d30 flack, flack, flack?

[IHblarp]

i was out wheeling my friends 91 xj with d30s and vacuum disconnect front axle when i started noticing a small flack noise (metal on metal) on occasion. It was comming from the front end for sure and mosltly only under power. after a few more trips it just kept getting worse untill he had to really power out of a situation. Now it makies it every few feet or so and its gotten really loud. the u-joints are in good shape, checked the differential and everything looks good (no broken teeth from what i could see, and no excessive metal in oil or spider wear) the only thing i could think of left is the vaccum intermediat shaft but everything seems to look good there(collar moves back and forth smoothly) can any one give me any suggestions on what this could be or if they have had any similar probs with these wimpy d30s? thanks in advanve for any input it will be much apreciated.

[wiggamoe]

Does it only happen in when it is in four wheel drive?

If so, it could be the vacuum actuator engaging and disengaging, that happens to me quite often. The actuator system sucks, spend $20.00 on a bike shifter/cable.

[recycledxj]

Check your transfer case, I have and seen things go wrong in the rear and swore it was coming from the front.

[IHblarp]

yes it only happens in 4wd. i know it is not the transfer case b/c we had to remover the front drive shaft and use low range to get off the mountain. do you know if any one makes a cable kit or if it is easy to ghetto rig it together with a bike shifter type deelio.

[JonsYJjeep]

CheCk the R&P gears. You might have blown out his gears. I doubt it's the vacume disco engaging ang disengaging. If it's leaking it will either work or not work, not sometimes.

Pull the diff cover and see what kind of damage you did.

[wiggamoe]

I would still check out the vacuum disconnect... I beg to differ on it either working or not working. I know mine pops in and out of 4wd a lot. I am not saying that that is your only problem, but it sounds like it.
I would still pull the diff cover and check your gears before I go replacing any parts on the vacuum disconnect. I have a link on my home computer with a write up on the bike shifter, it's really easy and only costs $20.00.

[IHblarp]

we removed the dif cover and everything looks ok. there were not huge chunks or even excessive wear on the gears. When you reach up with the drive shaft disconnected you can turn the pinion and it feels smooth w/out any play side to side. I was considering moving the sleeve over into the engaged position and just tacking it in place. Would this have any adverse affects on the drive train for street driving other than loss of gas milage?

[BadAZYj]

we removed the dif cover and everything looks ok. there were not huge chunks or even excessive wear on the gears. When you reach up with the drive shaft disconnected you can turn the pinion and it feels smooth w/out any play side to side. I was considering moving the sleeve over into the engaged position and just tacking it in place. Would this have any adverse affects on the drive train for street driving other than loss of gas milage?

If you do that it will, in effect be just like a tj. As long as your open in the front you wont even notice a difference, with a locker you will hear it clicking around turns and stuff but no problems. Just dont do it with welded spiders...:eek:

[IHblarp]

thanx for the input guys! I think it must be the vacuum actuated intermediate shaft. Wiggamoe, do you think you could post up a link to the cable shifter to replace the vacuum system. This sounds like a pretty fail safe solution that could solve this problem for a while. Once again thaks.

[butch6924]

I was on a trip with a guy in a YJ on 35's. He had a problem very similar to what you're describing. He had blown out that little torque bolt tranny mount thing and it caused the clicking type sound when the motor would vibrate into the crossmember/skid plate.

[butch6924]

Oh, and for the bike cable thingy, go here:

http://home.earthlink.net/~stevenschreiber/cabledis.htm

Linked from here:

http://joshsjeep.tirpod.com/link.htm