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Mystery driveline sound.....?

soulslngr

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Northern NJ
on an 88 Limited. I am trying to diagnose/solve a noise coming from under front and I thought it might be driveshaft related. It is a sh-sh-sh-sh-sh sound that speeds up with wheel/driveline speed, but no relation to engine speed. Sometimes louder, sometimes gone altogether ....Just changed fluid in TCase and gonn do the diffs soon also. also lubed front slip joint, and rear ujoints (couldnt get to front ujoint on front shaft...any tips) So any hints on either would help me a whole lot !!!! thanks!
 
does brake pressure or turning the wheel one way or the other affect it? sounds like maybe a build-up of rust or just a peice of rust rubbing on the rotor as it turns.... i had a bent dust shield/backing plate on a car once that did that sound exactly.... the backing plate had rusted off one of the mounts and was rubbing the edge of the rotor..
mike
 
Does your '88 have a double-cardan joint in the front shaft where it meets the t-case? I just spent the last hour getting incredibly filthy, taking my front shaft out so that I could grease that double-cardan (including the ball joint).

....was up gathering a few cedar bows for Christmas, and the front shaft started to squeek after blasting through snow for the day.....must have cleaned the grease out of the joint running through the wet snow.

Quiet as can be now.
 
For the hard to get grease zerts, get a push type fitting for your grease gun. I got one at NAPA ... part #7151219. Works great for drive shaft grease zerts. Cost $10.49

Try jacking your truck up so you can rotate your tires by hand. Makes it easier to locate where the sound is coming from. Your front drive shaft will turn even with one tire up, so you should be able to tell if the sound is coming from there. Once you locate where it's coming from, then you should be able to take necessary steps to correct it.

Les
 
thanks for all the tips...I'm going to check into them in the morning... How would I go about lubing that double cardan (which I do have)? and by a push fitting for the grease gun, do you mean one with a conical point on it instead of the one that snaps onto the zerk? wow....cool, you guys are so helpful, cant wait for daylight to slide back under there and check it out!
 
soulslngr said:
thanks for all the tips...I'm going to check into them in the morning... How would I go about lubing that double cardan (which I do have)? and by a push fitting for the grease gun, do you mean one with a conical point on it instead of the one that snaps onto the zerk? wow....cool, you guys are so helpful, cant wait for daylight to slide back under there and check it out!

If you've got the OEM ball joint/trunion combination (haven't yet re-built it and replaced it with the greaseable Spicer equivalent), then you'll want to get a syringe tip for your grease gun to be able to get enough grease into the ball joint to get the needle bearings lubed up.

The stock ball joint and trunion (at least on my '98) was a "sealed" (yeah, right) unit, so after a little water/snow incursion the needle bearings were washed clean of grease, dried, rusted up and turned to dust - resulted in an annoying sqeaking, and finally a clunk as the trunion began to wear down. It's inevitable that this'll happen eventually if you wheel your truck....the OEM unit is not meant to last.

abo.sized.jpg


Yes, the conical fitting is the one that you'll need for the recessed grease fittings (if you have 'em).

If you take the driveshaft off the vehicle you can manipulate the double cardan to be able to get at the grease points, and to spread the grease around. Doing it on the truck is well-nigh impossible. I take mine off twice a year to get all the old watery grease out - though still will grease the accessible fittings at the regular intervals with the shaft on the truck.
 
DMMcG said:
If you've got the OEM ball joint/trunion combination (haven't yet re-built it and replaced it with the greaseable Spicer equivalent), then you'll want to get a syringe tip for your grease gun to be able to get enough grease into the ball joint to get the needle bearings lubed up.

The stock ball joint and trunion (at least on my '98) was a "sealed" (yeah, right) unit, so after a little water/snow incursion the needle bearings were washed clean of grease, dried, rusted up and turned to dust - resulted in an annoying sqeaking, and finally a clunk as the trunion began to wear down. It's inevitable that this'll happen eventually if you wheel your truck....the OEM unit is not meant to last.

abo.sized.jpg


Yes, the conical fitting is the one that you'll need for the recessed grease fittings (if you have 'em).

If you take the driveshaft off the vehicle you can manipulate the double cardan to be able to get at the grease points, and to spread the grease around. Doing it on the truck is well-nigh impossible. I take mine off twice a year to get all the old watery grease out - though still will grease the accessible fittings at the regular intervals with the shaft on the truck.

I have a double cardan joint at the tcase end and a greasable ujoint at the other. Looks like I have to get myself a manual for instructions on removing and greasing. Any tips for me along the way? thanks again for all the help, oh btw it kinda of resembles a nice that the speedo cable in older VW used to make....sounds familiar to anyone out there? thanks, have a good one!
 
