HELP! 4 wheel drive grinding sound. | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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HELP! 4 wheel drive grinding sound.

underdog1799

Member
Joined
July 9, 2011
Messages
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City, State
Salt Lake City, UT
Year, Model & Trim Level
'97 XLT
I have a 97 Explorer that has little problem. Last fall I went off roading and ended up scraping the bottom of my car on a rock. I didn't notice any problems until about mid winter when I was driving around in the snow and the automatic 4 wheel drive would kick in when the back tires slipped. The front left side seems to grind when the front wheels are engaged. I'm not sure if it is the front transfer case, or if it is something else. Anybody have any tips for what I could check? Could it be something less expensive to fix?
 



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i only hear it when the 4 wheel drive is engaged. It sounds like its only coming from the front left, but that is also where the differential is, so i'm not really sure. I know my hubs aren't bad though because there isn't any play in the wheel when the car is lifted up on a jack. Could the hub still be bad and not have play?
 






btw BrooklynBay, thanks for the quick response
 












so here is a new development. I've found that when my 4 wheel drive is on and i'm rolling forward at idling speed that there is no grinding or popping, it is only when i accelerate that it pops. I also found that when i turn sharply it pops as well. Is it possible that it could be the C/V joint? Or do you still think the hub is the culprit?
 












I'll inspect the hub as i'm replacing the cv axle. Thanks for the help brooklynbay!
 






Sorry I haven't gotten back. I replaced the CV, but it didn't fix anything. Talked with a guy at the auto part store he said he thinks it might be the actuators, another guy I talked to said to lift the whole car and put it on jack stands and then to rotate the axles and see if there is anything loose. Haven't tried that yet, figured I would give it a try soon since it won't cost anything. Let me know what you think
 






im going thru the same thing. i had a buddy of mine peek underneath while i wsa doing some rock crawling and he actually saw the driveshaft skipping while under torque load. also i had an issue with a vacuum leak as to where my actuator was not fully engaging and tore the front axle up. Not advice but sharing experience. Ive got 2 axles and tcase off a truck i scrapped at work so im swapping everything out, once the axles are built
 






Where was the driveshaft skipping for you? was it skipping between the tranny and the front transfer case or was it skipping on the actual axle?
 












I can't seem to pull up the video you posted. Can you just give the title of the video and i'll find it? Also, about how much did it cost you for a new transfer case?
 












The transfer case for me was free, at my shop we had an ex that was being scrapped so he let me pull of anything i wanted. Shouldnt be that much at a u pull it
 






Now i'm not really an experienced mechanic, but i have done a couple things like replacing the cv axles and ball joints. How hard is it to replace the whole differential? Sorry if it seems like i'm picking your brains, i am just contemplating replacing the differential instead of getting a new car
 






Its not to bad to replace. Ive done it 7 times about to be 8 soon. Pop upper ball joint pop axles. Disconnect vacuum Actuator. Unbolted driveshaft. Then cuss at the 3 bolts for the diff and wallah!
 






i only hear it when the 4 wheel drive is engaged. It sounds like its only coming from the front left, but that is also where the differential is, so i'm not really sure. I know my hubs aren't bad though because there isn't any play in the wheel when the car is lifted up on a jack. Could the hub still be bad and not have play?

yes it can i have a 1998 ford explorer an it wz bad but it did not move
 






i have a 96 ford ranger and nothing grinds or anything until i put it in 4x4 then it does when i turn do u have any idea what is causing this?
 



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