4WD howling

[ilovjeep]

When I have my 88 xj in 4x4 part time there is a howl (I believe from the front diff.) when I on dry pavement. I know I am not supposed to in this on dry pavement but in NY doing the winter time there is bare street then snow drifts for a few feet then back to bare street. While I am driving through snow or what ever needs 4x4 the howling stops. I have no problems with the 4x4 it works great, just the howling is driving me nuts. Could this be a bad front diff. or what? The front ujoints have been replaced a while ago, but this happened before the ujoints where changed. I know the gear oil needs to be changed badly, but could this be the problem or I do I have a bad front diff?
It is 88 xj inline 6, AW4, 231 tcase, 124,*** miles on it.
Thanks for all the help,
DR

 

[Eagle]

It's your transfer case tearing itself apart.

You said it yourself. You know you're not supposed to drive in 4WD on bare pavement but you do it anyway. You'll get away with it for awhile ... until the day you suddenly find that you have 0WD.

 

[ilovjeep]

The chain is tight I know that for sure. There is nothing wrong with my transfer case. It sounds like it coming from the front diff. How am I supposed to drive when the you got bare pavement and then snow drifts for a while and then back to bare ground. I didnt want to keep shifting in and out of 4x4 every little bit so I lefted in it part time (especially half the time I got to back up a about 10 feet to get it out of 4x4). I want to get NP242 case in the near future.
DR

 

[crystalship1]

FWIW .... I've got a '97 w/100K and when I engage the PT4WD on dry pavement I get no howling, just a bit of a rumble. But that sound had not changed since the day I drove it off of the Jeep lot.

Has it always done this or did it just start?

When I have my 88 xj in 4x4 part time there is a howl (I believe from the front diff.) when I on dry pavement. I know I am not supposed to in this on dry pavement but in NY doing the winter time there is bare street then snow drifts for a few feet then back to bare street. While I am driving through snow or what ever needs 4x4 the howling stops. I have no problems with the 4x4 it works great, just the howling is driving me nuts. Could this be a bad front diff. or what? The front ujoints have been replaced a while ago, but this happened before the ujoints where changed. I know the gear oil needs to be changed badly, but could this be the problem or I do I have a bad front diff?
It is 88 xj inline 6, AW4, 231 tcase, 124,*** miles on it.
Thanks for all the help,
DR

 

[ilovjeep]

always done it since day one for about three years now. I know it has been a long time nothing has changed or went bad since then.

 

[crystalship1]

Well ............ I guess if I were you (always done it & almost 17 yrs old) I'd have it serviced (fresh fluid) and drive on. However, Eagle may be right in saying one day you'll have 0WD! Carry a cell phone and join AAA!!!

always done it since day one for about three years now. I know it has been a long time nothing has changed or went bad since then.

 

[Eagle]

When I drive under conditions such as you describe, I do what you admit to being to lazy to do ... shift in and out of 4WD. That's what the little handle next to the shift lever is there for. The simple fact that you have to back up to get it out of 4WD is proof that your drive train has bound up. I'd like to have a 242 transfer case, too, but the 5-speeds only came with the 231 and I don't need it badly enough to swap cases. I can shift.

 

[ilovjeep]

I was not going to go to your level of being a jerk but I have too. I never said I was lazy, all said was I didn't want to keep shifting in and out of 4x4 while driving down the street. All I got to tell you is F.UCK YOU. You also have a lifetime membership as being a jerk. I am so happy you can shift. Mods can delete my name or ban my IP address. All I wanted was some information not a jackass (you must be democratic you fit being a jackass so well)
After thinking about it I didn't get that much information from this website.
Thanks to all that helped and that were not a jackass like eagle.
Don't try emailing or anything If I don't know the name it gets deleted. Also I don't care if you respond to this post or not. As far I am concerned you are a p.isshead.
Thanks for telling what the handle was for I thought it was for me to shove up your ass but then you might like that to much.
PS Why the periods are between the letters is so you can see what I am typing.

 

[crystalship1]

Hmmmm.......... well, Eagle I guess I'm not the only "thin-skinned" non-member around here that gets turned off by mods that would rather expend their energies pointing out posting infractions rather than answering questions and promoting a friendly environment (especially to newbies and potential paying members) where ideas can be expressed and help can be asked for and received. Nice work!!! So... do I get banned for telling one of the emperors that he has no clothes???

PS - If you are a democrat I hope you use the same recruiting methods at the poles as you do here!!!

