krakhedd
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Buffalo, NY
2001 XJ, AW4, 231, 4.0.
Ok, so after a night of some good, abusive wheeling about 1 or 2 months ago, I started having a problem with my front axle. I am feeling industrious today, and also, the problem is starting to worry me/piss me off, so I wanna get some info on this and fix it ASAP.
I still get power to the front when in 4WD. I have a loose knuckle on the left wheel, I don't think that's the problem, but may complicate the issue, or at least complicate troubleshooting it.
The noise is DEFINATELY not coming from the 231. I had the wheel off and spun the axle, and it sounded like it was coming from either within the differential housing or the axle itself.
The symptoms are these:
1) When driving, as I go faster, more noise is generated. It sounds like gears meshing against each other, just a lot louder than normal.
2) When entering a highway via an on-ramp, the sound "oscillates", basically I hear it loudly, then it goes away, then comes back, then goes away, etc. This all happens very quickly, it's not like it goes away and stays away. I would imagine it would have something to do with different wheel speeds (inside vs. outside tire) since I'm turning right the whole time down the on-ramp. I don't know of any on-ramps I can take and turn left, so I don't know what happens if I turn left.
3) If it is a problem with the differential, as I strongly suspect, what is most likely the problem, and could the loose knuckle (which I've known to be loose since before this problem evolved) be complicating the issue?
4) The amplitude of the noise definately changes when I am going over uneven ground. Seems quieter, even to the point of disappearing (albeit briefly), when the front suspension gets even slightly compressed.
Hope to figure this out, and hope it doesn't involved pulling the front end apart, but whatever needs to be done to fix it, I of course will do.
Thanks for all info/insight you guys can give me!
Ok, so after a night of some good, abusive wheeling about 1 or 2 months ago, I started having a problem with my front axle. I am feeling industrious today, and also, the problem is starting to worry me/piss me off, so I wanna get some info on this and fix it ASAP.
I still get power to the front when in 4WD. I have a loose knuckle on the left wheel, I don't think that's the problem, but may complicate the issue, or at least complicate troubleshooting it.
The noise is DEFINATELY not coming from the 231. I had the wheel off and spun the axle, and it sounded like it was coming from either within the differential housing or the axle itself.
The symptoms are these:
1) When driving, as I go faster, more noise is generated. It sounds like gears meshing against each other, just a lot louder than normal.
2) When entering a highway via an on-ramp, the sound "oscillates", basically I hear it loudly, then it goes away, then comes back, then goes away, etc. This all happens very quickly, it's not like it goes away and stays away. I would imagine it would have something to do with different wheel speeds (inside vs. outside tire) since I'm turning right the whole time down the on-ramp. I don't know of any on-ramps I can take and turn left, so I don't know what happens if I turn left.
3) If it is a problem with the differential, as I strongly suspect, what is most likely the problem, and could the loose knuckle (which I've known to be loose since before this problem evolved) be complicating the issue?
4) The amplitude of the noise definately changes when I am going over uneven ground. Seems quieter, even to the point of disappearing (albeit briefly), when the front suspension gets even slightly compressed.
Hope to figure this out, and hope it doesn't involved pulling the front end apart, but whatever needs to be done to fix it, I of course will do.
Thanks for all info/insight you guys can give me!