# Drive Axle question....



## tinaslynn (Mar 31, 2006)

Posted this on another forum, but looking for any input... Here's the rundown:

I checked the front end noise with tires off the ground had someone 'drive' it... the noise is definitely in the drive axle. There is no play in the spindle area and the noise is coming from the transmission. The tire will catch or hesitate at low speeds like a bearing is causing it to stop rotating for a second then catching, or perhaps the splines on the axle is skipping.. definitely coming from transmission and not tire end. Sounds horrible. I parked it and am subjected to driving the gas guzzling explorer in the meantime lol. When I get time, gonna pull the axle out and take a look at the end.. one thing I did notice is excessive oil, dirt, etc around that area of the seal to the transmission. My tranny was extremely low on fluid (added almost 3 quarts the other day and found it odd for a manual tranny to get that low on oil). The driving had gotten worse and the whole car shakes.. I can watch the tire and axle shake while its in gear moving... pretty bad too. 
Question now is... is that bearing (if so bad) pressed in or is it fairly simple to pull out (with a bearing puller) if I can even get my hands in there to it? 

Any ideas/tips would be greatly appreciated...
T :newbie:


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

i read it twice and am reasonably sure i didnt miss it... is it auto or manual?


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## tinaslynn (Mar 31, 2006)

AsleepAltima said:


> i read it twice and am reasonably sure i didnt miss it... is it auto or manual?



Sorry, it is manual... I think I may have found the problem. I removed the entire drive axle, checked splines on end of axle inside tranny (looked good, bearing inside tranny looked good),cleaned the spindle end (axle still attached to spindle because I couldnt remove the axle nut, was gunked with rust/dirt/oil/etc) and put it back together and ran it.. the noise lessened... lots of play in the spindle area... apparently the bearing is shot in the spindle. Got another spindle end coming (cheaper to buy a used one than a new bearing and a machine shop to press it out/back in.. found one for $50). Going to try that... hoping the wheel bearing is hanging up the drive axle causing it to skip inside the tranny which is where the noise is eminating. *crosses fingers*

Will update when I get time to install/check.
Thanks,
T


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## blownb310 (Jun 10, 2002)

tinaslynn said:


> Sorry, it is manual... I think I may have found the problem. I removed the entire drive axle, checked splines on end of axle inside tranny (looked good, bearing inside tranny looked good),cleaned the spindle end (axle still attached to spindle because I couldnt remove the axle nut, was gunked with rust/dirt/oil/etc) and put it back together and ran it.. the noise lessened... lots of play in the spindle area... apparently the bearing is shot in the spindle. Got another spindle end coming (cheaper to buy a used one than a new bearing and a machine shop to press it out/back in.. found one for $50). Going to try that... hoping the wheel bearing is hanging up the drive axle causing it to skip inside the tranny which is where the noise is eminating. *crosses fingers*
> 
> Will update when I get time to install/check.
> Thanks,
> T


 Did the axle fix it?


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## tinaslynn (Mar 31, 2006)

I found the problem to be my rear motor mount.. because it was so bad, the entire engine was shifted down causing the drive axle to be at an angle... once I replaced the motor mounts (did both front and back) the problem is gone now... and drives like a champ! =)


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