Grinding in rear end...

i have a grinding sound in the rear of my 1995 roadeo 3.6l 4x4....it does it while backing up, and worse while driving. when you let off the accelerator, it makes a sort of whining sound and goes back to the grinding. i checked the brakes and they're fine. Is the rear end low on fluid? ( i hope!) i lubed the driveshaft and brakes and everything else and still the grinding is there.

I'd get a couple of quarts of gear fluid a new gasket, some gasket shellac, and pop the cover off the pumpkin and have a look.

how hard is that?

by the way, the gasket WAS leaking about a month ago, then it stopped. last week i used my 4x4 just about everyday, so maybe the fluid got used up an/or leaked out?!

Sounds like it ran out of fluid, thus the leaking stopped.

Hate to say this, but you may be looking for a new rear-end if it was ran completely dry your gears are probably shot.

It'll take a couple hours if it's your first time. Be careful with the brake line on the cover. Remove all but the top most bolt with a catch basin and newspaper underneath. Loosen the top bolt. Crack the cover off and let the fluid drain. Take the cover off. Clean everything up. Put the cover on with a new gasket. Torque the bolts properly. Refill. Hopefully that does it for you. Post some pics of the innards.

UPDATE: well, i decided to buy some fluid and fill it up just to see if it was indeed the differential. it took me an hour to get the fill/check bolt out, and when i did, sure enough it was low and maybe even out. i stuck my little finger in the hole as far down as i could and no fluid. I put in about 1qt and a half ( by the way those big fluid bottles are stupid...pita to fill the pumpkin with such huge bottles ) i cleaned everything up and just got back form a test run.

"grinding" sound did deminish ALOT, but is still there. I can mainly tell at lower speeds and when the tranny is downshifting. ( rodeo shifts fine, i made sure of that ) Its also very noticeable as soon as i let off the accelerator. So, is it something else, or are the gears f'ed? The grinding sound is very similar to spent brake pads on the rotors....

thanks for your help guys!!

You'll have to peak, but it doesn't sound good. You really should pop the cover and clean any debris out of there. Any chance water got in there while offroad?

Since you ran it dry you can pretty much bet the LSD is toast if yours has it (look for G80 on the options plate on the firewall). And a pretty good bet the bearings arent in very good shape either as well as the gears.

All else fails, if you're not able to open the pumpkin, get yourself a good suction pump, and go at it again....sucking the fluid out you just put in, and put more fresh fluid in there....do it again SOON. Like tomorrow, you need to get that debris out and away from the bearings/gears.

i dont think water could have got in there. i used the 4x4 on the roads during snow storm. the rodeo is sitting idle and will. i'm gonna take the advise and open it up as soon as i can. :uhoh:

what do u joints sound like when they go bad?

what do u joints sound like when they go bad?

They clunk and usually you get a vibration when driving.

no vibrations....

UPDATE 2: just opened up the pumpkin. alot easier than i thought...the oil was very dark gray colored with silver specs in it. i almost wanna think someone added that no leak crap...but no large metal pieces. the gears actually look good. i'm gonna let the oil drain for 24 hrs to get it all out before adding new.

also, i found where it could have been leaking. there's another seal where the drive shaft meets the pumpkin. thats where its leaking. Pinion seal?....:banghead:

http://i30.tinypic.com/k2iclf.jpg

http://i26.tinypic.com/2yo8qaf.jpg

http://i25.tinypic.com/bfi0zd.jpg pinion seal leak??

Yup thats the pinion seal. Try wiggling the pinion and see if it has any movement, shouldnt feel any. With the noise you are getting it may be possible the pinion bearing is bad or the nut backed off.

Some tiny silver flakes is fairly normal especially if the oil has never been changed and there's alot of miles on it. Before closing it up and refilling, get a couple cans of brake cleaner and spray everything inside really good to clean out all the junk.

Kinda hard to see the shape of the carrier in the pic with all the sludge (and my monitor is kinda dark) but looks like an open carrier, not limited slip.

Some tiny silver flakes is fairly normal especially if the oil has never been changed and there's alot of miles on it. Before closing it up and refilling, get a couple cans of brake cleaner and spray everything inside really good to clean out all the junk.


x2

Get it all cleaned out and make sure the mating surfaces are clean. I have a very minor pinion seal leak that dampens the pumpkin, but I've got to imagine it is a tiny bit of lube that gets by it. I'll bet the other leak was the culprit.

http://stu-offroad.com/misc/diff-1.htm
I should have given you that link earlier. It is of a D44 rear end like our Rodeo, but in a Jeep Wrangler. Maybe you can still get something out of it.

http://stu-offroad.com/misc/diff-1.htm

LOL I was gonna comment about his pretty chrome diff cover and how well they do offroad. Then I noticed the pic with the diff guard installed, then the bent lip.

Guess how I know about that..

