motorjock205
Member
Well, I'm new here and new to Expeditions, but I have a 1997 Expedition 4X4 that has the 4.6 motor in it. I was recently on my way back to Texas from Santa Fe, running down the road at about 75 MPH and let off the gass as I was entering Encino, NM when all Hell broke loose! My truck started roaring like I was running over the rumble strip on the side of the road with all four tires, and vibrating like all get out. Once I got down to about 40 MPH, it quit. I limped the truck on home, not daring to get over 50 MPH because things started getting dicy again after that.
I got under the truck and found that the rear seal had blown out of the transfer case and the bearing was also on the front of the drive shaft...I pulled everything apart this weekend and found that my two front U-Joints were almost totally frozen up...very hard to move. I was able to move the rear U-Joint pretty easily...I was also able to reinstall the bearing into the tail shaft and installed a new grease seal...It took me most of the day to get the old U-Joints out...I pounded until I was blue in the face and finally got all three out...
This morning, I took the drive shaft to a shop here in Odessa, TX to have them install the new U-Joints and rebuild the front knuckle that is obviously shot too...Guy told me that I am looking at about a $300.00 bill for a rebuild of the shaft and balance...I hope it is money well spent, because that will bring my total to about $400.00 for parts and the shaft rebuild.
Now, I decided that since I had lost so much fluid out of the transfer case on the trip back home, that I had better just go ahead and drain the transfer case and refill it with fresh fluid...Well, that is where the trick starts...The drain is fine...but when it comes to the refill, that is another problem...The tortion bar support is in the way and you have to use a tube to get fluid into the transfer case...I only had a 1 Gallon bottle of fluid, so I drilled a hole in the top of the cap and installed a tube in there and was trying to hold lthe 1 Gallon bottle up in the drive shaft tunnel and fill the transfer case...not having much luck...finally after fighting with it for about an hour, I pushed the tube further down into the bottle, and drilled another hole into the handle of the Gallon jug...then took my air hose and a rubber tip and forced air into the Gallon jug...VIOLA! The fluid is forced up into the transfer case and filled it in less than a minute...I knew this was one way to do it, but thought I would be able to do it my way easier....Not So! Anyway, now the transfer case if filled with fresh fluid again, and I hope to have my drive shaft rebuilt later this afternoon and everything back together again tonight...Hopefully my ride will improve with this new maintenance...
You guys be safe and welcome to 2013!
Carl Ervin
I got under the truck and found that the rear seal had blown out of the transfer case and the bearing was also on the front of the drive shaft...I pulled everything apart this weekend and found that my two front U-Joints were almost totally frozen up...very hard to move. I was able to move the rear U-Joint pretty easily...I was also able to reinstall the bearing into the tail shaft and installed a new grease seal...It took me most of the day to get the old U-Joints out...I pounded until I was blue in the face and finally got all three out...
This morning, I took the drive shaft to a shop here in Odessa, TX to have them install the new U-Joints and rebuild the front knuckle that is obviously shot too...Guy told me that I am looking at about a $300.00 bill for a rebuild of the shaft and balance...I hope it is money well spent, because that will bring my total to about $400.00 for parts and the shaft rebuild.
Now, I decided that since I had lost so much fluid out of the transfer case on the trip back home, that I had better just go ahead and drain the transfer case and refill it with fresh fluid...Well, that is where the trick starts...The drain is fine...but when it comes to the refill, that is another problem...The tortion bar support is in the way and you have to use a tube to get fluid into the transfer case...I only had a 1 Gallon bottle of fluid, so I drilled a hole in the top of the cap and installed a tube in there and was trying to hold lthe 1 Gallon bottle up in the drive shaft tunnel and fill the transfer case...not having much luck...finally after fighting with it for about an hour, I pushed the tube further down into the bottle, and drilled another hole into the handle of the Gallon jug...then took my air hose and a rubber tip and forced air into the Gallon jug...VIOLA! The fluid is forced up into the transfer case and filled it in less than a minute...I knew this was one way to do it, but thought I would be able to do it my way easier....Not So! Anyway, now the transfer case if filled with fresh fluid again, and I hope to have my drive shaft rebuilt later this afternoon and everything back together again tonight...Hopefully my ride will improve with this new maintenance...
You guys be safe and welcome to 2013!
Carl Ervin
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