Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hey ppl

my diff last night went on me i think in my 98 Vitara 1.6
went for a lil bit of 4wding nothing major pretty simple like over a bit of mud no rocks went back to the main road still in 4H and the hubs locked car started shacking and going all over road and didnt want to move had to really put my foot down scared the shit out of me took it out of 4H unlocked the hubs then it stopped put it back into 4H to see if it would still do it then it wouldnt stop when we took it out of 4H drove home with my hazards on doing 40 in a 80 zone for about 40mins car wanted to stop rolling on a down hill like a decent down hill at 40-50kms and dosent want to move at all in the front with out car moving it wont roll at all

took it to a mechanic this morning and he said front diff prob no oil and now its prob stuffed recomended me to diff specialist have to wait till mon

has anyone had the same prob or might know wat the prob is big help any info


cheers nick

when did you last check the oil levels? And if it had no oil, it was probably leaking, which you shouldve noticed and also the diff wouldve been loud when putting it in 4wd.

Chop

Are you saying you drove on the road with it in H4 with the hubs locked in. If so there is your problem, and your probably deserve the diff damage. If not why the hell did you drive home slow if it was the front diff gone. Unlock hubs and put it in 2wd and the front diff is isolated, so making no difference to or-orad manners.?????

Layto....

lay80n wrote:Are you saying you drove on the road with it in H4 with the hubs locked in. If so there is your problem, and your probably deserve the diff damage. If not why the hell did you drive home slow if it was the front diff gone. Unlock hubs and put it in 2wd and the front diff is isolated, so making no difference to or-orad manners.?????

Layto....

well buddy did take it out and the problem started literally when i got on the road at about 40 or so kms so it must have been doing it the whole time i wouldnt have known only doing under 20kms and its my first time going by my self or well me driving and i did take it out and then it stoped but after that i put i back in to see if prob was still there like maby i was dragging something etc. looked saw nothing tried it prob still there pulled over again unlocked hubs took it out of 4H and the car still did the same shit didnt matter if hubs were unlocked and if it wasnt in a 4wd gear so thats why i was driving 40 with my hazards

CHOPS1 wrote:when did you last check the oil levels? And if it had no oil, it was probably leaking, which you shouldve noticed and also the diff wouldve been loud when putting it in 4wd.

Chop

never checked only had car for about 6 months or so and they werent leaking

its a process of elimination, jack up the car and try each wheel, work through all your posibilities, cv's hubs, diff centre, transfer, gear box, check front diff mounts etc, could be just a combination of small things causing a problem. i assume you would have close to standard tyres and unlocked F&R? i don't think driving on the road in 4H for a short period would wind it up. possibly no oil in diff as already mentioned and going through mud has caused a hub to lock up?

Ric

thanks for that will try have a look but not sure really where to start lol or wat to look for i know in the front but ye if u get me havent really done this before

Mate, when ya reply try some punctuation and spelling with ya reply. Trying to read what you have posted is hard when there is no punctuation or grammar in it. Did you drive on the road with the front hubs locked and the car in h4???? If so for how long???? Does the problem go away when the hubs are unlocked and car in 2wd. Lift the front wheels off the ground, engage the hubs and try to spin the front wheels by hand ( t-case in neutral or 2H) see what happens. Reach under and try to spin the drive shaft. See if there is any binding, noises or slop in the front drive train. Check the oil level. Drain the oil and check for metalic contamination or chunks of diff. Re-fill with good oil and re-check.

Layto....

maybe check the front wheel bearings too while you have the front up and off the ground. any movement isnt too good.

with the hubs unlocked, you shouldn't have any drive to the front wheels. so if it is in 2H, and hubs unlocked, it shouldn't be anything in the transfer or front diff.

unless...... your hubs are full of gunk or rust, and when you have engaged them/locked them in, they have gotten stuck in the lock position, and when you tried to unlock, they have not moved. so even with the switch in the unlocked position, they might still be locked in. you may have broken the spring inside the hubs.

lay80n wrote:Mate, when ya reply try some punctuation and speeling with ya reply.