Advice needed!! left wheel 4wd seems to engage on sharp terms

[cook048]

Hello all,

I am new to the forum and looking for some help. First off, the explorer is in great shape mechanically and have not had any issues with it. Its failry new to me and is a 94 with 48k.

Recently i made a sharp turn onto the main road and the wheel wanted to stray to the left, with the feeling that the left front wheel had engaged 4wd. It happened at a low speed. I pulled over, didnt see anything. put it into neutral, engaged 4wd drove forward 20 feet, then backwards and the wheel tension disappeared. I then disengaged 4wd and drove home with no issues. Then, once home i turned in revurse to back into my spot and there was a metal "clank" sound from that front left wheel as the steering wheel was turned over. What the heck is going on. I hope its something simple and not catastrophic because i love this car.

Thanks for all the advice!

Matthew

 

[Rhett]

Sounds like your automatic locking hub is sticking. This is common given the age and frailty (even when new) of the auto hub system. The best solution is to swap to manual locking hubs, which is detailed on this site.

But for now, I'd pull the hub (maybe both of them) and soak it in ATF overnight. Someone else just had this problem in this forum, and they soaked theirs and it did not help. Lots of times the hub will get over-greased by mechanics that don't know what they are doing, and over years of use that grease gets packed in there to where the hub won't engage. It only needs a light coating of grease. Periodically it is good to clean them out via ATF soak, then a light greasing, and engage/disengage a couple of times, but if yours has years of buildup it may not help.

 

[cook048]

Sounds like your automatic locking hub is sticking. This is common given the age and frailty (even when new) of the auto hub system. The best solution is to swap to manual locking hubs, which is detailed on this site.

But for now, I'd pull the hub (maybe both of them) and soak it in ATF overnight. Someone else just had this problem in this forum, and they soaked theirs and it did not help. Lots of times the hub will get over-greased by mechanics that don't know what they are doing, and over years of use that grease gets packed in there to where the hub won't engage. It only needs a light coating of grease. Periodically it is good to clean them out via ATF soak, then a light greasing, and engage/disengage a couple of times, but if yours has years of buildup it may not help.

This is great! And makes so much sense. I did the brakes recently and must have put to much grease on them on the way out.

This forum is kickass. I belonged to a suby forum a few years ago and those guys were jerks. Of course some good eggs. But this being my 1st post....what a welcome.

Thanks!

 

[natenkiki2004]

This is great! And makes so much sense. I did the brakes recently and must have put to much grease on them on the way out.

This forum is kickass. I belonged to a suby forum a few years ago and those guys were jerks. Of course some good eggs. But this being my 1st post....what a welcome.

Thanks!

Rhett is on point so I won't touch on that. Welcome to the forum. I can agree with your sentiments about other forums. There's a few that I belong to where they're either jerky or people that like bragging about their expensive projects but don't have enough time to help a newbie. It's sad. On the upside, this site is one of the few that I actually feel at home with like-minded individuals. Where there's enough activity to bounce ideas around and get help but still a select group of people that are kind and eager to help. I can honestly say, there's nobody on here that I've had any ill feelings towards. Which is a rare thing on the Internet, it's easy to find an asshole, but not here.

 

[92exp4x4]

Welcome! This site is a wealth of information. Lots of people here are very willing to help out however they can. I know I have gained a lot over the years from the information on these pages. I have also noticed how different this site is than other automotive sites. I'm really not sure why..

Another item to check would be the u-joints themselves. I noticed you are in Connecticut, if the joints are beginning to seize up you can have a similar issue as the hubs sticking. Try cleaning your hubs, and if that doesn't help then you may be looking at rebuilding the outer axle shafts. You can soak the joints in PB blaster that may help them loosen up.

Let us know what you find.