replacing transfer case chain (BW 4404 AWD case) | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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replacing transfer case chain (BW 4404 AWD case)

njbillt

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October 6, 2007
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City, State
Southern half of New Jersey, USA
Year, Model & Trim Level
'96 Eddie Bauer
Anyone with experience replacing a stretched chain in a borg warner 4404 transfer case? I already replaced the CV jonts so please don't tell me to try that. I also looked at the front drive shaft and the clicking/crunching is most definatly coming from the transfer case. Any help apprciated unless your advice is a rebuilt case. I'm looking for the easy cheap way out of this. The car already has 163,000 miles on it. I just want to get a little more.

Thanks, Bill
 



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too enterprizing. Anyone else? Looking for real life experience on this repair. Not a sales pitch
 






I'm looking for the easy cheap way out of this.

I'd just buy a used one from here and bolt it in.

The case I linked you to is $200 dollars shipped, its a bolt in deal, easy and cheap. Wasn't a sales pitch, just what you said you wanted.

That case is $200, This is a rebuild kit for $130+ shipping.

I don't know of anyone who has rebuilt a 4404 because they are available inexpensively used.

:)
 






too enterprizing. Anyone else? Looking for real life experience on this repair. Not a sales pitch
Mountaineergreen is no salesman-just a good friend. He gives good advice also.:thumbsup:

Yeah-you should be able to find one real cheap here-
no sales pitch-just my low buck way out of a bad situation. You could be done swapping in about 45 minutes-
Then you could have an extra case to tear in to and teach us how to rebuild.
 






If you are 100% sure that the chain is the culprit, then replacing the chain is a weekend job (if you've never opened the transfer case before). Once the transfer case is open, replacing the chain should only take a few minutes. Be careful when putting the case-halves together, the shift-rail's pin (the tiny little guy) is VERRY easy to break and if you break it, you'll need to replace the part -- which is probably a special order from Ford (if even possible) or maybe from specialty shops (like Omega Machine).
 






Anyone with experience replacing a stretched chain in a borg warner 4404 transfer case? I already replaced the CV jonts so please don't tell me to try that. I also looked at the front drive shaft and the clicking/crunching is most definatly coming from the transfer case. Any help apprciated unless your advice is a rebuilt case. I'm looking for the easy cheap way out of this. The car already has 163,000 miles on it. I just want to get a little more.

Thanks, Bill

I'm going through the same thing as we speak. Mine's being shipped to me right now (thanks greenbeer :) ) That's definitely the best route to go...buy a used one from someone on this board. Just make sure you get the right one. I had to make sure mine had the vehicle speed sensor on it. After 97 the sensor was on the rear differential. Good luck.
 












I think you guys need to chillax on the 4wd and the gas pedal (while in 4wd) :D

I'm pushing 36s (front) and 37s (back) tires and my chain driven transfer case is still doing its job w/o a problem -- the case of course was from another vehicle so who knows what type of abuse that was put through.
 






Be careful when putting the case-halves together, the shift-rail's pin (the tiny little guy) is VERRY easy to break .....


Ahh, but Senator, these are all time 4wd cases, no shift rails, no nothing. :)
 












Hey,
Just out of curiosity, what are the symptoms of a stretched chain and what are the symptoms of a broken one?
DO you still have 2hi if it breaks?

No Iz, I haven`t broken my transfer case yet, just wondering ;)
 






FYI, the good used AWD TC's are becoming more rare. I sold Josh one recently that with 72-74,000 miles on it had a bad chain. The repair for him was something around $200 I believe.

My OEM 98 AWD has gone 175k now, and I have a spare 97 AWD also with near 74,000 miles(no sensor).

The AWD TC changed during the 97 year, just like the change from GT40 to GT40P heads. My 97 AWD TC will work in any non sensor 97-01 4R70W Explorer.

