transfer case noise

[XWrench3]

Today was the first "real" snow day here, meaning that the snow actually accumulated on the roads enough to make them a slippery mess. i turned on to one of our two lane highways (55 MPH) speed limit, and by the time i got up to 35mph, i had gone sideways 6 times. so i slipped the transfer case up to 4 HI. well that was not at all what i had anticipated. it went in fine, like a vehicle with 167,000+ miles on it should. but when i tried to accelerate slowly, there was an utterly awful groaning / howling noise from what i have to assume is the transfer case, since engaging the case was the only difference. i let off the throttle, and the noise dissipated. slowly accelerating again, the noise came back after about 38 mph. so, keep in mind that i have only owned this vehicle for roughly 2 months. and this is about the 5th or 6th time i engaged the 4wd. the first time was on a sand road at about 10-15 mph. it made no noise, but it did feel to me like it was binding. about 10-12 days ago, i changed all the fluids underneath the vehicle. front and rear axle oil, engine oil and filter, automatic transmission fluid and filter, and transfer case fluid (atf+4 going into the transfer case and automatic transmission). so when i came here to post this, i ran across this,

https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/transfer-case-fluid.75746/

when i turned onto the road I live on (which is notoriously slippery when it has snow on it), i pulled it back into 4wd high range at a much lower speed, and it sounded normal (quiet) until i reached that same 38 mph. i slowed back down, and it was fine again. i never did go any faster than about 42 or 43 mph, as the noise was so bad. so i did not want to chance exploding the case all over the road. so i did have one thought / question, which is does the transfer case have clutches in it that require that additive that you use in Posi traction axles? one thing that i did not expect is that this SUV handles simply terrible in snow in 2wd. so it appears that i am going to need 4wd when the roads have limited traction available. any ideas what could be going on???

 

[tommudd]

KJs DO NOT handle terrible in snow, IMO and many others
tires are a lot of the issues when people say they handle badly
I've driven both the 03 and 04 in 8-10 inches of snow on the roads and they went fine in 2 wheel drive
That is running Duratracs on the 04 and Wildpeaks on the 03
Now I forget but have you ever checked the rear CV on the front drive shaft OR the right side CV and Intermediate Shaft The rear CV on the front driveshaft is usually good till about 75-80,000 miles before the rubber boot starts to let go. One KJ get together there were 25 KJs and 19 the rear boot was gone or getting bad

and no the transfer case does not require additional additives

what type of tires are you running and how much tread left on them?

 

[MarksmanAkula]

KJs DO NOT handle terrible in snow, IMO and many others
tires are a lot of the issues when people say they handle badly
I've driven both the 03 and 04 in 8-10 inches of snow on the roads and they went fine in 2 wheel drive
That is running Duratracs on the 04 and Wildpeaks on the 03
Now I forget but have you ever checked the rear CV on the front drive shaft OR the right side CV and Intermediate Shaft The rear CV on the front driveshaft is usually good till about 75-80,000 miles before the rubber boot starts to let go. One KJ get together there were 25 KJs and 19 the rear boot was gone or getting bad

and no the transfer case does not require additional additives

what type of tires are you running and how much tread left on them?

Id agree with Tomm and check your front driveshaft.

Like he said the Transfer case side of the shaft goes bad real fast and the bearings create this hellish noise. But you can rebuild it yourself for around $30.

Super easy and about a 20 minute install with snap ring pliers and a flathead.

 

[XWrench3]

what type of tires are you running and how much tread left on them?

the tires are some off brand (PROVIDER HT) tires, and i knew they were street tires. that being said, they have good sipping, and have 9/32" on 2 of them, and 8/32 on the other 2.

Now I forget but have you ever checked the rear CV on the front drive shaft OR the right side CV and Intermediate Shaft The rear CV on the front driveshaft is usually good till about 75-80,000 miles before the rubber boot starts to let go. One KJ get together there were 25 KJs and 19 the rear boot was gone or getting bad

no, i really have not looked at them. that would have been good to know before the snow hit us. as now i will have to wait for it to dry up in order to check them. its a melting, slush mess right now, and i do not have a place to get out of the weather. so i have to work in the driveway.

