Hello,

I have been having a heck of a time with a vibration on my 05 Escape AWD Limited.
So Far I have done: Balanced tires, Allignment, Replaced Both front CV shafts, Both front wheel bearings, The Center Drivesaft's U-Joints(that links front to rear), Checked Carrier Bearing and repacked the Center Driveshafts CV. Also replaced the Sway bar links in the front.
Guess I'll replace rear wheel bearings next.

It still has a pretty good vibration/Rumble. I assume since it is a single speed transfer case, Can I remove the driveshaft and run FWD only to see if it is a drivetrain problem from the front back? I have a feeling the driveshaft may be bent/Mis balanced. It feels like it's shaking under my seat.

 

Have you checked fluid level in the transfer case? I had a rummble and bearing groan from under my seats. Turned out to be bad bearing in the t-case. Check the fill plug for metal shaveings. Also check rear diff fluid.

 

I'll do that tonight. Thanks.

 

Research shows 75w140 Synthetic 12.0 Oz. in the Transfer case, and 80w90 in the Rear Diff. Sound Right?

 

I do 75w140 in both no problems.

 

fordman-

I replaced all the fluids in the drivetrain. All looked good on the way out. Still have the Vibration/rumble. I am going to remove the entire driveshaft from the PTO back to eliminate the Carrier bearing. I just replaced the Ujoints and the bearing seemed to spin smoothly , but possibly at high speeds its shot.
Did you replace the transfer case bearing, or did you innstall a new pto?

 

Is the vibration constant or at certain speeds?

 

Its a constant vibration. So far I have had tires balanced,Rotated, replaced front wheel bearings, Replaced ujoints, And repacked Main Driveshaft CV joint. I can feel a shudder in the steering wheel at higher speeds, but I can always feel the vibration under seat at all speeds.

 

My wifes 06' did the same thing and it turned out to be a bad rear ujoint. But you have changed yours. Did you replace them or did a shop?

 

I replaced the U-Joints. I have a press in my shop. They went in and out easy. Still having the vibration trouble... However I have not yet removed the driveshaft to see if the vib goes away.

 

The classic rule is if you feel the vibration in the seat, the problem is in the rear end, if you feel it in the steering wheel, it's in the front end.

If you pull the drive shaft the rear axle is still active when driving, so all your testing is the drive shaft, but sounds like you are aware of that.

I'll ask a couple obvious questions which I'm sure you've tried - have you swapped the wheels/tire assemblies front and rear? When balancing the wheels, did you check carefully for bent wheels or out of round tires?

 

Thanks,
Since I posted this I ended up with a bad alternator, replaced that, and Replaced sparkplugs while I was in there... I am still fighting the Vib issue. I had trouble with the front right driveshaft when I changed the alternator, It would not sepreate...and fell apart, Repacked, but its not right. So I now Have both vib in the wheel and in my seat. I will be replacing the right inner and outer shafts this week.
I did move tires around, and I had the full size spare balanced and swapped that in on all four corners with no change.
After I get the front fixed I will be pulling the center drive shaft to eliminate center CV and Carrier bearing.