Well folks - take a look
http://members.aol.com/silvereightynine/stuff/7_1_05/
I dropped the center section today and started taking it apart to see if
I could find what was wrong. Symptoms were a grinding sound from the
front end, when on the ground and under throttle - almost always
happening in a right turn. I drove around for 3 days this past winter,
in 4Hi - and didn't know it. Thats when I noticed the noise. I
replaced the CV axles - didn't go away.
I discovered serious wear on the gear teeth after I removed the pin and
set screw. There are grooves in the surfaces of the teeth. The ring
gear and pinion look ok however. The smaller ones (dont know their
names - planetary?) are the ones in bad shape. I pulled the drivers
side stuf axle - the bearing surface looks good - some wear but no signs
of a grenaded bearing. I have not pulled the passenger side axles
because I need a snap ring pilers to remove the outer shaft before I can
remove the inner shaft. Stupid Central Axle Disconnect systems...
Until I pull that side - I can't inspect the bearings. I did notice the
axle tube seals seemed to start leaking more after the noise started.
Could a be weird coinsidance.
The pin that secures the two gears in the housing, shows signs of wear
on one end - (pictured) I don't know if that wear is normal or not.
I also inspected the CAD and the shift fork. The axle lock collar and
splines look fine. No sign if wear. That was my first thought when I
had the noise. I thought the splines might be chewing themselves up. I
did notice a good amount of blackend gear oil on the inside bottom of
the diff. And as I suspected - they are metal particles. Magnet test
confirmed that. No big chunks or bits of metal however. Just that real
fine layer on the bottom.
Question - have I identified my grinding noise?? Only other thing I can
think of is it could be an outer bearing and hub unit/s. They are
fairly new with few miles on them, but as everyone knows - the truck was
under water so anything could have happened.
-- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ****** COUNTDOWN TO 2005 DML BBQ *25* DAYS LEFT! ****** *Caution* Terrible Tom may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds. What pond? AIM & Yahoo: SilverEightynine - http://members.aol.com/silvereightynine/
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