guycar778 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Hi all! :-) I put my 1993 Pathfinder into 4-hi the other day. No real reason. Noticed that there was a terrible rattle noise right afterwards when the vehicle was in motion. Kinda sounded like a couple of rocks in a coffee can, best way to describe it. Slipped it back into 2 wheel. Light went out on the dash. Continued driving and the noise remained. Backed up a few feet, then continued on my way. Now the noise was gone. I can repeat this now every time. Put it into 4, drive along and hear the noise, put it back into 2, noise remains until I do the back up for a few feet. What's up? Auto hubs gone? Any help is appreciated! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushnut Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 were you on dry pavement? how fast were you going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guycar778 Posted September 26, 2014 Author Share Posted September 26, 2014 yep dry pavement. no more than 50km/h Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 Could be bad CV axles or hubs. Backing up to disengage the hubs is normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpecialWarr Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 I think that it may be the AutoLocker hub engagement ring inside the hub. Mine was cracked and made a noise like that before I changed them for manual hubs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 When I had auto hubs and one was failing (probably could have gotten away with a teardown/rebuild. There's a how to somewhere here for that) mine would make a noise similar to spinning a ratchet. Reverse to disengage and fine until I locked the front in again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guycar778 Posted September 26, 2014 Author Share Posted September 26, 2014 So swapping on some manual hubs is probably easier than rebuilding the auto hubs you figure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Plus stronger and more reliable. Also allows you to switch between 2 and 4 wheel when you're driving if you lock the hubs in when you hit the trails. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 +1, sounds like the auto hubs crapping out. Mine did the same thing after I made the mistake of cleaning/regreasing one of them. I can only assume the black sticky grease that was in there was the only thing making the worn-out clutch bits work. My fix was a set of manual hubs. Sure gets your attention when one pops half out and starts clattering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gv280z Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I'm on the worn CV axles train. You only hear it when the hubs are engaged because that's when the cv axles are turning, and clicking. I've got a bad one I need to replace too, you can even hear it on of my videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 (edited) I'd check the cv boots, if there in good shape, I'd blame the hubs. My cv boots were shot for the better part of two years driving on anything from asphalt to mud and wet sand, still made zero noise. I get a similar noise in my hubs in 4-Lo/reverse, not in forward though. I plan on swapping to manual hubs eventually. I serviced the auto hubs when I dropped the engine in a few months ago, along with rebuilding/rebooting them at the same time I did the engine swap. CV's usually are more noisy when their loaded and turning. Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps. Bubba..... Edited October 8, 2014 by Manik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manik Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Rebuilding and rebooting the CV axles I meant. Bubba..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guycar778 Posted December 31, 2014 Author Share Posted December 31, 2014 just got under there finally, as the weather has been pretty good this winter so I haven't needed to use 4 wheel drive yet the noise looks to be coming from the front diff / front driveshaft u joint connection u joint seems pretty tight I didn't jack up the truck, just crawled under and checked for u joint play with trans in neutral and in 2 wheel so front disengaged I heard the noise when I spun the driveshaft with my hand very faint noise, but it seemed like it was coming more from the diff area rather than the u joint, but still close to the connection at the u joint, and not back in the diff housing so noise seems to come a bit forward of the u joint any more ways I can troubleshoot this without taking apart the front axle? I'd rather not if I don't have to I was thinking about just pumping the front diff full of fluid to see if it quiets down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guycar778 Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 more symptoms I found, hopefully can lead to a better idea of what's broken put her into 4h and got on the gas, and there was no noise let off the gas and coasted, noise came back this was pretty consistent, noise under deceleration, no noise under acceleration then, while in 4h, had to do a sharp, low speed left hand turn, which caused some thumping, clunking and wheel hop right after this on a straight-away, there was no noise at all under accelleration or decelleration... none at all kept driving straight with no noise for about 250 meters or so, then had to make a gentle right hand turn, which caused the noise to return I'm pretty baffled because this is way above my skill level I'm trying to get a sense of what's wrong to decide if it's worth spending $$$$ to fix, or if I should just live with it, since it spends most time on pavement in 2wd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr8xr7 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 My trouble was like yours. In my case, is was a rusty heat-shield, which broke off of my exhaust manifold. When the 4-wheel drive was engaged, it was wedged in in the axle and would make a terrible noise. My 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebayfish Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 I had a similar issue as gr8xr7, gave me one more reason to get headers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guycar778 Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 sure enough, that was it couldn't see it from below the truck, but from above it was plain that the heat shield was interfering with the driveshaft I yanked it out and now all is good! I suppose I'll need to put something back on the exhaust pipe to help shield whatever it is that needs shielding, but for now I'm happy I've got a 4x4 again before the snow hits thanks for the ideas guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 You don't need it. I've got headers on mine and they came with no shields. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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