+do+I+fix+it

Answer 5

cherokee or GRAND cherokee. if cherokee, you should probably not attempt this yourself considering that it doesnt have one. if grand, still shouldn't try to replace. simply swap out the transfer case as a whole with another Quadra-Trac