Transfer case not engaging 2H properly?

[trekster]

Hello all,

Did a search but couldn't find the answer I'm looking for.

Car in question is a 98 2.8 Patrol with 303500km on it.


Went for a drive on the saturday with the in-laws and got ourselves to a beach which needed to go through some dunes to get onto the beach, engaged 4L no problems and drove in 2nd/3rd gear through and out onto the beach and back no problems, got back onto the dirt and put it back into 2H and off we went. And proceeded to drive an odd 60kms back home on the highway with no noises etc.

Sunday morning went for a short drive and as soon as I left my house I could hear this noise like gears not meshing (The same sort of noise when you go to reverse a car but don't engage the gear properly and it clatters along till you engage it properly) hopefully most people would know the noise I'm talking about. Got to my inlaws 5mins away and it was ok, reversed down their driveway and went to take off and it did it again, so I pulled over where I could shifted to 4H did a u-turn with no noises present, shifted back to 2H, reversed 5m or so to disengage the hubs and off I went no problems.

Went to leave work today and it was doing it again, so I pulled over, engaged 4H and drove home 1.5km with no noise whatsoever. So I'm thinking that 2H isn't always engaging properly? Has anyone else had this problem and what did they do to fix it?

I've had the car about 6weeks now and previous 1 owner was an old couple who never drove it in anything but 2H, could this possibly have something to do with it? I'll have to dig through all the receipts they gave me and see what oils have been done recently, maybe the transfer case oil needs refreshing?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,
Eric.

[93patrol]

have you tried putting it in 2h reversing for a coule of meters then driving forward? maybe the gears have binded up

[trekster]

have you tried putting it in 2h reversing for a coule of meters then driving forward? maybe the gears have binded up


I did try that, Will look again tomorrow, Physically felt I have been pushing the selector far enough forward, Oh just reminded me of one other thing

When it was rattling today when I stopped it sorta made a clunk like it had engaged? that is when I went back to 4H and drove the last bit home.


Cheers for the reply.

[Ben-e-boy]

have is been serviced recently?

[BearGUST]

Have you got auto or manual hubs?

[trekster]

Have you got auto or manual hubs?

Hey mate got auto hubs, the setting on them hasn't been touched, are they likely to get out of whack?

Went for a drive today, no noise whatsoever, very weird.


Cheers.

[Rustyboner81]

does sound like hubs. where are you hearing the noise from? front, rear from inside?
dont drive in 4wd on bitumen you'll tear youre driveline to pieces.
is your auto similar to all wheel drive where it shifts drive between front and rear??

[trekster]

Hi its a 5speed manual, the transfer lever has 4L - N - 4H - 2H

The noise sounds from underneath but its hard to be 100% sure.


It made the noise again today, pulled over and again it clunks then it is ok.

[Rustyboner81]

could it be your clutch throw out bearing or a uni-joint

[trekster]

could it be your clutch throw out bearing or a uni-joint

No idea, The clutch was done just over 6 months ago, weird thing is it never did this until we went 4wding last week........

[Rustyboner81]

caz what you describe sounds like to me maybe a roller or ball inside a bearing wearing flat spots. will be fine and then click crunch as they spin around. going by that i would say wheel bearing.

can you tell where roughly its coming from?

[happygu]

Eric,

Make sure that you are positively putting it into 2H and 4H - when you go through the Neutral Position, you need to Push the Lever Down as it passes through Neutral.

The only time I have ever had difficulty, is after I put the car into 4H on the bitumen and tried to turn around in my driveway... a lot of transmission bind, and difficult to get out of 4H.

The other thing with Auto hubs, is to Reverse for a couple of metres after deselecting 4H, and this will unlock the hubs

Mic

[krbrooking]

I had a similar noise when I first bought mine (99 2.8 gu) same thing only happened after the first time I took it off the road, I found the noise to come from the front left more so, turned out to be the front hub not disengaging properly I took it back to the sales yard and they fixed it. If you haven't tried yet drive with front windows open and see if you can narrow down where it is coming from. Also try and lock hubs in manually and then unlock them.

[trekster]

Also try and lock hubs in manually and then unlock them.

Should I lock them and then drive then unlock? Or is it just lock them on the selector then move it back to auto?

cheers.

[Bulbous]

Lock them manually and drive it for a couple of weeks. it won't hurt anything but it will rule out the hubs completely.

[93patrol]

You will use a bit more fuel though just to warn you not much but it's noticable


Just tap it in just tappy tappy tappy

[Bulbous]

You will use a bit more fuel though just to warn you not much but it's noticable


LOL I don't think that's the reason my 4.8 sucks down quite so much

[93patrol]

Ha ha no I bet it's not you need to go easy on that lead foot of yours


Just tap it in just tappy tappy tappy

[BigRAWesty]

I'd be looking at hubs. Do what you do to get it to grind and pull up your driveway. Jack one if the front wheels and see if you can spin it.

It could be your auto hubs failing and staying locked even in 2H.

If it spins freely then there good.

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?15134-Westy-s-Accessories.-A-small-back-yard-builder.)

[BigRAWesty]

Double post

[Rustyboner81]

I'd be looking at hubs. Do what you do to get it to grind and pull up your driveway. Jack one if the front wheels and see if you can spin it.

It could be your auto hubs failing and staying locked even in 2H.

If it spins freely then there good.

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?15134-Westy-s-Accessories.-A-small-back-yard-builder.)

x2, good idea

[trekster]

Hubs were locked this morning,

No noise that I heard, I only drive about 3kms round trip to work though.


Will leave them locked in for a bit then try again in "auto" setting.

Cheers.

[BigRAWesty]

Yea when you lock then you engage them, but in auto they may only be half disengaged and grinding.

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?15134-Westy-s-Accessories.-A-small-back-yard-builder.)

[trekster]

Yea when you lock then you engage them, but in auto they may only be half disengaged and grinding.

Yes fair enough, hard to say yet as when they were on auto it wouldn't make the noise all the time, So will leave it as stated before for a couple of weeks and see how we go, It wouldn't surprise me if they just need running a bit in locked mode as the previous owner never ever used 4wd ever. So maybe they need a bit of lubricating with the grease etc.... Well thats what I am hoping :D

[macca86]

Sounds like auto hub fail. If they weren't used then used they'll be stuffed for sure

[stuarts]

Eric

I have experienced similar issues and found it is coming from the hubs. In my Patrol, as soon as I hear the noise, I stop, reverse up for a bit then move forward and it seems to correct itself.
If this does not work for you, try locking your hubs for a while. This will do two things - cost you an additional 1 litre / 100K's in fuel and secondly stir up the oils in the front diff. I usually do this at least once a month if only highway driving. If your noise dissapears then you have narrowed down the problem to the auto hubs.
Hope this helps.

Stuart