I have the feeling that I have at least one bad bearing in my front diff. I just emptied the diff fluid, and replaced. The old stuff was funky and smelly, having been in there for 15 years and 150K miles... but the shavings on the magnet were very fine, no slivers, and did not seem to be unusual for the amount of miles. I don't use the 4WD[URL="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png"][URL="http://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png"]
[/URL][/URL] very often, and when I do it is only for very short duration, like maybe a 100 yards or less.
However, the last time I did use the 4WD extensively, I drove it about 15 miles, and the front diff overheated on the way home. I had to pull off the road and remove the front prop shaft to finish the final 2 miles to home or put up with a nasty scraping noise coming from the front end. The 4WD lever was stuck, and I could not get it out of 4WD, otherwise I would just shift out to 2WD. I suspect that the bearing problem had something to do with that shifting problem, as I shifted out to 2WD immeaditely after disconnecting the prop shaft.
Anyway, after getting it home, I put it up on jack stands. Turning the front diff by hand with the prop shaft taken off gives me a slight grinding noise/feeling... not smooth at all, but not locked up. The diff does turn, although not smoothly. I drained the fluid in expectation of seeing metal slivers... but there were none. So I refilled the unit and sealed it up... but I have not yet reinstalled the front prop shaft, as I want to take apart the diff and repair it.
I have never undertaken a repair of this nature but I am fairly mechanical and have a warm garage. I was wondering if there is any help on this forum as to what steps need to be taken to remove the diff, replace the bearings, setup the diff, then reassemble. A pictorial piece would be nice.
This is not a daily driver, so I don't mind having it torn down for a few weeks. I understand that setting up the repaired diff is tricky, so I am thinking about just doing the removal and reassemble and getting some experienced help with the actual bearing replacement (and whatever other repair might be necessary). If I were to take the diff out and deliver it to a mechanic, what might I expect to pay in labor to do the repair and setup?
Any help in this endeavor would be greatly appreciated.
Thx in advance...
[/URL][/URL] very often, and when I do it is only for very short duration, like maybe a 100 yards or less. However, the last time I did use the 4WD extensively, I drove it about 15 miles, and the front diff overheated on the way home. I had to pull off the road and remove the front prop shaft to finish the final 2 miles to home or put up with a nasty scraping noise coming from the front end. The 4WD lever was stuck, and I could not get it out of 4WD, otherwise I would just shift out to 2WD. I suspect that the bearing problem had something to do with that shifting problem, as I shifted out to 2WD immeaditely after disconnecting the prop shaft.
Anyway, after getting it home, I put it up on jack stands. Turning the front diff by hand with the prop shaft taken off gives me a slight grinding noise/feeling... not smooth at all, but not locked up. The diff does turn, although not smoothly. I drained the fluid in expectation of seeing metal slivers... but there were none. So I refilled the unit and sealed it up... but I have not yet reinstalled the front prop shaft, as I want to take apart the diff and repair it.
I have never undertaken a repair of this nature but I am fairly mechanical and have a warm garage. I was wondering if there is any help on this forum as to what steps need to be taken to remove the diff, replace the bearings, setup the diff, then reassemble. A pictorial piece would be nice.
This is not a daily driver, so I don't mind having it torn down for a few weeks. I understand that setting up the repaired diff is tricky, so I am thinking about just doing the removal and reassemble and getting some experienced help with the actual bearing replacement (and whatever other repair might be necessary). If I were to take the diff out and deliver it to a mechanic, what might I expect to pay in labor to do the repair and setup?
Any help in this endeavor would be greatly appreciated.
Thx in advance...