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c337/Gizmo420/Moab%20ZuZoo%20X%202007/Img_0456.jpg
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c337/Gizmo420/Moab%20ZuZoo%20X%202007/Img_0457.jpg

Chrome don't get you home!

so if the pinion seal bearings arent bad, is it okay to drive? i've heard replacing the seal is a p.i.t.a, and i dont really have time to do that or the tools

It may be ok. If its still making any noise I would be looking for parts and expecting it to break though. When a diff breaks it gets ugly fast. Rather then pay someone to rebuilt it may be cheaper and easier to just find a complete axle from a salvage yard and swap it.

Did you feel your tires for the wheel baring?:naughty:

gonna go check movement on the driveshaft and tires for the bearings....will update soon

update: checked the wheels for movement, no movement.:grinyes: i checked the driveshaft where it connects to the pinion seal and it moves a little bit, not much. i put the new gasket, sealant and pumpkin cover back on. i'm gonna let the sealant dry overnight and tomorrow put the fluid in and test it out....i really hope it works!!!:uhoh:

everything is back together. i took it for a drive and it is still the same...whenever i let off the acelerator, it grinds. dont know what it is, and worst of all i called the local garage and they wont work on isuzus!!!!! anybody wanna buy a rodeo?

There are bearing DIYs out there...

I wonder what a shop would charge to do the bearing swap. It is a modified Dana 44 axle. I dont't think there is anything scary about it.

i found a shop that would work on it. they called back with the diagnosis: the reaer end is totally messed up. i was at work and my wife took the call so i'll get the details tomorrow. The cost is gonna be well over $1000....goodbye rodeo!:shakehead

Sorry...

A quick search on car-part.com shows 35 pages of rear axles ranging in price from $100 to $900. They arent hard to swap, a few hand tools, jack, and jack stands. Find a cheap one near you and swap it yourself.

well, a friend of the family who is a mechanic is gonna give me a second opinion. the garage that first looked at it told my wife that there are alot of bearings in the rear that need replaced...some cost $24, some $12, some 10 and some $4....and he quoted me over $1000 to fix...sounds fishy to me, so he's gonna look at it. He believes just the pinion seal and bearings need replaced....HOPE SO!!!!:eek:

this is to show that garages are rip-offs! cost of pinion seal and bearing: $50, cost of differential gasket and fluid: $ around 25. total $75 The garage i got my estimate from was gonna charge me over $1000!!:rofl:

this is to show that garages are rip-offs! cost of pinion seal and bearing: $50, cost of differential gasket and fluid: $ around 25. total $75 The garage i got my estimate from was gonna charge me over $1000!!:rofl:

Did you go back to that garage and give f*** off for an estimate of $1,000.00, I would never going to stop by that garage again...

there have been problems with that garage before with prices. i just needed to make sure my diagnosis was correct...wasnt gonna have them fix it anyway

UPDATE: the mechanic fixing the rodeo is having problems...of course. The bering in the rear got so hot that it fused itself to the housing. So he has to use a torch to get it out. He's also having trouble with some bolts that are just spinning...may have to cut them out. Know i know why everyone wouldnt work on these p.o.s vehicles. Nothing is easy to get to, and if you can, its a pain in the @$# to fix!!! :banghead:

The bearing issue was due to lack of fluid, could happen to any vehicle if levels are not checked or corrected at first signs of leaking.

Bolts spinning is more likely due to age, again could happen to any vehicle 7+yrs old.

Try working on an '04 Tacoma 3.4L, just changing it's oil is a headache, and my dodge diesel, well I don't even bother...it goes to my sister's brother-in-law who works on diesels for CDOT in Colorado. We just had to change it's fuel pump to the FASS system which wouldn't have been easy for us.

My rodeo has twice as many miles as these other two vehicles; we thought for years this Rodeo was a bugger to work on, until we got the newer Toyota and the Diesel. Changing the rear axle fluid in the Rodeo is a half hour job at most, changing it's oil is 20-min only cause I like to let the old stuff really drain out.

Changing the oil in the Toyota is a 20-min job just trying to get to the filter alone.

My opinion, find yourself a good honest mechanic and stick with him/her, I've found two very good Isuzu mechanics who have no problems doing my truck when it comes in for something I don't care to do.

Now, one reason why we got rid of our old '85 Toyota p/up was because the older it got, and the more parts that were replaced, more things would fall apart, primarly due to age. And, our mechanic got to where he didn't want to see it again and actually told us that.

However, in reality, it was a LOT easier to work on then our newer Toyota....which is a ROYAL pain in the arse for anything, including the shocks that are up and coming.

Thats why I would have gone with a complete axle from a salvage yard. Much less labor to just swap them so probably would have ended up cheaper and wouldnt have had to deal with the problems.

well right now I'm only at $300...a new rear end woul dhave cost me over $1000...noone near me had one on any site i went to. So, right now i'm still good money wise. The labor thing is true, but at least i know its gettin done right.

Let this be warning to others who let a "small" leak go...DONT :rolleyes:

Finally got the roadeo back. Runs great now. Put $450 into the rear end including all new bearings, gears, etc etc!! Plus gave the mechanic some $dough$ for his troubles.

Now onto the exhaust and engine oil leak...:banghead:

Wow alot less money then I would have thought it would end up costing. Now dont let it run out of oil again LOL.

That ended well! Wonder if I can get a regear in my Jeep from a shop like that...