I was rotating my tires and had the passenger side raised (front and back). Noticed when I tried to rotate the front wheel with my hands, I could hear the driveshaft "clunk". Got underneath and rotated the shaft directly by hand, and it would rotate maybe 20 degrees or so, before it would "catch" and stop. This was at the front end of the shaft at the transfer case. The back at the rear diff did not seem to move. While doing that, the wheels never moved at all.

My question is, should there be any play at all? Seems like it should be tight, even with the wheels up on one side. Is this a problem, and if so, how big?

I'm wrestling with the 60-70mph vibration problem and have been trying to figure out if it is wheel balance, driveshaft issues, carrier bearing, or all of the above.

Thanks all.

 

CyJag, having that much play is not good for the driveshaft. The trick is figuring out where the play is. I would try rotating the driveshaft again and see if you can spot where the play is coming from. I would expect a few degrees, but 20 is too much. This is the source of your highway hum that you are talking about.

Without knowing exactly which joint is giving you the play, it is hard to say how big of an issue this really is.

 

Thanks Thermo. I did a little more digging today. Gives me some ideas about what it might be, but an expert opinion would be appreciated.

With one side jacked up, when you rotate the front wheel, there is about a 20-30 degree "delay" before the driveshaft and the rear wheel start to rotate. When you rotate it back and forth, before it "catches" and starts to turn the driveshaft and rear wheel, there is a soft metallic clunking sound coming from the transfer case area.

When you rotate the rear wheel, the shaft seems to start rotating much more in unison with the wheel. But you get the same delay before the front wheel starts to rotate. And the same sound, maybe even a bit louder.

So it seems like the looseness is at the front of the driveshaft, or the transfer case. FWIW, I get the "deceleration whine" when I let off the gas at higher speeds, whether in Drive or Neutral.

So I am thinking it could be any of the following:
1) transfer case slowly devolving into sack of hammers
2) this bearing (https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...ng-p-ns-60135/)
3) driveshaft needs "indexing"
4) driveshaft needs replaced

I am thinking driveshaft due to the decel whine, and I think I can even do #3 or #4 myself. But don't want to if it isn't really the problem. I am open to diagnoses or additional troubleshooting steps. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

CyJag, based on what you are describing, I think you are looking at a transfer case that is on its way out. The "final" check that I would do is to get a second person to watch the transfer case and see if the play is coming from inside the transfer case or if it is coming from the CV shaft for the front wheel. It is possible you have a bad CV shaft. But, from what I have seen, you are more than likely looking at a transfer case with either a bad bearing or getting ready to fail completely. This is one of those things that it will be cheaper to get it repaired now before something breaks and sends metal chunks all about the transfer case.

 

If you are needing a driveshaft or a transfer case I have both from a 2004. low miles on her. Let me know as I am clearing the parts rack to make room for a new project.


Thermo if you feel like making a drive up. I can use some help .LOL

 

Thanks again, Thermo, although it doesn't sound like good news. I will dig in some more and see if I can isolate.

Is it possible it could be the joint on the front end of the driveshaft, as opposed to the transfer case bearing or innards? Anyway to tell? I guess I am hoping it's the driveshaft, because I can do that. The TC much less confident in my abilities.

Is there a source of rebuilt TCs? I googled around and didn't find anything. All I found was used ones from part outs, and those were expensive enough, and they seemed like a gamble to be better/worse than what I have now. And shops around here don't want to even look at Jags, much less rebuild components.

 

CyJag, it could be a number of things. Granted, based on reports from people here, a majority of the times it is the centering bearing that goes. Very few had to worry about the U-Joints first.

As for a rebuilt transfer case, it should be something that a local tranny shop should be able to do. You may need to give them a few part numbers for the bearings (lots of posts here with the numbers). But, the internals are pretty straight forward and the shop should be able to do it all for you.