"I have a 1998 Ford Explorer that is making this God-awful noise when I accelerate. I took it in to the Ford dealer and they told me that I would probably need to replace the transfer case but were unsure unless I were to pay them a great deal of money to investigate the problem further.
Another dealer told me that all it was was that the fluid in the transfer case needed to be changed and the sensors cleaned. I was also told that it took regular ATF and that this was something I could do myself. I drained the transfer case and found that it does not take ATF but looks more like 80/90. I also was not able to find these sensors that were spoken of.
It seems to make this noise more when there is snow on the ground. Both the front and rear tires spin, so it seams as if the four wheel drive is working, it just sounds like something is about to break.
My Explorer does not have any 4 wheel drive controls or idiot lights. It has 78,000 miles. Is there any kind of advice you can give to htry and fix this myself, or do you think I am better off taking it back to the other dealer???
Thanks,
Dave ";

 

You have the Viscous Coupling type transfer case , Replace whatever fluids you removed & then unless you are familar with this type of setup , its best left to a person that deals with transmissions & transfer cases . Check your yellow pages for an independant trans shop & let them diagnose the problem . Id steer clear of chain transmission repair places though .

 

Thank you Club FTE,
I did some checking today and found out just what you said. I have an appointment in two weeks to have it rebuilt. However now I am wondering if it is ok to take off the front drive shaft and drive it that until I get it fixed?
Thank you again for your response.

 

The thing is the 4wd will engage when it needs to be engaged . Since its going to be rebuilt , If it were my truck , Id leave it alone & try to avoid situations where the front wheels will engage .

 

>"I have a 1998 Ford Explorer that is making this God-awful >noise when I accelerate. I took it in to the Ford dealer and >they told me that I would probably need to replace the transfer >case but were unsure unless I were to pay them a great deal of >money to investigate the problem further. Another dealer told >me that all it was was that the fluid in the transfer case >needed to be changed and the sensors cleaned. I was also told >that it took regular ATF and that this was something I could do >myself. I drained the transfer case and found that it does not >take ATF but looks more like 80/90. I also was not able to find >these sensors that were spoken of. It seems to make this noise >more when there is snow on the ground. Both the front and rear >tires spin, so it seams as if the four wheel drive is working, >it just sounds like something is about to break.
>
>My Explorer does not have any 4 wheel drive controls or idiot >lights. It has 78,000 miles. Is there any kind of advice you can give to htry and fix this myself, or do you think I am better off taking it back to the other dealer???
>Thanks,
>Dave ";

Do you have a v8 Dave?? I'm wondering b/c only 2WD's and V8's are the ones that don't have the 4WD switch.

Billy
'96 Explorer Eddie Bauer
4.10 LSD
PIAA 9007 Superwhites
K&N Drop In filter

 

Yes Billy, it is a v'8. It is All Wheel Drive (AWD) Being that it is AWD I don't think that the front wheels engage only when conditions call for it. I think that they are always engaged and I am not able to have it repaired for two weeks but I need to drive it. I was thinking of taking the front drive shaft off until then but am not sure if that would be ok.
Thanks,
Dave

 

I have a 98 v8 awd also.

The transfer case is supposed to have ATF (Mercon III). The transmission requires Mercon V.

If you had 80/90w in the transfer case, someone was probably trying to cover up a noise with it.

My info source is the official Ford CD service manuals.

The front wheels work all the time, the viscous clutch regulates the torque between the front and rear.

I don't know if it's possible to safely take the front driveshaft loose, but if you do, do a short test drive to see if anything appears to be binding, etc. Also might give you a chance to see if the noise is really coming from the transfer case.

Good Luck!

Winford