This will be my first winter for my 2000 Xterra, 3.3 auto.
I am only at 96,000 miles.
I had stopped by a friends house, that lives a bit wooded. I had to park in a crummy wet grassy area. Which was fine with me.
I started spinning, so I had to put in t in 4wd, to pull out of it, since I was on a hill.
No problem, locked in and pulled right out. Thats nice!! But.....
I got onto the dry pavement, only 15 feet away. I never turned the wheels, was going straight. I put it back into 2wd, but the light stayed on.
So I put it into Neutral and coasted back, and the light went out. Okay....
I drove up the paved road, and seemed fine, but after turning a bend, then going down the next road, it sounded like a chainsaw running really loud!!!
I even looked around, I thought someone was doing something odd. It was my truck!!!
It stopped after about 100 feet. Then was fine. What happened????
Does anyone know???
I have winter coming and I just blew my wad on everything else including the timing belt, tune up, tires.....etc...ugh!!!
One other thing to try (and this comes from the old days with manually locking hubs), if it happens again come to a complete stop, shift into reverse, drive for about 10-15 feet or so, and then go forward again. Sometimes the locking mechanism can stick a bit. Usually the reverse will release it.
One other thing to try (and this comes from the old days with manually locking hubs), if it happens again come to a complete stop, shift into reverse, drive for about 10-15 feet or so, and then go forward again. Sometimes the locking mechanism can stick a bit. Usually the reverse will release it.
Okay, I ran out and tried that! It worked.
I kinda turfed my yard up...LOL
I put it in 4WD, and it worked fine. I put it in reverse, backed up about 20 feet. And it came out. I never had to do that before on a 4wd vehicle.
Will I always have to do this? Or should I grease the hubs as the other guys here said?
Can it actually be taken out of 4wd moving forward, without backing up, with properly greased hubs?
Okay, mine may need greased. I should switch to manual hubs...ugh!!'
I know with my wife driving it, there will be an incident for sure, if she has to back up, and doesn't!
There are essentially two disconnects between your transmission and your front tires, relevant to this issue. The transfer case and the hubs. The tcase is put into 4wd by you moving the stick, and it reacts by outputting turning motion on the front driveshaft. The front hubs are automatic, and normally free-spin. When the driveline spins and the axle turns the hubs, instead of the tires backdriving the hubs, the auto-hubs click in and you get front axle power.
When you take your Tcase out of 4wd, the front hubs are still clicked in until you go a few feet in the opposite direction (if you were going forwards in 4wd, you need to go in reverse a few feet if you want to get the hubs unclicked). Open your windows and test this sometime and you'll see exactly what I mean. Having your hubs still clicked in when you're in 2wd doesn't really hurt - people with manual hubs have been known to just leave them clicked in all winter instead of needing to get out in nasty weather. You'll just lose a tiny fraction of fuel efficiency from the extra friction. I never worry about it, since the next time I back out of a parking space, they'll click out. You're still always in 2wd if the tcase is in 2wd.
About your grinding noise, Make sure you have the tcase stick fully in whichever position you want it in. It grinds a lot in the 4H-N-4L changing area. Maybe you got caught in there by accident.
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2002 Xterra XE 3.3 4x4 auto | JL 500/1v2 + 10W7 | Viper 5901 remote starter | Rear sway bar delete | Bilsteins all around | IAB | 2" DIY BL | KC HiLiTES on homemade roof bar | AC Shackles/PML | 33x12.5/15 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R with Kevlar on Cragar Soft 8s | Skid Row skids | Yakima Loadwarrior | Beginning of a build thread
Okay. I am understanding this now. It is unlocking the front hubs, after backing up of course.
"When I didn't back up"...they didn't unlock though of course, and it sounded like a chainsaw running under the front end. Kinda freaked me out...LOL
Of course after I re-tried it, and backed up, it didn't do that sound. I definately had it all the way back in 2wd position when it was screaming,
I am sorry. I am just trying so hard to keep this truck straight.
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