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Differential or sometyhing else? Help pls.

K

kristiyano

CEG'er
Joined
Aug 25, 2006
Messages
84
Location
Kensington, MD
The problem happened about 10 days ago. I was making a left turn and it was a bit wet so i spun the wheels. I heard a strange sound, something like metal is breaking. My first thought was "ohh sh*t, the diff. probably broke", but the car was still moving and responding on the accelerator that in my head ment that it was still good. After about 1/2 mile of straight road the car felt like it had a flat tire, when i started to hit some corners there was a weired metal clicking (left and right turns) and a bit lost on power. When it did the clicking the whole front end rose up just a tiny bit. I manage to drive the car home and when i tried to park it , i had the steering wheel to full right and the right wheel had locked and was dragging while the left one was pushing the car.
What I have done so far:
Took both axles out and checked for damaged. They were ok, I even took them to a shop.
Everything underneath the car looks ok, but I found a bolt that had fallen on to the rack and pinion. The rack and pinion itself does not have any bolts missing.
Does this sound like the diff is acting up? Can a diff be partially broken, but still be able to move the car? Any suggestions and help is much appreciated.
Thanks.
 
Yes, it can do that. It will start to slip and grab when the teeth on the planet gears go south. Time for a rebuild. I'm guessing taking a stock trans. down the 1/4 didn't do it any good at all. When you inspect it will look like this.
standard.jpg
 
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To me it looks axles
If the clicking noise happens only when car turns (you can hear it at low speed) it has something with axle joints!
 
for bolt look at tranny housing bolts (the bolts which holds tranny to engine block) and engine mount bolt, look if they are missing or not?
 
I missed the clicking sentance. That is usually a big sign of an axle. If they are original that could surely be the cause.
 
The bolt is about an inch an 1/4 long and its probably a size 12mm (I tried to find it, but it is somewhere hidden in my tools). There is no clicking in a straight line. I did couple of 4k rpm starts because I thought that if the diff is going bad it would just break and I would know for sure, but it did not break. It felt as usual. But as soon as you tilt the steering a bit the it starts clicking and popping and it ruins my mood. The clicking is really heavy, sounds like a bolt is breaking or metal parts breaking. It occurs irregularly not in intervals.
Btw the axles are stock, but a guy from the local shop said they were still good. He also told me that my problem is the Ford badge on the car :).
 
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How would he know they are good? Has he opened the CV boots on them and inspect the joints? Fail.
 
I took the boots off on both axles. There was no missing or loose parts. It looked normal , with slight discoloration (the insights had the color of a heavily used flywheel if that makes any sense).
 
Hard to tell by your discription but have you checked the bearings in the front hubs? Make sure your axel nuts were on tight too.

Recently I had a ABS sensor dragging on the ABS ring (on the axel) and it made a strange grinding sound. Turns out I had a bad bearing too so I replaced the entire assemply. Needless to say all the noises up front are gone.
 
Hub bearing generally makes noise all the time, but if a sudden lockup one could brake against the axle and make a worn axle click--check 'em. Since boots are off axles grab the short stub ends and pull them off center and wobble them in a full circle at max angle. You may be able to feel where the damage is. Axles can feel really good until you angle them, they don't run there nearly as much, most wear is in the nearly straight position. This results in a normal wear pattern that makes a smooth groove in the plane that the balls follow while axle is straight. The clicking results from angle change which forces the balls from one well worn groove into the rest of the machined as new groove which was not as worn because outsides never contact until a turn either way. Imagine a narrow deeper groove worn right down the middle of a wider shallower one. The difference in the wear and the as new groove is a ridge that the balls have to deal with as they travel from the middle (worn) to either side. Balls will pop and snap around trying to find out which side of that ridge they should be on. That's what makes the clicking or snapping sound when turning. You could have cracked a ball in half or other, it may work seeming normal then lock up real good. You can't guarantee it's not axle without fully disassembling the unit down to every last part, damage could be hiding back inside somewhere. Also, a bad set of spider gears in differential might make similar type noise. I don't know for sure, haven't heard one, but the logic is there. Spiders do not turn when car going straight, they become part of the rotating diff mass. They free up and spin only when turning either way. I'd say axles first since you can get to 'em, you really do not want to pull that tranny unless you like bleeding time/money.
 
I will inspect the axles over tomorrow, but just in case ill grab a pair of new axles and try it out. I really think thats the problem, so i will give it a try. The bearings are fine, they move easy and there is no signs of wear.
amc49 I think that it takes time for new groves to occur and the problem would get worst with time, but this happened in a split second. As for the diff, you dropped some knowledge on me dude. Thanks.
 
You may have the grooves for a long while and not notice, but if a ball cracked suddenly, ???
 
Your diff is fawked - my car did the same exact same thing and I thought it was the CV's. A shop already told you they were fine - stop driving your car before one of the cracking, metal breaking noises puts a hole in your transmission... :nonono:
 
I dont mind tacking the tranny out, but i would hate it if I do it and find out the diff was not the problem.
When you take out the axles you can kinda see the diff inside. From what i see everything looks very well. Should there be some visible damage from where the axles go in?
 
kristiyano said:
After about 1/2 mile of straight road the car felt like it had a flat tire, when i started to hit some corners there was a weired metal clicking (left and right turns) and a bit lost on power. When it did the clicking the whole front end rose up just a tiny bit. I manage to drive the car home and when i tried to park it
Click to expand...

As Kyle and I stated it sounds like the diff. This quote is what told me. The slip and grip comments. No you can't see the damage done to the diff. by pulling the axles! Did you look at my giant pic? Can you see the diff. gears? No.
 
The pin in center will pretty much block your view of gear condition.
 
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