My D35 is Growling at me.

[JACKED88]

I installed the axle under the truck with everything bolted together, byt the perches not welded on yet. I adjusted the pinion angle with a yack under the pinion housing, and when I had it where it needed to be tack welded the perches in place.

 

I then took everything apart again and took the axle to a local welding shop to have the perches permanently burned on as I lack a welder big enough to do that. He use the largest arc welder I've seen in my life, and it cost me $20.

OK, but what about leveling tha truck? Shouldnt it be at "ride level" before you guage the trans/tc output shaft angle?

From time to time I'll be hauling several hundred lbs in tha bed. Should I compensate for the body drop due to tha weight? (add a degree or two to my angle)

 

I've got tha welding handled. I've got a small welder I can tack tha perches with and my nephew has a real nice Miller thats more than big enough for tha job.

[mvusse]

I don't know. Do you more often drive it with the extra weight, or without? Maybe go in between?

 

That would be a personal choice.

[JACKED88]

I don't know. Do you more often drive it with the extra weight, or without? Maybe go in between?

 

That would be a personal choice.

It'll likely be empty more often than not. But if an additional couple of degrees in angle won't promote vibration or excessive wear then that may be tha way for me to go. (somewhere in between like you suggested.) Worst comes to worst I could always shim it.

Speaking of, if I wanst having to relocate my perches and therefore giving me the opertunity to set the dif angle, is shimming a bad way to go and/or a big no,no?

[mvusse]

Of course it's best to have the perches at the right angle so you don't need shims, but I personally don't think shims are a bad thing. Within reason. Don't stack shims, only use one per side, and I wouldn't go any thicker than 3 degrees tops.

[JACKED88]

Of course it's best to have the perches at the right angle so you don't need shims, but I personally don't think shims are a bad thing. Within reason. Don't stack shims, only use one per side, and I wouldn't go any thicker than 3 degrees tops.

I don't intend to use any but if get a vibration while loaded, I just wanted to know if their an exceptable method of making fine adjustments. I'm OK with usin um but like you said ..... within reason or moderation.

[Pete M]

The angle of the rear axle in my 88 is completely wrong (points directly at the t-case). Never had any vib problems. :dunno: But I did install brand new U-joints with the axle install.

[JACKED88]

Yall remember that 89 XJ Limited I talked about in this thread and wanted as a parts doner or to repair and re-sell?

 

 

About once a month I've stayed in contact with tha seller via email and my persistence has finally paid off. He's agreed to sell it to me for $200 bucks. I'm supposed to go pick it up it in a couple of weeks. :thumbsup:

 

Looks like I'm gonna be back to square one facing tha decision of what to do with it again. :???: I'm thinkin I'll git it running first and take it from there. At least that way I'll know what does and doesnt work. Particularly tha transmission and t/c.

 

More later.

[Automan2164]

$200 is a SMOKING DEAL for that thing.. Looks clean!

 

Rob L.

[Geonovast]

That thing is too pretty to part out or park as a donor. I say fix it up even nicer and drive it, or sell it.

[1990 Pioneer 4x4]

I've been growling at my D35.

[spence]

Mine growled at me as you described. I got lucky, as it went crunch right in front of the house, not 50 miles away, at work. If you let it go, it will make a really cool gear tooth pattern on the differential housing inside of the pumpkin!

[JACKED88]

I've decided my growling isnt coming from tha rear end. I'm convinced it has something to do with either tha drive shaft and or the trans. The growling is at its worst when I let off tha gas at highway speed when in overdrive. While off tha gas if I downshift out of overdrive the growling virtually goes away. I say virtually because I can still feel/hear it just not near as much.

Question ..... could this growl and or vibration be caused by running a stock length drive shaft with a 6 inch lift? I'm thinkin tha drive shaft may not be engaging enough spline length on tha trans and therefore creating the vibration when there isnt much torque being applied to tha splines. In theory, by downshifting I'm creating more torque on tha splines and reducing the growl/vibration. :dunno:

Another possible cause may be that my rear end is in its stock position. It has not been adjusted to compensate for the additional drive shaft angle created by tha SOA 6 inch lift.

[JACKED88]

 

.

Those pix are deceiving. It doesnt look as good in person. Although tha body is straight and pretty much rust free other some some surface rust due its badly oxidized clear coat and paint, its been sitting for YEARS and would require more money than I have to invest to make it road worthy.

