2002 Mountaineer - Viscous or other?

[paulysold]

Have an 02 Mountaineeer V8, 140,000miles. Have the slow speed binding issue, previous owner said it started about 6 mos ago. He did not drive it much and traded it in. All tires are the same, and trans is Ford rebuilt with 4,000 miles on it (not sure if that matters). I replaced the transfer case with a Junkyard unit that I was told was good, but I still have the binding issue. Is there anything else it could be? I think the drivers side differential mount is worn, but would that be enough to cause the binding by throwing off the power train alignment? I would think it would just bump?
Is there a way to bench test the transfercase/viscous? I still have the one that was taken out.
Could the problem be in the front differential?
My mechanic removed the front driveshaft, and he said it works fine now. I have not driven it to confirm.
dumped $600 into the transfer case, and don't want to give up yet! Is there a long term problem with driving without the front driveshaft?
Thanks for any insight!
Paul

 

[07gtman]

try the easy stuff first

 

[paulysold]

try the easy stuff first

Thank you for the reply. I don't think this specific bolt would be the issue as I do not have any banging, but I do understand your message - simple things first. After the tires, I thought the Viscous would be the next logical choice.

 

[07gtman]

if the same issue happened with both transfer cases, and you are sure its not in your front axles then this may be high on the list...

 

[07gtman]

i must not have read the post though or mixed it up with another so i reread it and found this...

hope its not, but its got some of what you have said in the post, not sure what type of binding, while you are going straight or turning? And did you have different size tires on it with both transfer cases cause it could be the viscous then...oh and you might want to skip 4:30 on this one this guy rants a bit...hope this helps

 

[paulysold]

The binding issue is only at slow speeds turns - parking lot turns. And it is fine with the front drive shaft removed. I def don't have a whole in the front differential.

 

[Hugh Janus]

You might want to take a look at your ABS sensors too. There's a post about it on top right now.

 

[paulysold]

that Is interesting but mine does not really make any noise - it just jumps around with the binding - either left or right - forward or reverse. I am been all over the internet and a couple ford truck forums and it appears that the only causes for the binding are:
1) Different size tires between the front and back
2) viscous coupler or other transfer case problem.
3) maybe a change in the rear differential that resulted in a different ratio.
4) could a bad differential mount be the issue?
At this point I swapped the transfer case and still have the binding. I removed the front shaft and no binding.
- my tires are all the same brand and have the same miles but before I spend another $.05 I am going to measure the tires. Unlikely the problem but a cheap check.

 

[HozII]

Have an 02 Mountaineeer V8, 140,000miles. Have the slow speed binding issue, previous owner said it started about 6 mos ago. He did not drive it much and traded it in. All tires are the same, and trans is Ford rebuilt with 4,000 miles on it (not sure if that matters). I replaced the transfer case with a Junkyard unit that I was told was good, but I still have the binding issue. Is there anything else it could be? I think the driver's side differential mount is worn, but would that be enough to cause the binding by throwing off the power train alignment? I would think it would just bump?
Is there a way to bench test the transfercase/viscous? I still have the one that was taken out.
Could the problem be in the front differential?
My mechanic removed the front driveshaft, and he said it works fine now. I have not driven it to confirm.
dumped $600 into the transfer case, and don't want to give up yet! Is there a long term problem with driving without the front driveshaft?
Thanks for any insight!
Paul

Best way to tell is get it up off all fours. Turn key on but doesn't start. Put it in neutral. Get under it and turn drive shaft manually. See if you can tell where noise is coming from. Then disconnect front drive shaft and spin drive shaft again. If noise goes away it's your front diff. If it doesn't it gonna be transfer case. Hope this helps!

 

[davidmmm69]

My guess would be the second transfer case is bad. 2002 here and 2 Thursdays ago i swapped mine which wasn't too bad and my binding went away. Although now I have a really bad vibration at highway speeds. I guess ill unbolt the shafts and turn them a quarter and see if that helps.

But my binding was as bad as yours. And did you remove the shaft again after the swap to see.

My worry was the 200.00 junkyard case would be bad also. I guess I lucked out there...

Hope you get it straight soon...

 

[paulysold]

David/Hozll
Thank you for the replies. I had a mechanic friend of mine do the swap and I don't have the truck back - it is buried in snow. He said that when he removed the front shaft after installing the second transfer case that the binding went away (now it is 2wd). There really was no noise coming from the driveline, just the slow speed binding - it actually loosened up the front driveshaft bolts on transfer case side. I originally wanted to remove the front driveshaft to help diagnose the problems and the rear bolts were HAND tight!
I wish there was a way to bench test the viscous or the transfer case without going all the way on the install! I am going to measure the tires when I get the truck back, but I doubt that they are different. That points me back to the very expensive junkyard transfer case I bought - $450!

 

[davidmmm69]

They are 200.00 in many places around here... Plus my mountaineer just hit 260000 miles.. I had mine out for a week then the snow came again so I swapped it.

Now have that dann bad vibration going on...