Broken 4wd Jimny 2002

Hi everyone - great to find the forum!

I have a 4wd problem - in the begining I thought my auto hubs were not working but have ruled this out. I have jacked up rear of care removed hubs at front and can observe the drive shafts ends turning when in 4wd & in gear. What is not so good is that I can stop shaft rotation by gripping them with mole grips!

Am I right in my thinking that this most likely due to worn out/broken CV's?. I cannot get the CV's to make any noises.Is there any way I can test them further?

I also have noticed a lot of end float at the drive shaft end - is that typical?

If I go a head and replace both cv's can anyone point me towards a supplier, I have found the cv joint for 83UKP's + vat each on the web. Is that the right sort of price?

Would it be advisable to replace the king pins at the same time to - I don't have any symptoms of a king pin problem, but am wondering how they respond to being taken apart and reassembled.

Any thoughts to help me decide what to do next would be timely!

Whereabouts in the country are you, if you are near Berkshire and the Southeast I could give you a second opinion on the problem. CVs tend to be noisy.

You can get CVs cheaper than that. I can get them for around £60 (including VAT etc) if you want and that is without any discount from my supplier so if you shop around you can get them for a similar price.

If you are going as far as stripping back down to the CV joint then I would change the Kingpins just to save on effort later.

Martin

Thanks for the quick reply! Afraid I am too far away - I am near Newton Abbot, Devon. Can you think of any othe reason why a slipping weak drive is transmitted to the axil ends? Whilst depressed and on my back under the car I had a good listen to the crown wheel but all that sound smooth and well meshed.

I can't think of anything to do other than start taking it apart!

Andy

Having sat down and thought about it, I cannot see quite what is wrong.

Let me review what you have said...

1. You have jacked up the rear of the car so that the rear wheels are not on the ground

2. You have removed the front hubs so the front wheels are unlocked, but they are still on the ground.

3. You have put the car in gear

4. You have put the car in 4WD

5. When you run the engine all wheels/shaft ends turn ok.

6. You can stop individual drive shafts with your hands (well with molegrips)


This all sounds normal to me. If you are stopping a driveshaft then the differential transmits all the power/motion to the wheel on the other side. This is the normal action of a differential.

A better check would be...

1. Re-install the locking hubs, lower the car so all wheels are on the ground

2. Run the engine for a few minutes to create a vacuum, and put into gear and 4WD,

3. Stall the engine by letting up the clutch with the brakes on. LEAVE THE IGNITION IN THE FULLY ON position. check you can hear a click from the hubs as you select 4wd in and out.

4. Jack up one wheel at a time, leave the others on the ground.

5. You should NOT be able to turn the jacked up wheel. Any wheel you can turn is the faulty one. Either the hub or the CV if it is a front wheel.

6. If everything is ok send me the money you were going to spend on a CV

Martin

Great reply!
I must admit I though the front diff was fixed on a jimny...
Just going outside with my jack - will let you know.

Andy

The diffs are "open" as standard so they act like a normal car.

If one wheel loses traction then all the power is transfered to that wheel, making it spin uselessly whilst the wheel on the other side stops.

Hello again

Now gone full circle and am convinced its the hubs - briefly managed to get 4wd selected so have be able to dismiss a CV problem.

If I want to put manaul hubs on - can you point me in the right dirction please? Either new or can I use SJ ones?

Thanks
Andy

SJ hubs (either new such as the WARN ones or second hand) fit with a little modification. As I understand it the lip on the hub nut, designed to hold in the vacuum, prevents the SJ hubs from mounting directly. You can either make up a 5mm spacer ring or you can grind the lip off.

This is only what I have gathered from other people never having done it myself so you may want to check elsewhere.

Martin

I fitted non free wheeling SJ hubs to my Jimny I just grinded the big wheel bearing nut down there is a little lip in the nut I used that as my mark and just grinded round that also removed all my vacum pipes that run along the axle and closed up the pipes on the hubs to stop water / mud getting in. Since that I can always guarentee I am in 4wd. It will increase wear on the front prop diff etc,

Thanks for that - I have good some second hand manual hubs on the way - I think I will fashion a spacer in the first instance to check all works OK - If I can get a 5mm spacer milled (I have a friend!)that will be my solution. If not - where did I put my grinder!

Thanks for the info
Andy