real tim eff up

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sarca

sarca

I upped my wrenchin skills, now up yours!
10 Year
Joined
Jun 2, 2012
Threads
101
Messages
1,542
Location
Coastal NC
Website
onsc4x4.com
I believe I may have toasted the 40. After the Jeep pull yesterday the Huz left the hubs locked. I drove to work this morning about 20 miles. About 5 miles into it I realized there was a grinding noise when I let off the accelerator. It was 530 am on dark road. Once I pulled over safely I found I was right. I turned hubs .

After work I started driving home. Sounded worse. I pulled over again and called AAA to have it towed home. I'm just waiting on my tow now. How bad u guys think it is?
 
Methinks transfer case.

How fast were you going? Were you in 2WD or 4WD high range?
 
Driving with the hubs locked should not have caused the problem, but might have brought it to the surface. As I understand it, Warn hubs were optional and installed by the dealer. Some 40's don't have them and they're always ready to have 4wd engaged.

I suggest draining the diff oil and looking for shavings and teeth before doing anything major.

Edit: Just saw Johnny's post. Guess everything depends on where the noise is coming from.
 
Any grease in the front diff?
 
I never did more than 40. I believe it was in 4hi if he didn't unlock hubs. AAA guy asked me if I wanted to sell it twice in 5 minutes.

I couldn't be more devastated.

I will go through everything and start with obvious first.thanks David and Johnny. As soon as I get home I'll get started.
 
Driving with the hubs locked won't cause any problems..... that is just pure coincidence.
 
sarca said:
I never did more than 40. I believe it was in 4hi if he didn't unlock hubs. AAA guy asked me if I wanted to sell it twice in 5 minutes.

I couldn't be more devastated.

I will go through everything and start with obvious first.thanks David and Johnny. As soon as I get home I'll get started.
Click to expand...

The transfer case can be in three different positions from the factory:
- 2hi
- 4hi
- 4low

The hubs have no effect on the transfer case.

If your transfer case was in 2hi and your hubs were locked, then the transfer is likely OK. The front driveline would spin as a result of the tires spinning, but they'd be only spinning, not driven.

If you were in 4hi or 4low and your hubs were locked, then I'd start looking at the transfer.

The problem with driving in 4wd, with the hubs locked, on the street, is that when you go around corners, the front axle travels a wider arc than the rear axle, meaning that the axle shafts spin at different speeds. However, the transfer tries to spin the front and rear drive shafts at the same speed. This causes binding in the transfer case.

So, after getting her towed home, is she in 2WD or 4WD? If you look at the transfer case, are there any big leaks or any holes?
 
sarca said:
She's in 4hi
Click to expand...

Crap, you read my post before I was done editing it for clarification :D

Don't fret yet. Go take a look at your transfer case under the truck and see if it's got any big leaks, or if anything big is missing. If it looks alright, then shift it into 2HI and take her for a nice and very slow spin.

Please report your results;)
 
I checked underneath while I was waiting on the tow. There was nothing to be seen. Switched it to 2H - ran it easy up and down the street a couple of times no more than 25. Seems normal. Think Im okay? Im going to go change the differentials
 
Give a good shake to the front driveshaft where it connects to the tcase output. There should be no play. If the output bearings are worn, you are going to get an amplified noise there driving it with the front hubs locked (in 2wd or 4wd). That would be my guess if there actually was any issue. You might just not be used to the noise of the front drivetrain spinning at any speed above 10mph or so, it's somewhat noticeable on a 40. My truck came from Japan with drive flanges that I swapped out for some crappy Warn hubs as the second owner. So it's first 60k or so of life, the front drivetrain was always spinning. Of no coincidence, my front o/p bearing on the tcase blew up at one point. It's not that bad to rebuild, just a PITA to drop it with the factory crossmember. GL.

:beer: R
 
sarca said:
I checked underneath while I was waiting on the tow. There was nothing to be seen. Switched it to 2H - ran it easy up and down the street a couple of times no more than 25. Seems normal. Think Im okay? Im going to go change the differentials
Click to expand...

Grinding noises are never a good thing, but it's not necessarily catastrophic either. Where did it sound like it was coming from, up front, under your seat or in the back of the truck?


I'd recommend changing both differential fluids and transfer case fluid, while checking for metal flakes in the oil. Small, very small, filings are normal, anything bigger than a fine grain of sand is a bad thing.


Remember that LCs are very tough vehicles. They're designed to go to hell and back, twice, before needing maintenance. A bit of grinding isn't the end of the world :D
 
You are screwed!

Better call that tow truck drive ASAP; then take his money and buy you an 80! :steer:

J/K Hope it's ok! I do that in my old F150 more than I should. Damn locking hubs...
 
I drained front diff and tcase- didn't see any flakes.. that's good! Going to drain transmission and refill all of them tomorrow.
Some bubbles in front diff. Probably from the Heep rescue.. I love u guys. Talk about a support group!
Pics in a sec
 
The only plug with shavings is the transmission all drained.

ForumRunner_20130401_170355.webp


ForumRunner_20130401_170443.webp
 
Yeah, you're fine. Wiggle everything like Ramon suggested and then keep on driving!
 
I guess I was freaked at the possibility of damage I mayve caused in ignorance - which IMO would be a far greater sin than WILLFUL damage: D does that even make sense? I felt so much better draining the fluids and seeing for myself..I'll definitely try Ramon's idea tomorrow.
 
I drove the bronco from greenville to greenaboro with the hubs locked. Couldn't hear the noise due to no doors, but it obviously causes no problems. Other than jonny's tcase explanation.

Goodd feeling of relief I'm sure.

Smile!!!
 
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