Fast help needed

[themangeraaad]

So i know this description might be a bit of a stretch to get any help, but i need to try, I head back to school on sunday and getting this problem now is a huge PITA. I have a manual, 4.0 XJ. Anyway, I drove out to the gas station, no problems at all. Got a drink (no gas, so no changes at all to the Jeep, no weight or anything) and as I was leaving suddenly there was a strange metal on metal type chirping sound, mostly under acceleration, and some deceleration when in gear. my initial thoughts were the clutch or transfer case, i became curious if I was extremely low on fluid in the t-case, but I checked and thats fine. Clutch, I dont know about. I know that after test driving, the weld holding the clutch pedal to teh pivot point for the pedal broke, so thats a weld I have to make tomorrow to get that workign again, but I dont think thats the problem, as the clutch would be fully engaged at all times with this weld broken. The sound seems to be coming from somewhere further back in the drivetrain. with the clutch depressed or the jeep in neutral, it still made the noise a bit, so I assume it must be somewhere in the rear half of the transmission, the t-case, or the rear end. I plan to check the tranny fluid tomorrow when I have some light. but my friend and i couldnt figure it out, and I am pressed on time, so if anyone has any ideas at all, i could use them. Although I am not sure, it may be the clutch, but idk, it just happened so suddenly, and it didnt drive any different when it first started. Would the weld starting to break possibly cause something to make a metal on metal sound like this that it might have been on its way out while I was driving and it just finally broke?

[xjtrailrider]

Does that chirping sound get faster with your ground speed? If so its probably a driveshaft "U" joint. Get up under there and check them out.

[themangeraaad]

All U joints are new as of last year, I replaced them all. It does seem to get a bit faster with speed, but I am trying to remember if it was with speed or as the engine reved. Part of me wants to say it varied with RPMs, which woudl mean its in the front half of hte tranny or clutch. I will have to check that out as soon as I get my clutch working again, but for the time being, I can confidently say its not the U-joints, or wheel joints, I have replaced all of those.

[Tally_XJ]

What about the slip joint on the front drive shaft? Mine has chirped like this before. Grease it just in case.

[Matthew Currie]

Put the TC in neutral to decouple it from the tranny. That should narrow the noise down a little more if it still makes it. It could still be inside the TC, but not at either end, obviously, and that would rule out the slip yoke, driveshafts, etc.