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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / 4x4 Cars / November 2004Loud noise in 4wd--any ideas????
I have a 1993 Suzuki Sidekick. When in 4wd it now makes a loud clunking noise at random intervals. Feels as if it is under the car. Front axles are new, hubs are new. My mechanic found some metal bits in the front differential fluid. He is reluctant to diagnose it because everytime he is in the car, it won't make the noise! Does anyone have any ideas as to what it is -- i.e. differential or transfer case???? Thanks! Please email me if you can -- I'm new at newsgroups and hope I can find the thread again;) Are you driving on a solid surface like cement or pavement? Or loose like dirt, sand or snow? On a solid surface one axle will turn slightly faster than the other axle for various reasons, it can start to wind the driveline up like a spring until something "slips", either a tire against the pavement, or a car part gives way. >I have a 1993 Suzuki Sidekick. When in 4wd it now makes a loud > clunking noise at random intervals. Feels as if it is under the car. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > transfer case???? Thanks! Please email me if you can -- I'm new at > newsgroups and hope I can find the thread again;) Thanks "Rusted!" It has happened on solid surfaces -- wet/slushy, and on ice. Also, sometimes the "clunk" happens after I disengage the 4wd. This just started last winter after 10 years. Do you know of a way to fix this? One axle had been new and the other was replaced this spring in hopes of solving the problem. It sounds and feels terrible and has to be causing some kind of damage. Thanks! > Are you driving on a solid surface like cement or pavement? Or loose like > dirt, sand or snow? On a solid surface one axle will turn slightly faster [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > transfer case???? Thanks! Please email me if you can -- I'm new at > > newsgroups and hope I can find the thread again;) As the previous respondent intimated, you should not be using 4WD on any sort of paved surface. All permanent 4WD vehicles have a differential in the center which eliminates the driveline tension that would otherwise build up. When you engange 4Wd in a part time set up, it is assuemed that there traction is diminished to the point that any drivetrain buildup will be released by the wheels slipping slightly. If they cannot do that, as on a tarmac surface, then the tension keeps on building until either the wheels eventualy slip or somthing pops in the drivetrain. Thus do not engage 4WD on paved surfaces. I suppose that if the snow is thick to the point that you are not going to encounter any tarmac, then you might consider 4wd, but otherwise use it only when off road, eg mud, sand etc. Regards Stephen I could be wrong about this, but I thought that unless you have locking differentials (which I'm pretty sure a SideKick does not come with) your differentials will do there job (allowing axle slip) even in 4wd. I've got a Samurai, and although there is more resistance to steering in 4wd, there is not a solid connection between any of the tires. You can drive around and around in tight circles w/o tires slipping or anything snapping. If any one tire is off of the ground or looses traction, it will spin freely. This is why people spend money for limited slip diff's or lockers. Someone correct me if I missed something. -Will > As the previous respondent intimated, you should not be using 4WD on any > sort of paved surface. All permanent 4WD vehicles have a differential in [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Regards > Stephen > I could be wrong about this, but I thought that unless you have locking > differentials (which I'm pretty sure a SideKick does not come with) your [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > why people spend money for limited slip diff's or lockers. Someone correct > me if I missed something. Open diffs will keep each axle from binding up, that is they allow both wheels on the axle to operate at different speeds (i.e. differential operation). But, a part time transfer case is typically gear- or chain-driven and essentially locked, i.e. it allows no differential operation, front shaft and rear shaft turn at exactly the same speed. Drive in a perfectly straight line and this works fine. Make a turn and guess what? The rear wheels follow a tighter arc than the front wheels. A tighter arc implies that the rear wheels travel a shorter distance than the front wheels (remember 2 * PI * radius). To see this for yourself, find an empty parking lot with a puddle in it. Drive through the puddle then make a sharp u-turn. Hop out and look at the wet tire tracks. Identify the front and rear tracks and see how much tighter circle the rear wheels follow. So, while the differential in the axle can let one rear (or front) wheel travel a different distance than the wheel on the other side of the axle, there is no center differential to allow both front wheels to travel a greater distance than both back wheels. This is what causes driveline binding and that is also why its called a part-time 4WD system. -- Roger I see what you mean. I was thinking of just a side-to-side diff, I forgot about front-to-back. Thanks. Sorry for pooing on anyone's input. -Will |
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