"John Smith" > wrote in message
...
> Jim, I hope you're still following this thread. I took some of your
earlier
> advice and put the car on a lift with the car in gear. I had someone in
the
> car apply the brakes slightly to cause some drag on everything that's
> spinning, and now that I'm under there and close to the source, I can tell
> the sound is most defininatly coming from the transfer case. So now I'm
> back to my original belief that the transfer case chain is stretched, or
> something else is bad in the case. I have someone who can replace the
chain
> or rebuild the whole case. The rebuild kits I see online are the chain
> (cheap), Vicious Clutch set (expensive), and a bearing and seal kit (I
would
> buy anyway). The car has 162,000 miles and otherwise runs great. I'm not
> trying to keep it forever. I just want to get a few more 10,000s of miles
> out of it. Since I put very few miles on it per year and have always
> garaged the car, this could be years of service for me. Have you any
> experience with what wears in these cases? I have one person telling me
> it's the chain and only the chain. I have a dealer telling me it's the VC
> set. I know logic would suggest to replace everything as long as the case
> is open, but the one guy swears the chain is the only thing worn. So you
> don't have to go back and re-read the thread, it's a BW 4404 full time
AWD.
> No hi/lo or engage device. It really a pretty simple t-case.
>
> I was surprised when I came back to this thread that someone replied about
> you being disrespected on this message board. I went back and read our
> dialouge, and can think of no reason for that to have been replied to this
> thread. I want to be on record that I respect your advice, and appreciate
> that you give it. Autos are not my area of expertise, but I do contribute
> to online forums about Home Automation. Also, whenever I use a forum for
> advice, I come back and post the final resolution for the benefit of
anyone
> reading this thread in the future.
>
> Thanks again
>
>
>
> "Jim Warman" > wrote in message
> news:HirOi.11501$%B2.9532@edtnps82...
> > Might be getting somewhere.... the double cardan type U-joints use a
> > centering ball between the two cross and cap joints... these can develop
> > wear that can make all manner of noise with no real obvious vibration.
> >
> > With the shaft off the car, move the joint through it's full range of
> > motion.... there should be a slight resistance build as the joint
> > approaches the straight position and the joint should have smooth
action.
> > With the shaft installed in the vehicle, grasp the shaft next to the
> > U-joint ass'y and move it up and down (can take quite a bit of force) -
> > there should be no play at all.
> >
> > If this joint has play, you will probably need to look to the
aftermarket
> > suppliers for parts since Ford doesn't appear to stock or supply any
> > centering ball kits. Plan on replacing the associated U-joints at the
same
> > time. When reassembling the joint, be very careful not to "cross up" a
> > bearing cap needle - I've repaired manyu of these style joints over the
> > years and there is still the odd one that tries to be as frustrating as
it
> > possibly can. If your local auto parts store has a C clamp type ball
joint
> > press for loan or rent, the C clamp can be used alone to aid in
> > removing/installing the U-joints.
> >
> > HTH
> >
>
>

In this NG you have mainly folks who have repaired their Explorers with
success and share that information. Some of us are expert mechanics (not
me), and some are shadetree mechanics. Then you have someone like Warman
who seems to find it amusing to call people stupid and goofy and such and
the only crime I can see that they commited was to ask how to fix their car.
I agree that Warman's post on the transfer case was a great post and a real
contribution to usenet. Meanwhile, I have managed to gather enough
information from this and other sources to keep my 'ol '91 running great.

Being the "shadetree" kind of mechanic I would tend to go for just replacing
the chain and seals if the clutch is really expensive and you have a
reliable source telling you it's just the chain. The transfer case is not
exactly easy to remove but not extremely difficult either. Since there have
been very few reports of transfer case problems (that I've read anyway) I
would tend to do the minimum required. If it doesn't work then you at least
have a real good idea what the problem might be.

Old posts have a tendancy to go unnoticed around here so you may want to
start a new one with your new question.

It would also be great if more people posted the results of their projects
so future googlers could find the solutions to their problems.