YJ go boom!

[holeski]

I was leving the shop today and I heard a "snap!" Sounded like a u-joint but I was still driving, so. Front drive shaft No, rear don't think so. Something in eather the T/C or tranny. Still have the AX-15 and NP231. It will drive but the knocking gets louder and faster with speed. If I put the T/C in nutral and shift though the gears it gets louder each shift up. Tranny in nutral and T/C in gear it dosen't do anything. If it's anything more then a T/C chain, I'm dumping the whole drive train for a NV 4500 tranny, A2 or Rock-trac T/C. If I have to do this the YJ will be down the rest of the winter and maybe part of next summer. I'm going to have Heather follow me home and we'll see if the Jeep makes it, If not Kevin be ready I might be coming for the trailer!!

[crazy4ink]

Man, that sucks! Hopefully it's just the tranny. I thought AX-15s were prone to failure after a while anyways. Since you're running a stroker motor and full widths, I'm surprised it made it this long.

[Chetnak]

Holy Cow that sucks dude....

[holeski]

I just had the tranny rebuilt about 1.5 2 years ago. I haven't changed the T/C in about 7 years now. It's had 35 or larger tires since then.Oh by the way I made it home. We'll see.

[crazy4ink]

The noise gets louder with speed...is it the clutch, pressure plate or flywheel? Those are the only things that I can think of that would speed up with engine speed.

[holeski]

I was trying to see if it might be the clutch. If I put the T/C in neutral, rev the motor to 2500RPM shift though 1,2,3,4,5. 5th being the loudest and push the clutch in is stops. Let it back out and its back. Clutch is only two years old. Centerforce II. Tranny shifts fine, T/c shifts fine. T/c fluid looks good. Tranny not so much. Looks like there might be some water in there, but I don’t know from when. So I pulled both the front and rear diff covers. I always forget how big the ring gear is in the Pro rock 60. They need to be changed but no water. Changed the motor oil while I was at it. Redrove it and the knock is still there but not as loud. Next week I’ll have to pull the drive train out and look at the clutch, open the T/C and tranny and see what looks out of place.

[mousee]

if it is the clutch, I have that new C/FII pressure plate new in box...

[crazy4ink]

When you push the clutch in, all the noise stops? +Sounds like something with the clutch or flywheel man. +Maybe you broke the middle out of the clutch disk. +Maybe a flywheel weight came off. +Does it drive alright (other than the noise) when you are going down the road?? +Maybe you'll luckout and it's not the tranny.

[holeski]

It drives fine and shifts nice. But the nose gets faster as I shift up gears and keep the RPMs the same. So that should mean it's not the clutch.

[crazy4ink]

Noise is grinding, popping...what kind of noise?? Sound like metal on metal, something thumping around loose??

[holeski]

When it happed it sounded just like a u-joint busting and the driveshft flopping around on the skid plate. now it's almost like a gear is not engaged right and just the tip of the tooth is hitting, but drives fine. the faster the tranny turns the faster the noise, dosen't mater if I'm moving or not.

[crazy4ink]

I know in the AX-5s, they are prone to busting the reverse gear. Is there a specific gear in AX-15s that is prone to breaking or is weak from the start?

[holeski]

o not any one gear. The snco go out on 1st and then work there way up. But thats not this.

[Chetnak]

Hey Eric mine did that awhile back now that I think about it and it ended up being the spinder gears in the rear..... I was driving down the road right after a trail and a huge pop and then that loud clicking sound. It went away and then would come back every once and awhile.

[holeski]

It will do it sitting still with the T/C in N and the tanny in gear. The rear is fine, I checked it any way, it neede to be changed.

[Fix_It]

eric my yj did that when the chain started slipping . it happened right after a big race driving home .. i thought the same thing tranny (i had the peugot ) pos ..but it turned out np231 chain . the more pressure i had on the chain (speed,hills ) the louder it got . when cold it was quieter once been spinning a few blocks it got louder ..i figure chain cold it was tighter when warm it had the most slack ..i hope this helps ...

[holeski]

That was my first thought, but I stuck my finger in there and it seemed tight. I drain the tranny and see what comes out. If no chunks I'll refill and drive. If it still does it I'll drop a new chain in. If it still does it then well it all trash.

[crazy4ink]

Well, hopefully it's the t-case chain then. Much better to buy the $200-ish heavyduty t-case chain versus a tranny...

[ajpthng]

This may not be it but it's a thought. It may be your trough out bearing, my Buddy's XJ did something similar, when he would speed up and shift it would get louder and if he held a constant speed it was their but not real loud. Just my .02

[nate379]

The chain would only slip in 4wd though...

[holeski]

Well I drained the fluid and it didn’t look all that bad. Some metallic but not as much as I was expecting. No big chunks or anything. No water was setting on the bottom. Refilled half way and ran it throw the gears and it only did it in 4th and 5th. So drained and will refill full and see what happens. At any rate it’s on its way out and the NV 4500 is on it’s way in. I will have to save up, but it’s going on there.

So I will some what soon have a belly-up skid plate for a YJ for sale and maybe a NP 231 with HD SYE.