Clunk In 4X4 Front Left

[Mullo]

I have recently bought my first pathfinder (1994 ST). It has been a great car given its age and Km's. I live in Newcastle, Australia and have the spectacular Stockton Beach at my door step. I have had my pathy in the bush and on the beach nearly every weekend since I bought it and have a problem that I cant seem to fix.

 

When I drive in the bush it goes perfectly through and over some fairly mild 4x4 conditions (Low Speed). Whenever I take it on the beach I get an intermittent clunk coming from the front left. It sounds like the diff binding and then releasing but I have had it serviced and found no faults. It is not a constant ticking (like a broken tooth) and it doesnt seem to be when the front axles are heavily loaded. The only common actuation of the clunk is when I travel at approx 40Km/h but even then it comes and goes.

 

I originally thought it was the manual free wheeling hubs popping out under load. I Have since serviced them for no improvement.

 

Has anyone experienced this problem? Any suggestions are welcomed.

 

My pathy is not modified, it is a 4 door ST with the 3L V6 engine (330,000kms). Its past life did not include any 4wding (Soccer mums car).

 

I have been watching this forum for a while and it seems to be very helpful, hopefully someone will know my problem.

[Precise1]

That seems odd, but my guess is that one of your CVs are binding and the intermittent issue is due to the front end switching to the unloaded side.

There is th possibility of the front cross member making noise also. There is a write up in the Garage/ How To section for that...

 

B

[DavefromOZ]

G'day Mullo, welcome mate. To me it sounds like you have a dodgy CV joint, not a dificult fix.

 

Make sure you pop into the Aussie thread and say g'day as well mate, Cyril is in Newcastle and Stocktons is his regular stomping ground.

[Mullo]

Thanks guys, I will roll the big girl into the shed today and have a look.

[Cyril]

How did you go Mullo ,

 

Was it the CV or the locking hubs . Also had my hubs serviced and they still clicked and ended up getting AVM hubs and they fixed the issue . If you still have an issue you can try mine to see if it's something else .

[Mullo]

So, I pulled the passenger side axle out on Sunday and gave the inner CV a general cleanup and repack (Plus replaced upper balljoint as it had split the rubber boot). I needed the car back together so did not have time to do the outer but have heard that the outers are not really servicable? I did not notice any damage to the inner CV. Took it for a run at the beach last nite and still had a click (Was not as noticable or as frequent but still there).

 

I was driving initially and it still sounded like it was coming from the passenger side. I gave the missus a drive and as I was in the passenger seat it sounds as though its definately somewhere near the diff. I dont think its the hubs (or even the outer CV's), the noise is not coming from that far out on the axle.

 

I did notice when I had the shaft out that the mounting bushes on the front of the Diff (To the chassis from memory) were pretty worn to the point that I could see straight through were I should have seen the rubber bush. Are these a pressed in bush? How difficult to replace? Could it be causing some grief?

 

Thanks for all the suggestions guys

[GrimGreg]

Could be the bushings, also check the crossmember bolts up there, they can make noise after a while and need retorqued.