Front diff

[bhiggs89]

Looking for some guidance on a front end clunk in my 2002 Liberty Limited. Noise started recently, coming to a stop and accelerating away there will be an obvious clunking noise. This is speed related, and is present even when using the parking brake to come to a stop. At first I thought it was a CV joint staring to lock up, but it doesn’t matter if the wheel is straight or turning either direction. The noise, clunk, gets worse the more I drive (heat). After thinking about it more, it sounds like if you are trying to turn on dry pavement in 4wd.

I jacked the front end up this evening and noticed that most of the time I can spin one wheel and the other wheel does not turn, however occasionally it will and when it does it gets noticeably harder to turn to wheel. It would do this even with the transfer case in N, is this a sign of the front differential going bad?

Anything I can test, do for a diagnosis? Drain and refill the fluid? The jeep has 215K on it, it’s been in the family for 20 years, I bought it as a winter vehicle, but drive it quite a bit. Don’t think I have ever changed the diff fluid since we have had it.

Thanks

 

[Shankster]

I'm wondering if that points to failure of the joint between the inner axle shaft and the CV axle on the passenger side? I've heard that those can cause a clunk when that connection gets wallered out. If the splines are all jacked up between the CV axle and the inner shaft it could also explain why you can turn one wheel and the other doesn't move. That would be a much easier fix than the diff. If that's the problem you'll need a new inner axle shaft and CV joint.

As far as changing the diff fluid I'd say you're long overdue. If the problem isn't the diff I'd definitely get that fluid changed. If you're not in 4wd much the 215k fluid may not have seen much stress over it's life so hopefully is still doing its job somewhat but you want to get it changed all the same. Your rear diff fluid has a much harder life - if that's old too you should get that changed ASAP.

 

[Shankster]

PS, if that's the problem there may be a seal at the end of the diff that's been beat up by the axle shaft flopping around. Wondering if there might also be a bearing in there that should be replaced - hopefully someone with more knowledge chimes in.