Drivetrain play, diff, u joint?

[Krazyistkarl]

Alright, so recently I've noticed some play while coming to a stop and starting up again, it only does it while in drive, I tested by **carefully** slipping it in neutral and braking and no play present. Any help diagnosing what the cause could be is much appreciated. I've greased all the u joints twice this winter

[Krazyistkarl]

And I forgot to mention, although hard to hear while driving, if I sit in the back I can hear the differential "weeeerring" slightly while under load, it stops when you let off the accelerator

[Krazyistkarl]

I just dropped the diff oil, and wiped off the mag plug, and there is some metal in the oil, enough to move the tissue when the magnet comes near, I don't know if this is a normal occurrence or not

[Krazyistkarl]

All the U joints seem to be fine, but there is some play on the rear drive shaft and the transfer case, and a very little amount of play in the front drove shaft and transfer case. The front is almost non existent, the rear drive shaft might have an 1/8 inch of play, I'm not sure what's acceptable

[FalcoColumbarius]

Are you using the correct diff fluid? I know that there is a big difference in fluid between regular diffs and LSDs. Enough of a difference to damage the differential. I have LSD and it is signified with a tangerine decal (in Japanese) on the inside edge of the driver's door.

Falco.

[Big-Bird]

Rotational play in the driveshaft is normal. But axial(side-side) should be nill. There could be a bearing issue which would cause a low howl from the differential.

Have you had the differentials checked for excess play in the spider gears and/or the ring/pinion. You should unbolt the drive shaft at both ends and check the u-joints by hand then you know for sure if needles or cups are pooched or not.

If the u-j's check as ok then a clunk at the diff when you shift could be a sign of gear or bearing play but the only way to really check it is with the deli in the air and a tech moves the wheels and listens and feels for gear play in the pumpkins (tech talk for differential housing).

Other items to check are the transmission mounts, the rear suspension bushings of which there are several back there.

[stever1000]

Hijack:

I get a bit of gear whine/howl on the highway at around 70km/hr but only when I go from accelerating to coasting with my foot off or barely on the pedal. What should I check?

[Krazyistkarl]

Hey big bird, I did actually notice that some of the bushings in the rear might be getting a little worn, but I'm not sure how it being in gear vs coasting would affect it.

And it's not an LSD in mine, I just swapped the rear diff fluid and I'll take it for a test drive later this evening and see if the howling is still there

[Krazyistkarl]

I'm back up at work now and won't be able to get any further with diagnosing these issues, but one thing I did notice is the lurching while starting and stopping is not present while in 4wd. So to reiterate, the small single lurch is only present while starting and storing in drive and 2wd not while in neutral or 4wd.

And I added a Lucas oil adative to the diff that's supposed to shell with dif howl, but it's still there while under load and stops when I let off the accelerator.

I am planning on getting a locker in the rear, so once I get a definitive answer on the proper locker, I can order that in.
I completely forgot about the shop manuals on here, so when I'm back home I'll go through all the checks on the rear axle as outlined in the manual and if it seems to check out, I'll pull it anyway and have the locker installed, and when it's out I'll drill and tap my air hole.

[Krazyistkarl]

I mentioned the problem to my dad, right away he suspected transmission, I was a little low on oil and it was just off its usual red colour, added seafoam trans tune and solved the problem completely. I'll be ordering a filter and changing out the fluid ASAP

[Krazyistkarl]

Oh, and I solved my differential sound too, that was as easy as cutting off my muffler, no more diff noise can be heard ;)

[stever1000]

I mentioned the problem to my dad, right away he suspected transmission, I was a little low on oil and it was just off its usual red colour, added seafoam trans tune and solved the problem completely. I'll be ordering a filter and changing out the fluid ASAP

Interesting. I will check my ATF fluid and maybe try seafoam trans tune too. I imagine its just like the engine treatment where you should drop the oil pan ASAP?
Cheers

[Krazyistkarl]

http://seafoamsales.com/can-i-run-trans ... id-change/