Lost in Seattle

[scottandrina]

Hey all, I have a 97 jeep grand cherokee...thought the noise was the right wheel bearing...had it replaced by brakes for less in Seattle Wa to no avail..thank god my mechanics are ethical..they removed the new left front wheel Bearing put back the old one and used some sort of hearing device that was hooked up to the undercarriage of my jeep took a test drive and said Yelp its gotta be you front rear differential...they then jacked it back up unscrewed the front axle screw which is magnetic by the way..pretty cool..and Yes there was metal shavings all over the magnetic end of the nut..... so my question....how difficult is this to remedy and is it even possible to find the parts on my own? BTW my Brake mechanics charged me nothing for their 2.5 hrs. of work I will refer them to the world and beyond. It only humms when I'm coasting while I'm giving it gas the sound goes away?? I'm not a seasoned mechanic I just don't want to replace my whole transmission is i don't have to......please any help in this would be great thanks for your thoughts..

Lost in Seattle

[dksob81]

since the noise is there only while coasting then your front pinion shaft bearing is bad, which happens to be the easier bearing to replace.

Mark the relationship of the front joint (of the front driveshaft) and yoke, then remove the front driveshaft (if you have a CV type u-joint you will have to remove the entire driveshaft, u-joint type driveshafts you can remove just the front end). remove the pinion nut, mark the relation ship of the yoke and the pinion shaft then remove the yoke, pull the pinion seal out, and you will be able to see and pull the bearing out.

I would also pull the differential cover off and change the fluid and also check the teeth of the ring and pinion gears. to check the pinion gear you may need to pull the differential assembly out.