Clunking/Knocking Sound 4x4 Only

C

CAmaninacan

New member
Well I just bought this car with a blown head gasket, before I bought I drove it around his house once, but forgot to check 4x4, I have no idea if this problem was happening before. But its a 1994 with 170,xxx miles and I fixed the head gasket and wanted to try 4x4 but I get this weird clunking/knocking/rattling sound, I can't describe it perfectly. But heres a video link of the sound,

4 Runner Weird Noise - YouTube

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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unfortunately you will have to investigate and narrow it down, your video doesn't really help and nor does you description of the problem. is it
4hi 4 low?
are you cv shafts good?
have you set the truck on stands and manually rotated all the shafts and wheels?
are the differentials and Tcase full of fluid?
is the noise coming from the front or in the middle?
your going to have to do a little work here before we can help a rattle and clunk could be 1 of 100 things.
happy hunting and once you narrowed it down some more we can help with better results. but that should get us more info if you can check those items i mentioned.
 
It is both 4hi and 4low that the problem occurs
cv boots are fine no cracks no holes
Tranny and Differential both have fluid
It sounds like its coming from the front

I have not set the truck on stands as I do not have a jack big enough to jack the car up.

Reverse is not that bad but it still happens as well. Someone suggested the hubs were not locking up, but can that really cause that sound?
 
just because your CV boots are not ripped doesn't mean the internals didn't grenade....lol
grab the cv shaft and shake it and twist it if the unit is good you'll get barely any movement out of it and if its bad you'll know. everything i listed before needs to be hands on tested not just looked at....
and yes if the hubs are not locking then youll get a nice click noise but not a clunk. if you think that the hubs are not locking then just walk next to the truck as its moving and tap the hubs with a rubber mallet as you walk they may pop in if not then keep testing your components.
 
hmmmm sounds like a clunk to me. but i dont think it moving in and out of the spindle would cause a issue or noise but then again i dont think its supposed to move a hole inch.

by any chance did you drive it without the hubs on?
 
You need to invest in a floor jack and some sturdy jackstands if you're going to work on your truck.

Then get the front up on jackstands, disconnect the rear driveline (or put it on jackstands too), and crawl under the truck while it's idling in 4wd to pinpoint the source of your noise. It could be almost anything.
 
Well it sounds likes the noise is faster than you are rolling. Meaning it might be ring/pinion, pinion bearing, u-joint or cardon joint in the drive shaft. You said it only does it in 4wd.

1. change your front diff fluid. It probably needs it anyway. When you pull the drain plug look for obvious metal chunks/shavings.

2. check your front drive shaft (every joint) for play. The rig needs to be in neutral with the parking brake off and the wheels chocked. Check the pinion flange for movement.

Now it could be CV's, carrier side bearings, spider gears, etc. But to me the noise sounds too fast for the speed you were going. Then again its not a very good video. CV's usually dont make noise unless your are turning.
 
Last edited:
Well I figured it out, I bought some jack stands and lifted the car and had someone push the gas. It wasn't in the front it was in the middle and it was a bracket scraping the drive axle to the front differential.

Heres a Pic,
IMG_0371.jpg


Thanks for all the help.
 
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