 

[tommudd]

Well half worn out street tires from a cheaper company, rubber compound not being the best, they will handle snow badly
As far as the rear CV on driveshaft and RF CV and Intermediate shaft, common issue on these KJs

 

[Doing10to20]

Kjs do good in the snow. Only time I've had issues is pushing it in the mountains with alot of snow. Gotta be your tires messing you up.. on the noise everything they said you gotta check

 

[JeepJeepster]

Well half worn out street tires from a cheaper company, rubber compound not being the best, they will handle snow badly
As far as the rear CV on driveshaft and RF CV and Intermediate shaft, common issue on these KJs

RF*

 

[XWrench3]

ok, I got a chance to crawl under it, and sure enough, the boot is torn. so I assume that means that the joint is dry, which is why it sounds like the devil being tortured to death? the right front shaft boots are fine. but R&R the driveshaft looks like a lot more than a 30 minute job.

 

[XWrench3]

oh, one more question, can I drive this with the drive shaft removed? its the only vehicle I have at this point that runs and is safe to drive.

 

[XWrench3]

Like he said the Transfer case side of the shaft goes bad real fast and the bearings create this hellish noise. But you can rebuild it yourself for around $30.[/QUOTE

Where did you get a rebuild kit for $30.00ish? the auto parts stores around here are in the $160.00-180.. range!!!!

 

[JeepJeepster]

Yeah, you can drive the Jeep as long as you need to with the driveshaft removed.

 

[MarksmanAkula]

If your transfer case CV end is bad on your shaft, rebuild it with this.

https://www.driveshaftparts.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=978&search=jeep liberty

Its the one I used, and I've seen many others on this site use. Install is super simple with a vise, snap ring pliers and a screwdriver.


And yes, you can drive with the front driveshaft removed. My liberty was gone around 6 months with the front shaft out.

 

[XWrench3]

https://www.driveshaftparts.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=978&search=jeep liberty

thanks, I did, and they do a nice job of packaging everything.

so now i have to decide whether i want to use the new allen bolts that came with them, or the factory regular hex bolts. if it was going to be a pavement queen, i would just use the allen head bolts, but its not, and i know what happens to allen head bolts in the dirt. they get packed with mud, and you have to spend half an hour digging the crap out of them before you can loosen them. if there is a reason i NEED to use them, let me know, otherwise these are going to go in the spare parts bin, and used at a later date on a different project.

 

[XWrench3]

Something just popped into my head. I'm not going to know if this fixes my problem until we get another snowstorm again, am I?

 

[MarksmanAkula]

Something just popped into my head. I'm not going to know if this fixes my problem until we get another snowstorm again, am I?

Find a dirt road or a general loose patch of ground and try it out. Dosent have to be snow

 

[tommudd]

thanks, I did, and they do a nice job of packaging everything.

so now i have to decide whether i want to use the new allen bolts that came with them, or the factory regular hex bolts. if it was going to be a pavement queen, i would just use the allen head bolts, but its not, and i know what happens to allen head bolts in the dirt. they get packed with mud, and you have to spend half an hour digging the crap out of them before you can loosen them. if there is a reason i NEED to use them, let me know, otherwise these are going to go in the spare parts bin, and used at a later date on a different project.

I always use the old bolts, I have a ton of those allen bolts they send along in the bin, gotta find something someday to use some of them up

 

[XWrench3]

well, one job done. now i have to find a squeak that is driving me NUTS! well, nuttier than normal anyway! lol

 

[Royy]

so now i have to decide whether i want to use the new allen bolts that came with them, or the factory regular hex bolts. if it was going to be a pavement queen, i would just use the allen head bolts, but its not, and i know what happens to allen head bolts in the dirt. they get packed with mud, and you have to spend half an hour digging the crap out of them before you can loosen them. if there is a reason i NEED to use them, let me know, otherwise these are going to go in the spare parts bin, and used at a later date on a different project.

Use the old hex bolts. I had issues with the inside of several of the allen head bolts getting ground down, so the allen wrench/bit wasn't able to properly grip the bolt anymore. The material of a lot of those cheap aftermarket bolts is just way too soft.

 

[XWrench3]

Use the old hex bolts. I had issues with the inside of several of the allen head bolts getting ground down, so the allen wrench/bit wasn't able to properly grip the bolt anymore. The material of a lot of those cheap aftermarket bolts is just way too soft.

I did, mostly because of the mud issues though. i did not even think about the strength of the bolts. but thanks, because that is good information to know, since i will use the bolts in some application. now i will know not to use them in a high stress application.