need parts... driveline failure

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Don Donaldson

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well my awd v8 swapped sport trac and me are having a bad week... Something catastrophic has failed in the drive line... here are the facts:

>previous to the the event of failure the car seemed to bind up on turns as if the awd viscus coupling was locking up and not allowing any differentiation. The car also exhibited a popping sound on turns.

>Well just before the "event of failure" a loud ping ping ping noise started to come from the front end. I limped the car home and let it sit for a couple of days over the weekend before I could get a chance to work on it.

>On sunday I drove the car and it seemed to work fine except for the binding up on really hard turns. I checked the CV joints and they are in great shape. There was a slight ping noise but I could not tell where it was from.



Today:

>This morning I drove the 4 mile from my house to FAU and it again drove great except for some binding when I made a tight turn into a parking space.

> However, when I left for lunch around 2pm I got just about a 1/2 mile from the school before it started to do the "ping ping ping" which within 100 feet became a "bam bam bam" as if some one was hitting the underneath of my car with a sledge hammer as hard as they could.

I immediately pulled over... now the car is stuck at a library about 2 mile from my house.

>I messed with it in the parking lot and found that the baming was quite a bit less violent when in reverse and making left turns and was worst moving forward and driving to the right.



So my thoughts is that the front diff has failed... and perhaps the transfer-case caused it due to not differentiating...



So it looks like I will be riding my bike to school for a while... :(



I have about $100 dollars to fix what ever is wrong. any thoughts.

-Don D.

 
my last really scary thought is this... I hope its not true but...

my rear is a 3.73 ratio and I ordered a 3.73 from a salvage yard... well what if they gave me the wrong ratio... that could mess everything up... but perhaps the truck would still drive normal because of the awd t-case allowing differentiation front to rear. Right out of a sport trac horror movie.

:eek:

-Don D.
 
I will agree that if you have ANY kind of MECHANICAL issue, 100 dollars will not do it...



Checking and confining the front and rear ratio is not a bad thing. Plus, in removing the covers it will give you a chance to look at the front and rear end gears and pinions. If these are all good, then chances are you will need to look at the AWD/transfer case unit.
 
I hope it is just the front diff so I can just disconnect the front drive shaft and the C/V joints and go use the car.



I don't believe that not having the front d-shaft connected would have an adverse effect. however I did read that if you do that you need to use the parking break as the car will very slowly creep down a hill if a shaft is missing.
 
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You're correct about the transfer case. I ran my 2000 Ex 5.0 AWD without the front shaft for about 3 years and 40K miles with no trouble. You will need to use the e-brake, otherwise the truck WILL creep. Ask how I know.....;) You don't have to pull the CV axles unless you want to though, or unless you pull the front differential. I eventually pulled all the front stuff and put on 2WD spindles and brakes.
 
Well take out the shafts, Front and or rear and drive it to diagnose if you have no lift to jack it up and test..



I happen to have a complete 3:73 Front diff here, and soon a 4:10 diff I may part with..... they will just need new axle seals installed.....( about $25 bucks)



Sorry to hear about the issues, I hope you find it and it is easily fixable....



EDIT: I may only have 1 diff in about a month.... 1 is damaged....



Todd Z
 
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removed the front drive shaft and the truck seems to drive fine... I am hoping its the C/V joint on the front drive shaft itself, but that may just be wishful thinking...



-Don D.

 
I wouldn't be so quick to condemn the front end because it drives ok without the driveshaft. The transfer case splits power according to the speed of the driveshafts via the viscious clutch. Removing the driveshaft simply takes the entire load off of the clutch in the transfer case, it does not eliminate it as a problem. On these systems binding up while turning is a classic sympton of the transfer case going out but other things need to be checked. Make sure the tires are all the same size, and by this I mean physically measure them even if they are the same brand. 1/2 inch difference in tire size from front to rear will cause the transfer case to prematurely fail. Also in your case you need to verify the ratio in the front diff.
 
Your CV axles are fine. If they were bad it would not matter how fast slow or how tight the turn was. I would take the front and rear diff covers off and count the teeth on the ring and pinion gears do the math and you can verify the gear ratios.



I guess my question is why do want AWD? Your gas mileage is worse, since you cannot turn the front wheels off.



And if you want a 4wd vehicle how come you did not use an F150 manual shift t-case?
 
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> chad,

At the time I could get an AWD transfer case for FREE because it was in one of the donor explorers I used to get the mustang motor (crate 302) compatible with the swap car. I just took the explorer accessories/ brackets, intake, 4r70w transmission and the 4404 awd xfer case + a front end I ordered at a salvage yard... Give or take that is what I have done for the swap. (I started with just a donor car then realized the return-less fuel problem... so then came the return-less crate motor)



I really want to get an Atlas II 2 or 4 speed transfer case (only $200 more for 4 speed) but they are around $1800 to $2000 to get everything I need to set up the truck.



At this point I would love to switch to f-150 4406 t-case but that at this point seems to be more than a weekend activity which is all I have time for. (in school and that is more important)



-Don D.

 

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