Front Drive shaft missing on 2004 Mercury Mountaineer (v6, 4liter, awd) just purchased.

[2004mountaineers]

I just bought a 2004 Mercury Mountaineer (v6, 4liter, awd). I test-drove fine, but
when driving home I thought I heard some odd sounds. I looked underneath
and the front drive shaft is completely missing.
Any advice?
Is it safe to drive it that way?
I assume I can get a drive-shaft from a salvage yard.
Wondering why the previous owner would have removed the drive shaft in the first place?

I assume one of these would work:

 

[J_C]

Welcome to the forum!

Having the front shaft missing shouldn't cause any noise. It is probable that it was removed because there is a problem with the transfer case or differential, so that problem will need fixed first. Edit: 410Fortune states below that it may have just been removed because the drive shaft itself wore out and I agree, but I'm suspecting by the time someone went to remove it for that reason, they would be more likely to have put a new one on, more so than if it were transfer case or diff.

I know people have driven it that way without issues, but don't know about long term. Best guess is it shouldn't make the problem worse, may slow down the problem getting worse by not having the shaft on.

I recall reading that without the front shaft, there may be an issue where it creeps in park, that you should always use the parking/e-brake.

The forum code resizes images you attach that are above a certain resolution, so your pictures are barely (I had to copy into an image editing app and zoom them) readable, but I'm not sure if I could tell you which would work if I saw listings for the right part, don't know if there are any front drive shaft differences between 02-05 except probably the AWD vs 4WD are different? On that note, it would be good to list which engine you have as 4.0L or 4.6L. The 4.0L is the V6 but I didn't think those came with AWD, only RWD or 4WD? I could be wrong but... I'd wait for someone else to post, to clear up this confusion!

However what I can make out on your pictures is most listings are for the axle shaft which is not the same part, axle shafts connect the front differential to both left and right wheel hubs and you can see on some listings that they detailed which side it came off of like "RH" for right hand or LH for left hand. As far as I can tell, on that site you need to search for Drive Shaft Front instead of Axle Shaft. See example pic below of listings I saw.

You can post higher res images on an image hosting site like imgur.com and link to them here, or put them in a PDF file and attach that to a post in this forum in order allow people to see the full resolution images.

 

[410Fortune]

the v8 trucks will roll in park with no front shaft, should not happen in the v6
the 5.0 v8's were full time AWD and the park pawl locked through both diffs

The front d shaft uses a cardan style front joint and they wear out, its likely the previous owner just removed it instead of repair
You can get one at a junk yard that may or may not need the cardan joint rebuilt, the cardan joint can be rebuilt, or buy whole driveshaft brand new

How many miles on the 04?

 

[2004mountaineers]

the v8 trucks will roll in park with no front shaft, should not happen in the v6
the 5.0 v8's were full time AWD and the park pawl locked through both diffs

The front d shaft uses a cardan style front joint and they wear out, its likely the previous owner just removed it instead of repair
You can get one at a junk yard that may or may not need the cardan joint rebuilt, the cardan joint can be rebuilt, or buy whole driveshaft brand new

How many miles on the 04?

Vehicle has 121,800 miles on it. paid $3500. Good to know it won't creep in park !!! (I should have looked under the vehicle more, but had my office-clothes on and we were in a Walmart parking lot....)
Here are some front salvage-yard drive-shafts available to me, $60 to $75 in the below picture. Replacing the front drive-shaft seems to be easy based on the below youtube video (at least if you have the pneumatic tools -- I only have M12 and M18 battery-driven impact wrenches).
If after installing the drive-shaft, the t-case is binding up and implying a shot viscous-coupler, I guess I think would rather replace the t-case with a manual-shifting 4x4 case. There are some links about doing so for some older vehicles 1996-2001 immediately below. It appears they use the BM4406 BogWarner t-case that appears on F-150s and F-250s from 1999-2008, one such is available locally from the junkyard for $100, pictured below. I would have to know if I need to grab a drive-shaft while at the junkyard...or if I have to have a shaft cut and balanced. Or, if it is just not plausible, as I cannot seem to find a reasonable-priced AWD t-case, I would probably just be stuck with 2wd for the remainder of the vehicle's life. (There are some AWD t-cases at Marshalls Auto Parts, Inc. USA-OH(Circleville) for $125, but I don't think salvage yards will ship?)

How to: - Convert V8 AWD to BW 4406 Manual Shift- A how to thread

Convert 1996-2001 V8 AWD to Manual Shift BW4406 EDIT: There is a write up on how to connect the indicator lights a few posts down, near the bottom of the page. AWD is a great method for putting power to all four wheels, but it does it somewhat inefficiently and doesn’t offer low range. A...

www.explorerforum.com

https://imgdump5.novarata.net/bwbpj6.png

https://imgdump5.novarata.net/x3i9js.png

 

[410Fortune]

M12 and M18 impacts are very good tools, they will do this job if equipped with proper adapters and sockets

Ebay for t cases, some of the biggest wreckers in the country sell on Ebay
Many salvage yards will absolutely ship
I am a private shop and I have shipped many transfer cases over the years, usually UPS or over the road freight

Before diving into all of that we would want to check the condition of the fluid in your current t case
I am not sure the 4406 will fit your v6 drivetrain, but the 04 mounty is new to me, I stop at the end of the gen II models which is -01 Explorer and mountaineer, 01-04 sport and sport trac, 98-11 Ranger
Your 04 is what we call a Gen III and it uses a 5 bolt t case I THINK

You are on the correct path! Good luck with your research so far
That is low miles

 

[2004mountaineers]

M12 and M18 impacts are very good tools, they will do this job if equipped with proper adapters and sockets

Ebay for t cases, some of the biggest wreckers in the country sell on Ebay
Many salvage yards will absolutely ship
I am a private shop and I have shipped many transfer cases over the years, usually UPS or over the road freight

Before diving into all of that we would want to check the condition of the fluid in your current t case
I am not sure the 4406 will fit your v6 drivetrain, but the 04 mounty is new to me, I stop at the end of the gen II models which is -01 Explorer and mountaineer, 01-04 sport and sport trac, 98-11 Ranger
Your 04 is what we call a Gen III and it uses a 5 bolt t case I THINK

You are on the correct path! Good luck with your research so far
That is low miles

I just now pulled the upper-plug out of the t-case. The vehicle had been sitting with the engine off for 30minutes and was on a level surface. Fluid immediately came dribbling out of the plug-hole. So, I think the fluid-level was ok. However, the fluid was light-brown in color instead of red. However, that may be normal for used Mercon LV, based on the below link.

Mercon LV Fluid Color

As most of you are aware by now Mercon LV fluid is what is used in the 09/10 Escape automatics(6F35). I just run across a link to a OASIS record @ http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/muddyford/2010-01-19_143230_1121.pdf and on page two includes the following Which I found interesting...

www.fordforumsonline.com