re. X-type 3.0l AWD 2005 automatic

Hi folks
i`ve just come back in from a short drive feeling rather depressed.
As i pulled out of the garage there was a nasty snappy/poppy sound, like a stone popping from under the tyre, 20 yards further and another clunk this time definately metallic.....Now i am left with a horrible rotating sound when i remove my foot off the gas or coast, , touching the throttle the noise vanishes . Car running fine otherwise..... Any ideas where to start ,bearings? driveschafts? Can anyone give me advice on how to start narrowing this down???
would be appreciated !!
Nige

 

hellokitty, I would start by first lifting an end of the car off of the ground and then attempting to rotate one of the tires (make sure the e-brake is off, but the tires properly blocked so the car doesn't move). If you can rotate all 4 tires (need to put the tranny in neutral to do the front tires) and there is no noise, then we know the transfer case is good and also the CV shafts are good. If you rotate a tire and can hear a noise, then you may need to get a second person and while one person rotates the tire, move your head around to determine where the noise is coming from. If the noise is coming from the front, I would start out at the transfer case. and then work my way out from there.

If you can spin all 4 tires with no noise, then I would get under the car and see how the rear driveshaft is. You should see a bearing around the driveshaft (directly under the front seats). Give it a tug side to side and see if you can spot any play. If you can see play, then the bearing is toast and needs to be replaced. Also give the U-joints a look and see what they look like. It is possible you broke a U-joint and you are running on only the front tires, but unlikely based on how the noise comes and goes.

 

Hi Thermo,first thanks for taking the time to reply,appreciate it!
i got all four wheels turning ,and had a faint grinding noise on the front right,probing around i found i have almost a 1/4 inch play on the inner end of the driveshaft(under the rubber gaitor nearest the transfer box) , not normal i take it !
can i assume that my transfer case is in this case fine ,or could it also have damage?
Also is it possible to replace the joint or do i have to replace the whole shaft ?
Thanks again and CHEERS

 

hellokitty, odds are, you are going to find that it is going to be cheaper to simply replace the whole CV shaft than to fight to find a new CV joint and replace only that.

As for the movement, is the movement on the CV shaft itself or is it where it goes into the transfer case? If it is under the rubber boot, then yes, your transfer case should be good, just don't do a lot of driving as this can potentially cause other issues. If you need to go somewhere, then by all means go. But, don't be planning any 1,000 KM trips with it like this.

If you talk with your local auto parts shop, they should be able to order you a new CV shaft. Worst case, you can look on e-bay and find them there too. Then the trick is finding a local shop that will install parts that you buy. Not all shops like doing this. Some appreciate it as they think finding parts for this car is hard and you have done the hard part of the job for them.

 

Hi again, ok here it is ,my problem doesn`t seem any easier. I`ve managed to get the Cv shaft out after a lot of cursing and the destruction of two 1/2" rachets and several other parts of my socket set (yeah they were cheap!)
There always seemed to be a lot of play at inner cv joint, however now that its out and i`d bought a new one, there is also movement at the point where it goes into the transfer case. Also i have not found any broken bits in the CV joint(which from the sound it made originally i think there should be), which makes me think, am i replacing the wrong thing???? any tests or suggestions i can use? PLEASE!!

 

Kitty, the noise can be from many things, even slight dimples in the bearing surface can make awful noises. Put it back together and see what you find. Without being there to hear exactly what the noise sounds like, it is a little difficult to analyze things. You can also try say spinning the front hub to see if there is some noise there (this would be an good time to replace the front hub since it is apart right now). The hub normally makes more of a whirring sound than say a metal clicking sound.

I guess one other check you can do is put the front end in the air and see if spinning one tire causes the other front tire to spin in the opposite direction. If it spins slower or not at all, then you may have hurt the transfer case.

 

Hi thermo, yesterday I done the check with the wheels, turning the left clockwise 1 full turn ,turned the right 1full turn anti clockwise and vice versa. However I did not have in N , it was in P .!!! And it was easy!
It's back together now but haven't been to test it, what I did see last night was that when I started up the car and pumped the brake pedal on releasing the pedaI had a clicking sound (plus visable movement) at the gear stick (selector),not feeling too confident about this anymore
Will let you know more later