Get a used TC if the price is good, and mileage low. Find the skill to do it yourself and buy the parts to do it. The AWD viscous coupling can be as much as $400 alone though. Good luck,
 






okay guys. I haven't abandoned the thread and I appreciate everyones input. Even the suggestion to buy a used case. More on that later tho. I spent the last day revisiting the front drive shaft as the culprit. I took the front shaft out and the noise, crunching, ticking went away. The CV joint and the U-joints on the shaft looked okay, at least not bound up like I would expect to be making that noise. The noise is a ticking sound at low speeds that gets worse when I am turning a sharp turn into my garage, and is not noticable at highway speeds. As for the t-case, the fluid in the case isn't burned and I am the only owner of the car and although the miles are high, it has had very light duty. New Jersey is pretty flat you know. So I guess I'm looking for some input as to wheter it is in fact a stretched chain or the CV joint/U-joints on the front drive shaft. I already replace the CV joints/front axles, so I'm trying not to replace the wrong part again. Any brainstorming is appreciated.

The '98 t-case for $200 is a good deal, but it won't fit my '96 according to this article

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//archive/index.php/t-147472.html

Quoted:

1998 EXPLORER viscous drive, front cup yoke, rear flat circular flange w/o speedo hole Borg Warner BW4404
1997-96 EXPLORER viscous drive front and rear flat circular flange with speedo hole Borg Warner BW4404
 






Yes, you do have a speed sensor in your TC, you must have either the 96 AWD unit or an early 97 model with the sensor.
 






while you have the front shaft out--
look very very closely at the little rubber boot near the cv joint area--

if there is a tear--it is bad-:(
You will need to have it out, and rotate the shaft a few turns in your hand to check the boot real good-
been there---knock knock bang hell.
 






Ditto, mine had no tears of the boot, but the joint did feel awful. Turn and twist it carefully, if it doesn't feel perfect we'd suspect the CV joint. The AWD chain seems to cause more abrupt jerking symptoms. My CV joint sounded and felt just like a grinding bearing, or binding up.
 






while you have the front shaft out--
look very very closely at the little rubber boot near the cv joint area--

Okay. I want to be sure I understand what the last 2 posters are talking about. We are talking about the drive shaft right? Not the CV joints on the axles which I have already replaced and didn't fix the problem. I want to reiterate that because sometimes people don't read the originial post.

My front drive shaft has a rubber boot, but the only thing in it is a spline. It's towards the front of the car, closer to the differential. Then, closer to the transfer case there is a cluster of universal joints with what appears to be a ball and socket inside, which is what I refer to as the CV joint on the drive shaft. No boot covering this, and it seems to move smoothly, which actually impresses me considering the miles on it. With the shaft out of the car and on the bench, I cannot get it to make any noise. To anyone new following this thread, I am trying to determine if the clicking noise (when driving straight slowly) and grinding noise (when turning a tight radius slowly) is coming from the front drive shaft or the transfer case (chain)

Thanks, Bill
 






Hey,
Just out of curiosity, what are the symptoms of a stretched chain and what are the symptoms of a broken one?
DO you still have 2hi if it breaks?

No Iz, I haven`t broken my transfer case yet, just wondering ;)
Yeah a transfer case chain thats broken will still move the vehicle, and in fact you'll also have 2LO if you break the chain :D

But the symptoms of a broken chain is of course a front driveshaft that wont move even if the transfer case is in 4wd (LO or HI). As for the stretched chain, there's really not a symptom since eventually the chain will tighten up and still turn the front driveshaft. Well now that I think about it, I guess if there is a symptom it would be a noisy transfer case as the chain's bottom grinds against the casing -- but that would have to be a really stretched chain. But you can check if its stretched by disconnecting the front driveshaft and rotating the flange by hand. I have no idea and dont remember how much play its supposed to have (rotationally) so you'll have to ask another member with the same transfer case :D.
 



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Okay great, you have the early 1996 front shaft. That one has no CV joint, that is a double cardon joint at the rear of the shaft. Those are easy to service, there is just three u-joints to deal with.

The big thing is that you know if it's bad easily. So then the AWD is surely the only thing left besides the front carrier itself.
 






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