4x4 "clunk"

[mr. kigglius]

Earlier today I was looking at a 97 explorer xl at a small dealership, it was a 5 speed 4x4 with 84xxx miles, anyways the body and interior were in great shape and the truck drove great the only problem was the 4 wheel drive. At first both the 4wd and the 4lo lights were flashing, when we checked it out it turned out that the harness that plugs into the transfer case motor was unplugged. Once that was connected the lights quit blinking and the truck would drop into 4high and 4lo, however when it was in 4high it would make a realy nasty "clunk" whenever it moved, the clunk was more frequent/intense when it was attempting to turn but it still mad the noise when going straight forward and straigt backward. I'm not sure exactly where the noise was coming from but I know it was somewhere between the transfercase and the front bumper. When in 4lo the truck made the normal nasty noises expected when driving in 4lo on dry assphalt (not good for the truck I know) however the noise it made in 4high could not be mistaken for anything close to normal. My dad and I suspected a bad cv joint, transfercase, or hub but this isn't really either of our areas of expertise. Any help is greatly appreciated, if I don't get any feedback tonight I am going to try to take the truck to a mechanic tommroow to see if they can figure out what this is and decide if im going to purchase the truck or not. Thanks again.

 

[theFinn]

I'm far from an expert but it sounds like the exact same problem my truck has (91 XL), the mechanics tell me it's because one of the auto-hubs doesn't engage. I'd look at that first then go from there.

 

[TPLYNCH]

Finn, no autohubs in '97. They only apply to 91-94 Ex's.

Kigglius, if you're driving in 4x4 on pavement, you will hear nasty noises. The front driveline is alway in motion on the '97, so if it were axles/cv's you would hear the noise all the time.