03 Explorer frontend whine

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Feb 21, 2012 | 04:49 PM

bomber19

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03 Explorer frontend whine

Our shop just purchased an 03 Explorer XLT w/ 4.0,110,000 miles, during a test drive I noticed a bad LF wheel bearing and a terrible whine along with a constant thump up front and the front end felt like it was winding up and all at once it would snap and then it would feel like it supposed to. If you put the transfer case in 4wd the thumping goes away. To make along story short, I fixed the wheel bearing and checked the front drive shaft and the front diff. Everything checked out, so I checked the transfer case and the oil was in terrible shape, it was brown and smelt burnt. I ended up draining and flushing the case several times, then refilled with ATF and a bottle of limited slip additive, now everything works properly. So if anyone has these symptoms, check the transfer case oil!!