I was not going to go to your level of being a jerk but I have too. I never said I was lazy, all said was I didn't want to keep shifting in and out of 4x4 while driving down the street. All I got to tell you is F.UCK YOU. You also have a lifetime membership as being a jerk. I am so happy you can shift. Mods can delete my name or ban my IP address. All I wanted was some information not a jackass (you must be democratic you fit being a jackass so well)
After thinking about it I didn't get that much information from this website.
Thanks to all that helped and that were not a jackass like eagle.
Don't try emailing or anything If I don't know the name it gets deleted. Also I don't care if you respond to this post or not. As far I am concerned you are a p.isshead.
Thanks for telling what the handle was for I thought it was for me to shove up your ass but then you might like that to much.
PS Why the periods are between the letters is so you can see what I am typing.

 

[ilovjeep]

that is the thing I had my check ready to be mailed.

 

[crystalship1]

Everytime I get close to doing the same thing some ass-hat (opposite of asset) proves that until get mods that want to play nice and put growing a better and more helpful resource above telling people what posting rule they broke and how the question that they asked isn't worth asking, its not worth a dime!!!!

that is the thing I had my check ready to be mailed.

 

[Beezil]

It's your transfer case tearing itself apart.

You said it yourself. You know you're not supposed to drive in 4WD on bare pavement but you do it anyway. You'll get away with it for awhile ... until the day you suddenly find that you have 0WD.

hmmmmm.....

I drive all day long on dry rocks, slickrock, and other far worse forms of dry pavement in 4 lo. I've punished the same t-case in this manner for years. There is no purpose to scare people into thinking that occasional, mostly straight-line driving on patchy dry pavement will lead to catastrophy....

and I thought *I* was an asshole

 

[Kejtar]

I drive all day long on dry rocks, slickrock, and other far worse forms of dry pavement in 4 lo. I've punished the same t-case in this manner for years. There is no purpose to scare people into thinking that occasional, mostly straight-line driving on patchy dry pavement will lead to catastrophy....

True but the following:

I know I am not supposed to in this on dry pavement but in NY doing the winter time there is bare street then snow drifts for a few feet then back to bare street

Makes it sound like 4H is being used all the time and not only in a straight line. If there are only patches of snowdrifts I would ask why you need 4wd (but that's a topic for an altogether different discussion).

In any case getting back to topic at hand: how fast are you driving on dry pavement and how fast through the snow patches? is there a difference when you turn? can you feel a difference in steering when you turn?
Also you're saying that you know your chain is tight: how are you able to make that determination (just curious)

Lastly you're saying that you need to back up to get it out of 4wd. This is kind of interesting as 231 is supposed to be shift on the fly and I don't recall ever having to backup to get it out of 4wd. Is your linkage adjusted right? (or would it not be linkage related? not too sure on that)

 

[8Mud]

Darn guys! Somebody has a bad day and/or makes a slip of the keyboard and we go straight to the castration knife. Be a little flexible, good days, bad days, smart days, dumb days. Ain´t nobody perfect.
I´ve found Eagle to be helpful and trustworthy, if you have a beef why not, private message him and ask for an apology. Don´t know him well, but know enough, he´d think it over and probably make a balanced judgement and say he is sorry or not.
Nature of an organization, is as a group, there is a greater well of knowledge than as an individual, pull out the usefull information, ignore the junk. Or do like I do wait your chance and get even, in a controlled manner.
Now back to the original question. Grab your front differential yoke and shake it up and down, if it´s at all loose, your probably gonna have to adjust the bearing preload (and probably sooner than later) replace the pinion bearings. Same with the front transfer yoke. To check the carrier bwearings, your gonna have to open thee case. Possible you have a dry front, axle shaft U joint, some replacement U-joints come nearly dry and need to be greased before installation, some come with packing grease, that needs to be removed and the correct grease added, just because it´s new doesn´t mean it´s good. They get much louder when in four wheel drive, when they are dry or rusted.
Last note, knew a guy that bought a XJ, with a 231, decided to drive it everyday in four wheel, lasted him less than three months.
I had a XJ, with a 231, shifted it in and out as necessary (patches of snow), got caught in an near miss with a truck, while in 2X, when I needed to be in 4X and bounced my XJ off the guard rail. Guess you have to find a balance between, praticality and fair wear and tear on your transfer.
I know one thing for sure, a few times I´ve left mine in 4X a little too long on near dry pavement. it has gotten it hot enough to hiss, when water dropped onto the T case. Water boils at 212F, at around 240 your Dexron is probably burnt.