Hawaii 5-0

The damn check engine light came on!

Changed the oil, Transfer case fluid, and diff fluid. Everything went smoothly.
Go for a drive later and my check engine light came on. Drove to a parts store to have them pull the code and I have a P2181, which is apparently a cooling system performance issue. I'm not leaking anything and my fluid level is good in the reservoir, so I'm off to the dealership to spend money after all....

tommyluv78

How bad was it to change the transfer case fluid?

Hawaii 5-0

T case was easy.

Positioned my floor jack under the T case skid, removed the 4 bolts, and lowered the skid plate. It's not heavy, but the jack makes it easier if you don't have a helper.

Removed the top fill plug with a 10mm allen key socket. Next removed the drain plug and drained.
Re-installed drain plug, and filled it back up with ATF+4.

The write-up on Project JK was quite helpful.

I've done it before. My only concern was skid plate removal. But Jeep finally supported the T case on a separate frame bracket, instead of mounting it directly to the skid plate like on the TJs.

Hawaii 5-0

Searching out my P2181 code on the forum, I read several threads and realized that I left my radio on while I was working on my JK in the garage. Apparently others have had similar issues after leaving the radio running off of battery power. Since everything with the cooling system looked OK, I disconnected my battery to do a hard reset and no more engine light. I do suspect my battery is weak, so I 'll be replacing that this week. The battery will definitely be cheaper than an unnecessary trip to the dealership.

I love this forum

Smiley

Good work. Dealers hate the power of the social network to solve what would usually cost about 79 bucks just to look at your vehicle. My dealership of choice's service manager is a JK Forum member so when they see me show up they know I am going to tell them exactly what they need to do to fix my problem, no diagnostic fee required.

bhawghead

I had my 07' Sahara up on jack stands installing wheel spacers and discos today, with the radio on! And when I started it to back out of the garage I noticed I also had a MIL, pulled the codes and it gave me a P2181. Started checking the usual and reservoir was just below the min. t-stat didnt seem to be stuck, havent had any issues thus far. will try and clear code and see if I had this same issue, hopefully its not anything else.