1997 Explorer AWD issues

[fireman1374]

Hi All,

I have a 1997 5.0 AWD Explorer. 64,200 original miles.

I bought this quite cheap because it had a problem. the transmission was bad. I replaced the transmission and took it for a spin, I noted that the front differential whined and became quite hot. I did figure out that the last genius (loosely) that owned the vehicle fitted differnent sized tires on the front, compared to the rear, okay, makes sense. I found a salvaged front differential and replaced it, but only after I had all the seals and bearing replaced and all gearing clearances confirmed. In the process, I replace both upper and lower ball joints on both sides and both CV axles on the front. Then I replaced all 4 tires with new ones. I then proceeded to test drive it, this test drive was extremely short. The noise was no longer present in the front differential, however the front seemed to bind. I accelerated the vehicle to 30 miles per hour and once I released the accelerator the vehicle lowered itself to 15 miles per hour in the same fashion that depressing the the brakes accomplish. I did remove the front drive shaft to inspect it and there is no appreciable play in it. The vehicle does run and drive appropriately with the front drive shaft removed. I did confirm the ratios in the differentials match those of Ford specifications.

I'm thinking the transfer case may be faulty.

What are your thoughts?

 

[SoNic67]

Running long-term without the front shaft connected ruins the Vascous Coupling inside the center differential (transfer case) by overheating the siliconic fluid inside it.
Same happens if you run with different tire sizes a long time.

 

[fireman1374]

Agreed, it is not hurt at the moment and it has less that 1 mile of drive time without the front drive shaft attached. It is not a vehicle that will be driven until the problem is repaired. Now... back to the question I asked and not what might happen...

 

[gavin]

verify axle gearing by rotating the tires and counting how many times the pinion rotates for each rotation of the tire.

even a bad viscous coupling shouldn't cause THAT much binding.

 

[hotrod31]

What could happen if you run it without the front shaft for a long time? if the v.c doesn't work correctly now, then worse that could happen is the v.c would seize which it's already doing. I've ran mine without a front shaft for 4-5 months at a time and it still works fine(except for the creeping) until I swap out a manual transfer-case.

 

[Joe Dirt]

I did figure out that the last genius (loosely) that owned the vehicle fitted differnent sized tires on the front, compared to the rear, okay, makes sense.

I'm thinking the transfer case may be faulty.

What are your thoughts?

Running long-term without the front shaft connected ruins the Viscous Coupling inside the center differential (transfer case) by overheating the siliconic fluid inside it.
Same happens if you run with different tire sizes a long time.

Now... back to the question I asked and not what might happen...

So if he give you a legitimate reason as to why your TC can be binding, is common, and does exactly this. Why respond like that about it? I'd chime in, but who wants to get yelled at? Good luck getting 'er fixed.

 

[jremington59]

My question is if it only has those few miles, why is it needing new ball joints and the other things?

 

[Turdle]

Agreed, it is not hurt at the moment and it has less that 1 mile of drive time without the front drive shaft attached. It is not a vehicle that will be driven until the problem is repaired. Now... back to the question I asked and not what might happen...

I understand your frustration.

Seems to me like something in the front diff is not right. How does it feel when turned by hand? With the front shaft removed, and front wheels off the ground, spin the yoke. do both wheels move freely? try spinning the yoke while a helper holds one front wheel stationary, then move to the other and do the same. DO you notice anything doing this?

I would also, triple check the gear ratio. I really have a gut feeling the front is gear numerically higher than the rear.

Guys, the OP is not out of line, although the topic did get re routed a bit.

 

[SoNic67]

Hi All,
I did figure out that the last genius (loosely) that owned the vehicle fitted differnent sized tires on the front, compared to the rear, okay, makes sense.

Running long-term without the front shaft connected ruins the Vascous Coupling inside the center differential (transfer case) by overheating the siliconic fluid inside it.
Same happens if you run with different tire sizes a long time.

Now... back to the question I asked and not what might happen...

Well, you can read one more time what I thought happend already.

 

[gavin]

Well, you can read one more time what I thought happend already.

a frozen VC wouldn't cause any more binding than a selectable 4x4 in 4WD on dry pavement.

A selectable 4x4 in 4WD on dry pavement would not create enough binding to cause the vehicle to slow down as quickly as OP mentions unless there are other issues in the drivetrain.

 

[SoNic67]

My guess: A binding front differential will not slow down the car in straight line, only in turns. Unless the center is "frozen" too.

The best thing is to lift the car from ground and turn wheels, counting the turns and observing if the oppsite side turns backward.

 

[fireman1374]

Followup:

Front gear ratio was incorrect.

As far as getting yelled at... get over it... nobody was getting yelled at. I am a to the point person and I could care less what could happen, especially when the person ASSumed that the vehicle was a daily driver. A similar example would be going to the doctors because I have a pain in my arm and listening to doctor assume that I smoke and he telling me that if I don't stop I could die or assuming that if I drink too much coffee I could have heartburn or if I don't lose weight I could acquire diabetes.. all the while ignoring my request for help.

People need to realize that some people are hot or cold with NO inbetween...

My apologies to those that I may have offended.

 

[Turdle]

Followup:

Front gear ratio was incorrect.

As far as getting yelled at... get over it... nobody was getting yelled at. I am a to the point person and I could care less what could happen, especially when the person ASSumed that the vehicle was a daily driver. A similar example would be going to the doctors because I have a pain in my arm and listening to doctor assume that I smoke and he telling me that if I don't stop I could die or assuming that if I drink too much coffee I could have heartburn or if I don't lose weight I could acquire diabetes.. all the while ignoring my request for help.

People need to realize that some people are hot or cold with NO inbetween...

My apologies to those that I may have offended.

No offense, I'm glad you re evalutated everything. At least now it can be corrected,
If the front diff you threw in is 410 geared, it has a higher value than a 373 which I assume you need. Just a fyi