99 LandCruiser Grinding Noise in Gear - does not move (1 Viewer)

[cruisercrave]

I experienced a little hesitation on the car first time about 2 weeks ago and again this week around 20-30mph possibly when gear was changing. Today I felt the same while dropping off kids and when coming back as I was accelerating away from stop sign I got maybe 5 feet heard a loud noise and then the car would not move anymore and a loud grinding noise is heard. I had the car towed to my house and I took this video where I can see that if I accelerate while in park there Is no unusual noise but as soon as I put it into gear the loud grinding noise kicks in.

I record the noise while in gear in this video linked to below:

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

I am guessing my transmission is toast but wondering if anyone else experienced this or has any advice on next steps.

Thanks.

P.S. It has 239k and I have been doing regular maintenance since I got it 6yrs ago when I sold my '06.

 

[khymel5]

It's probably your hub flange / CV axle teeth which are stripped and grinding past one another. This is much more common than transmission failure, and much easier/cheaper to fix. Try engaging the center differential lock and seeing if the car will move. If it moves with the CDL engaged, hub flange is most likely the issue.Take off your hubcap and then pry off the little dust cap and take a picture for us.

 

[cmck]

What he said.... usually due to poor c clip fit or poor quality cv axles (or both) that start the “grinding” of the front hub splines.

 

[MountaineerLC]

Odds are the above is right on the money. C-clip probably popped off.

 

[cruisercrave]

Thank you khymel5 by pressing the center diff lock I was able to drive the car into my driveway from the street with no noise while in gear. I love these landcruisers but am not versed into the differential locks it has center/rear... what does that button do that allowed the car to move?

With the hub dust cap off I see the driver side had a little break dust in it (no mettalic stuff in the dust) and I see yellow grease still there.

But the passenger side seems like its coming off because I can only see about half as much of that part the red arrow points to and there was mettalic shavings in the break dust.

I don't want to take up too much of your time - Is there a post I should search for that describes possible fixes so I can talk to my mechanic about this and get the right parts.

Thank you, much appreciated!

 

[Flipped Bezel]

Look hard at that passenger side shaft/drive flange. Looks like the C clip was about to strip off the shaft. I'd guess it is worn out and spinning when in gear

 

[cmassa]

You'll likely need to replace the CV axle, flange, snap ring, cone washers on that side. The outer seal on the differential can also be replaced easily. The splines are likely worn or stripped out. I recommend oem toyota parts only. Aftermarket axles are asking for trouble. And while you're there you can service the wheel bearings if you want.

 

[badlander]

Also service the needle bearings inside the knuckle. By the looks of the grease on the end of the axle the grease in the needle bearings is probably dried up too.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

LC doesn't move in 2WD but does in 4WD...Need advice please!

forum.ih8mud.com

There's one of several threads that are similar, you can find them by searching a variety of topics - flange, grinding, c-clip.

You were able to move because locking the center diff allowed power to go to the rear axle. Without it locked, power goes to the path of least resistance, in your case the wheel with the axle that can spin. Same concept as in winter, power goes to the wheel that slips.

Many people are able to pull the axle back out, reseat the clip, and be fine. But, you should address why it popped out - groove in the axle worn enough to allow it to? Groove gotten worn enough that it's now just slightly wider that the clip (the clips come in .1 different sizes for this reason). Additionally, now that it's spun in the hub, the teeth on both the axle and hub flange have probably ground each other down, so reseating the c-clip may not even be effect.

 

[CanyonLX]

If it still drives and goes into gear, it’s not the transmission. (Just had to get mine replaced)

 

[cmck]

LC doesn't move in 2WD but does in 4WD...Need advice please!

forum.ih8mud.com

There's one of several threads that are similar, you can find them by searching a variety of topics - flange, grinding, c-clip.

You were able to move because locking the center diff allowed power to go to the rear axle. Without it locked, power goes to the path of least resistance, in your case the wheel with the axle that can spin. Same concept as in winter, power goes to the wheel that slips.

Many people are able to pull the axle back out, reseat the clip, and be fine. But, you should address why it popped out - groove in the axle worn enough to allow it to? Groove gotten worn enough that it's now just slightly wider that the clip (the clips come in .1 different sizes for this reason). Additionally, now that it's spun in the hub, the teeth on both the axle and hub flange have probably ground each other down, so reseating the c-clip may not even be effect.

It is best to use a new clip (that’s not sprung) and that also fits tightly into the width of the groove.

 

[cruisercrave]

LC doesn't move in 2WD but does in 4WD...Need advice please!

forum.ih8mud.com

There's one of several threads that are similar, you can find them by searching a variety of topics - flange, grinding, c-clip.

You were able to move because locking the center diff allowed power to go to the rear axle. Without it locked, power goes to the path of least resistance, in your case the wheel with the axle that can spin. Same concept as in winter, power goes to the wheel that slips.

Many people are able to pull the axle back out, reseat the clip, and be fine. But, you should address why it popped out - groove in the axle worn enough to allow it to? Groove gotten worn enough that it's now just slightly wider that the clip (the clips come in .1 different sizes for this reason). Additionally, now that it's spun in the hub, the teeth on both the axle and hub flange have probably ground each other down, so reseating the c-clip may not even be effect.

Thank you this is very helpful.

 

[cruisercrave]

Repair Update:

My LC is driving smooth again. My neighbors friend who is a mechanic was able to help me out by inspecting it and then I bought $90 worth of parts at the dealer and he installed them.

The hub flange was stripped, and the original snap ring was about half of the size of the new one. I didn't get a picture of the axle but it was only stripped at the end about twice the size of the new snap ring so we ended up not replacing the axle.

No strange noises or events after 30 miles of driving it. Thanks everyone for your help.