Keep in mind that tha last time it ran was 4 or 5 years ago when tha fuel pump went out. Before that it hasnt been driven on tha street since sometime back in tha 90's.

First things first. Let me git it here and try to git it running before I condemn it to a parts donor.

 

Anybody got an extra fuel pump layin around??? If so, throw it in a box and I'll send ya a few bucks for it. What can I say??? I'm a cheap bastard and don't wanna have to buy a new $50 dollar pump and install it in whats likely gonna turn out to be a parts donor.

[shelbyluvv]

Anybody got an extra fuel pump layin around??? If so, throw it in a box and I'll send ya a few bucks for it. What can I say??? I'm a cheap bastard and don't wanna have to buy a new $50 dollar pump and install it in whats likely gonna turn out to be a parts donor.

 

PM sent to ya about the pump.

[JACKED88]

Finally picked up the XJ today. Got it home and off tha trailer, stuck a battery in it, bumped tha starter enough times to turn tha crank about 4 or 5 revolutions, then went ahead and cranked it over for about 5-10 seconds a couple of times, dumped some gas down tha t/b, cranked it over again and tha damn thing fired right up. Kept feeding it enough gas to keep it running for a couple of minutes.

Although running rough due to just squirting gas down tha t/b, it actually sounded pretty good. No smoke and didnt hear any knocks. So far, so good. :thumbsup:

 

 

More later when I'll include a few pix of it.

[Pete M]

I've decided my growling isnt coming from tha rear end. I'm convinced it has something to do with either tha drive shaft and or the trans. The growling is at its worst when I let off tha gas at highway speed when in overdrive. While off tha gas if I downshift out of overdrive the growling virtually goes away. I say virtually because I can still feel/hear it just not near as much.

Question ..... could this growl and or vibration be caused by running a stock length drive shaft with a 6 inch lift? I'm thinkin tha drive shaft may not be engaging enough spline length on tha trans and therefore creating the vibration when there isnt much torque being applied to tha splines. In theory, by downshifting I'm creating more torque on tha splines and reducing the growl/vibration. :dunno:

Another possible cause may be that my rear end is in its stock position. It has not been adjusted to compensate for the additional drive shaft angle created by tha SOA 6 inch lift.

 

 

If you didn't replace the U-joints when you did the lift, that might be a good place to start. U-joints don't like changes in their operating angles.

[JACKED88]

Well, here it is. Now I gotta decide which way I wanna go with it. Re-sell or part out. I'll have a better idea what to do with it once its running and driving. I'm leaning towards fixin it up just enough to re-sell it.

 

 

As you can see tha body is straight and rust free other than surface rust due to tha failed paint. For tha most part the interior is in pretty good shape other than some cracking in the leather on the passenger seat and driver bolster. As in my previous post, I got tha motor started but havent been able to drive it since its still in need of a fuel pump. Considering tha brake peddle almost goes to tha floor, gonna pull tha wheels and check tha brakes and lines. Hoses don't look to bad but wouldnt count on um to last under hot driving condition. Same goes for tha belt. After installing a fuel pump and driving it around tha block a few times I'll change the oil and flush the radiator. Gonna wait to change tha trans fluid till I run it a few miles and see how its gonna act. We all know what happens when ya start changing fluid in a trans that hasnt been serviced properly. Most times your better off leaving it alone. Especially if tha fluid is a little off color and has a slight burnt smell like this one does. (worst come to worst, whats the newest model AW4 thats a direct fit/swap with an 89?)

 

More later as I git deeper into it.

 

 

Pete, I don't know if tha p/o replaced tha u-joints or not. I'll do um when I install tha tranny and t/c out of this XJ into my truck. (assuming parting it out is what I decide to do with it. Otherwise I'll do um when I buy another trans and t/c with tha money I make sellin it)

[JACKED88]

Update on this XJ Limited I bought to for parts or for repair. Finally got around to replacing tha fuel pump and gittin it running. It either has a stuck valve or collapsed lifter. Makes quite a bit of top end noise, doesnt idle right and doent have much git up and go down tha road.