The fitting I listed the part number for is to use with regular check ball type grease zerts which can be a pita to get at sometimes. The tip on the push type is concaved so it can cover the top of check ball zert. I use the push type fitting with a handheld grease gun (which came with a pointed tip) ; I screw it over the pointed tip.

I have the recessed fittings on my axle joints which are located in the end caps. I have recessed fitting on these. The drive shafts still have the check ball zerts in the trunions. I use the push type fitting for these.

The handheld gun is easier to use ... It doesn't take three hands to pump, hold the gun, and hold the fitting on the zert.

Les
 
soulslngr said:
I have a double cardan joint at the tcase end and a greasable ujoint at the other. Looks like I have to get myself a manual for instructions on removing and greasing. Any tips for me along the way? thanks again for all the help, oh btw it kinda of resembles a nice that the speedo cable in older VW used to make....sounds familiar to anyone out there? thanks, have a good one!

You don't need no stinkin' manual. My front driveshaft is held in place by a couple of u-joint straps and four 8mm bolts in the front, and another four 8mm bolts through the yoke at the t-case. Fighting with an 8mm wrench in the tight space is a pain, especially if the bolts are torqued down. It's one of those situations where you almost go out and spend the $$ on a small, good quality ratchet....then decide against it cause you're cheap, and figure that the bruised hand/knuckles won't be so bad...then regret it afterwards...'til next time when you do it all over again.

If you loosen off the front straps first, you can then spin the driveshaft to get at the bolts in the yoke at the t-case....if you don't have the t-case skid, you'll be in a better frame of mind than me when I'm working on the thing.
 
lbexj said:
I have the recessed fittings on my axle joints which are located in the end caps. I have recessed fitting on these. The drive shafts still have the check ball zerts in the trunions. I use the push type fitting for these.


Les

what do the recessed fittings look like? I think I might have those on the caps of the joints in the double cardan...almost looks like a hole in the cap or something....ahh sooner of later I'll get caught up on the maintenance of this thing.......looks like tomorrow might be throttle body (again) and front diff.. :wierd:
 
The zert is kinda flat, but dished in somewhat. It has a hole in the center. I'd venture to say that if yours appears to be a "hole in the cap or something", that's what you have. If so, you are in luck because these make it much easier to lube a joint IMHO.
 
lbexj said:
The zert is kinda flat, but dished in somewhat. It has a hole in the center. I'd venture to say that if yours appears to be a "hole in the cap or something", that's what you have. If so, you are in luck because these make it much easier to lube a joint IMHO.


Pirate is good for all manner of things - here's a pic of a recessed grease cup.


lube%20cv.jpg
 
lbexj said:
I have the recessed fittings on my axle joints which are located in the end caps. I have recessed fitting on these. The drive shafts still have the check ball zerts in the trunions. I use the push type fitting for these.


Les

axle joints? I dont know the location of all of the lube points yet....do you have a count on them? and if youre in a good mood maybe a rundown of the location....?
 
Even those flush/recessed zerk fittings can be a pain to pump grease through. I've found it easier just to remove the fitting, use the pointy tip on the grease gun you would have used anyway on the fitting, then just press the tip against the hole where you took the zerk out. Grease flows really well, and squeezes out where need be. Don't forget to reinstall the fitting when done...

Ivan
 
OK, me too... '99 XJ Classic/Sport, 242 tx-case, 91k miles. Totally unmodified, no marks on the skidplates. I've had it on local fire roads a couple of times, at moderate / slow speeds. No evidence of any abuse. Just got this vehicle ~2 months ago. Has a VERY annoying sounding coming from the Left Front. Infrequently when hard braking (straight ahead), more frequently, but not constant when turning RIGHT and BRAKING. Grinding, Rattling j- although sometimes I wonder if the coil spring might be making part of the noise.

My first thought was brakes, but there is no visible wear/gouging on the rotors, calipers seem free and does not pull when braking. Inner fender liner showed some rubbing, so I removed it, but the noise continues. With the front end jacked up, I get NO play when attempting to more the front left wheel. I did not look at the outer U-joint, but the thing drives well - theres only noise when turning Right, especially when applying the brakes.

The front axle has plenty of lubricant. The only thing I note visually is a plastic "plug" that the left front axle shaft goes through as it exits the housing is not seated in the housing - it looks like a plug, not a seal, although it might be, but no leaks. I've wondered about worn bushings in the front end, something changing position under the weight of the vehicle that I can't duplicate using just my body strength.

This board has been super at shortcutting my troubleshooting, so let me thank you all in advance for any assistance you can offer!

Larry
 
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