Ok guys, I just got a 88 samurai gave to me. It sat under a tree for 5 years and I got it home, changed battery, fuel pump, cleaned gas tank, and it was running really good. My 4x4 shifter locked up and after I readjusted the gears it was fine. Later that day I was driving and it started needing more throttle to go. It kept getting worse and within minutes it wouldn't go at all. I can crank it and go thru the gears as if I'm holding the clutch in. Anyone had this problem or have idea what I could check? Any help is appreciated.

Oil in the differential and transfer case??? Sounds like you may have melted down some gears. Brakes seized? Bearings?

Jack up vehicle and see if wheels are spinning free...

-Eric

It has oil and tires free spin

Does it do it in 2WD, 4WD or both? Might not be the same problem as you have but I was given a 1986 Samurai that was in pretty good condition other than it would not run in 4WD. Ran fine in 2WD but when placed in 4WD it would only go a few feet and then stop. Wheels turned freely and nothing seemed amiss. While checking out the reason for the 4WD only problem it appeared that the wheels were "fighting" each other when in motion and seemed like the wheels were turning at different rates. I put it up on blocks and did a rough gear ration test by marking the tires and then rotating them so see if they turned at the same rate. Sure enough they were different and it was apparent that the front and rear differential gear ratios were not the same. A quick inspection of the differentials showed they were different by a few teeth. Apparently one of the previous owners had either swapped out one of the differentials from a different model/year or replaced the gears with a different ratio--but only in one of the differentials! I ordered a matched set of Yukon gears (matching the ratio in the front differential since that had the least amount of wear on it) and from that point forward everything worked fine in both 2WD and 4WD.