Transfercase issue?

[Konman]

Hi Folks,

I am new to the site and explorer/mountaineers. I recently picked up a 97 Mountaineer 5.0 AWD with 149K for $600. The owner thought it had a bad Tcase and I wanted the car for the gt40p's and intake but after discovering this site I think I am giong to keep it. The truck is clean with no leaks and passed CA smog.

Issue:

With the front driveshaft on it feels like there is a broken tooth on a diff ring gear....that is the best way i can describe it. Cluncking and shuttering. I only moved the car 5 ft like this. It seemed like the noise only came from the front of the vehicle. I read a thread on this site about taking off the front driveshaft. I did that and the car drives fine....no noise. But, i dont see any issue with driveshaft, no exessive play or anything. I have not put it in a vice and give it more torque than my to hands.

I still hear a bit of bearing noise from the front of the tcase when backing up and next to a wall where the sound bounces off of it. Is this normal? How much play should the front output shaft have? If the tcase is totally shot, would it still operate fine in 2wd like it is right now. I have put 350mi on it with no issues.

I am about to buy a tcase off of this site and want to make sure its the tcase and not the driveshaft.

Thanks for your help.

 

[PopRichie77]

Do the shaft U-joints feel ok? I can't really say as it could be a bad shaft U- joint or the front diff could have a problem, also a axle joint could be bad or the T case could have a problem and yes it could drive ok and still be bad depends on what is broken. Sorry but those are the possibilities. Best let someone with some knowledge look at it. Jack it up in the front one side at a time and check the axle shaft CV joints for play.

 

[Turdle]

It's "probably" the t case if not the drive shaft. Look real close at the little ruber boot on the cv end of the drive shaft, while spinning the cv at an angle to flex this boot. If it has a tear--that is not good.

Also. Make sure your 97 v8 AWD transfer case matches your new one. Most 97's have a speed sensor in the case, and if so, your new case needs to have the sensor.

The easiest way to tell-look on the driver side of the transfer case output housing. If there are any wires plugged into it, that is the sensor. late 97 ( 98) and up moved this sensor to the rear differential. There are no wires plugged into these transfer cases at all.

Modifying a 98 up transfer case to accept the sensor is more work.

 

[Konman]

Thanks for the reply guys. I will check the front end tomorrow. The fact that the tcase is still a bit noisy is what is concerning me the most. I have rebuilt 3 land cruiser tcases and with the front d-shaft disconnected you don't hear a noise.

Is there a rebuild kit available for these t-cases?

Thanks.

 

[Turdle]

Here is a "how to" thread. Maybe it will help

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=218430&highlight=4404

 

[Konman]

Ok, jacked up the car today...all wheels off the ground. Spun the front wheels, no noise from the diff. All the cv's looked good. With my hand I can almost wiggle the front output shaft of the TC. Is this normal? From my experience with Landcruiser TC's the output shafts are very tight....almost no play.

Once I fill the rear diff back up (doing a fluid change, had a leak), I will let the truck idle in gear and get under it to find out where the noise is exactly coming from.

 

[safn1949]

Also you can take the truck and do a tight circle on pavement with it,if the coupler is bad it will jump and jerk like a regular 4x4 will in 4 wheel drive.It should turn smoothly even on dry asphalt in a hard lock turn.