Tha trans, (in which is what I mostly wanted out of it) does work however its either not going into 4th or overdrive. I only git 3 shifts. 1-2 / 2-3 / 3-? With tha shifter in O/D position, when I down shift to "3" position, it does downshift however I'm not sure if its downshifting out of O/D or 4th gear. I think O/D. ????? If its going into O/D then I never feel a 4th gear shift.

Gonna do a service on it and driving it around some more. Tha way I see it it'll go one of three ways. (no change at all .... helps tha shifting and works fine ..... or it'll start slipping having not had the slightly burnt smelling fluid changed before now. While tha pan is off I'll pull tha valve body and check for any stuck valves. Might even do a couple of shift improvements tricks while I'm at it.

[mvusse]

4th gear IS OD.

 

Maybe you're confusing OD with a locking torque converter?

[Geonovast]

Correct... the AW-4 is a 4 speed trans. When the converter locks in 4th, it feels like a 5th gear, but the trans doesn't shift.

 

1st 2.8:1

2nd 1.53:1

3rd 1:1

4th 0.75:1 (I've heard the older ones were 0.79:1)

[JACKED88]

Correct... the AW-4 is a 4 speed trans. When the converter locks in 4th, it feels like a 5th gear, but the trans doesn't shift.

 

1st 2.8:1

2nd 1.53:1

3rd 1:1

4th 0.75:1 (I've heard the older ones were 0.79:1)

OK, but I don't get that converter locking fifth gear feel. While excellerating and watching the tachometer I only git a drop in rpm when it shifts from 1-2, 2-3 and 3-? Its either not shifting into 4th or the converter isnt locking.

[Pete M]

3rd gear is a 1:1 ratio. anything beyond 1:1 is an overdrive. :thumbsup:

[JACKED88]

3rd gear is a 1:1 ratio. anything beyond 1:1 is an overdrive. :thumbsup:

OK, I'm sure most of you know what an older AW4 shifter bezel looks like but just in case here's a pic of one.

Would somebody please explain how tha shift pattern is supposed to work on this thing?

I mean we have a 4 speed transmission plus O/D converter lockup yet only 3 possible shift positions. (aughta have 5 / 1,2,3,4,O/D)

From what I can tell, we have no control over 2nd and 3rd gears. "1-2" position only gives us 1st gear and no ability to select between tha two. "3" position gives us 3rd and 4th yet again no ability to select between tha two and O/D position gives us converter lock up. What tha hell were they thinkin when they came up with this sh-t???

[kastein]

You're misunderstanding...

1-2 gives 1st gear, or 2nd when the transmission computer decides it's time to shift at ~4500rpm.

3 gives whatever gear the transmission computer thinks is right, but will never go to 4th/overdrive.

D gives whatever gear the transmission computer thinks is right, up to and including 4th/overdrive.

 

The gears are 1, 2, 3, OD.

 

You can, however, run the two wires for the shift solenoids with switches, and shift to whatever gear you want. See this page: http://www.greatlakesxj.com/tech/aw4shiftmod.html - scroll down till you see the table of solenoid and gear info with the sentence "The TCU's outputs are very simple, only three wires" above it.

[JACKED88]

You're misunderstanding...

1-2 gives 1st gear, or 2nd when the transmission computer decides it's time to shift at ~4500rpm.

3 gives whatever gear the transmission computer thinks is right, but will never go to 4th/overdrive.

D gives whatever gear the transmission computer thinks is right, up to and including 4th/overdrive.

 

The gears are 1, 2, 3, OD.

 

You can, however, run the two wires for the shift solenoids with switches, and shift to whatever gear you want. See this page: http://www.greatlakesxj.com/tech/aw4shiftmod.html - scroll down till you see the table of solenoid and gear info with the sentence "The TCU's outputs are very simple, only three wires" above it.

Pretty sure mine does. Starting out in "3" I git 3 shifts. 1-2, 2-3, and I presume 3-4. Then if I shift up into "D"/OD it shifts again. The 3-4 shift happens almost immediately after the 2-3 shift. Under normal excelleration Its like; 1...........2...............3..4..................

 

I've never run it hard enough in 1st gear to see if it'll shift at 4500+ or not. Actually I take that back. One day while in some mud with pretty much slick tires, I know I had the engine running over 4500 rpm's just to keep moving a little. Even at that it never shifted into 2nd.

I'm gonna go on test ride in a few minutes. I'll try to make it shift in as many different ways as I can.