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 Post subject: '06 Liberty 6 speed _partly_(?) stuck in 4WD
PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 5:22 pm 
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Hi all,

Newbie to the forum here. My wife has an '06 Liberty Renegade, 6 speed manual.

You're going to think I'm nutso, so let's get on with it. :banghead:

"As far as I know..."(i.e. I seldom drive it.) it appears to partly drop into 4WD on it's own, then it gets stuck there, which it is now.

I'm reasonably sure it's stuck in 4WD, after repeated efforts to shift it from 2WD to 4WD and back again, because; we get the "rumble" from the drivetrain as we decelerate in gear and there's that loudish, nasty KLUNK as power is applied in gear. It does not however have that...uh...."cogging" in the steering, during a turn that it definitely does when the lever is pulled for 4WD High. It's got ~120,000 miles.

When it's truly in 2WD, it's quiet. :BANANA:

Any and all help is appreciated! We did just put air in 3 of 4 tires. She thought we either broke an axel or blew up the rear diff so we haven't driven it anywhere. We just changed the lube in the rear diff - I know it has nothing to do with whether it's in 4WD or 2WD but we wanted to inspect the rear diff and change the lube...just in case. Once that was done, we went for a ride and that's when I realized it was partly in 4WD. I'd hit this before, a year or two ago, put it in 4WD High, then back to 2WD and that fixed it. Not this time!

(Me? I make do in a '99 Subie Outback with 322,000 miles and climbing. My AWD has been perfect though I have replaced some outer bearings and my center differential pinion gear sounds like a quiet kitchen mixer. Not a blender! A mixer.)

Thanks in advance! She loves the thing. I find I have to plant my knees up against the dashboard, to push the clutch all the way in but the V6 moves it pretty well.
-Joe


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 Post subject: Re: '06 Liberty 6 speed _partly_(?) stuck in 4WD
PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:09 pm 
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Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:24 am
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Check the transfer case cable where it connects to the selecter arm on th side of the transfer case, they have been known to break there were it pushes onto the bushing. You can move the arm by hand to try and get it into 2wd.


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 Post subject: Re: '06 Liberty 6 speed _partly_(?) stuck in 4WD
PostPosted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 7:34 pm 
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Wowee! A reply in less than an hour! Thanks!!

I'll take a look. The lever is a bit clunky/funky.

Thanks,
Joe


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 Post subject: Re: '06 Liberty 6 speed _partly_(?) stuck in 4WD
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:04 pm 
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Mmm...well...the link seems pretty solid.

My father-in-law and I took the cover off the rear diff. No missing teeth. With one wheel still solidly on the ground, the other in the air, we turned the suspended wheel slowly. All the spider gears were fine, the ring gear appeared happy. I did notice, however, that there was one point in the (free) wheel's rotation where it seemed to bind more than any other point. I wouldn't expect that for gears that have meshed for the past 119,000 miles. It wasn't severe but it was noticeable. I siliconed the cover, put it back on, put Mobil synthetic gear lube 75w-90.

(Odd thing - the capacity of the rear diff, according to websites I've visited, is 2.19 qts...aside from some clumsy spillage on my part, I got most of 3 qts. in it and it didn't overflow out the fill hole.)

It's still making the sharp clunking noise as you start from a dead stop and the "whirring"/rumbling on deceleration in gear.

We took it to the local Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealer and asked their off-road Jeep geek/salesman to take it for a spin. He was 99% certain something in the rear diff was sorely out of whack until we told him we took the cover off, didn't find any missing teeth in several rotations of the wheel and refilled it. That's when he said there might be some kind of "crack in the something something case". Sorry, I kind of glazed over when he told us the name of the case. During his test drive, he said he thought the rear end "hopped up in the air". Could the problem be something that would only be apparent when motor torque is put to the rear end?

The latest game plan (mind, my wife has had this problem for almost a month so she's going a little crazy without her beloved Jeep soooo...we're trying to keep moving) is for a buddy from church who used to own his own metal fabrication shop and still does mechanic work on the side, to take a closer look at it. Assuming the rear end really is out, we'll pull an entire rear axle from a junkyard and put that in. N-O-T looking forward to that but, as he reminded me, there's a whole bunch of labor with shims and all that happy stuff, putting new guts in the diff.

However, I really value the experience and know-how of longtime Jeep fans. [b]ANYTHING[/b] you, or anyone else reading this, will be thoughtfully considered! Please feel free to contribute! Heck, maybe you know the name of the case he was talking about. Yes...I will pass out if it's the transfer case - please break it to me gently! :)


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 Post subject: Re: '06 Liberty 6 speed _partly_(?) stuck in 4WD
PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 9:02 am 
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Not doubting that you're hearing something in the rear of the Jeep, but you should also check the CV joint at the transfer case end of the front driveshaft. The rubber boot gets torn and road junk gets up in the joint and destroys it.

Crawl under the Jeep and shine a flashlight at the boot. If it is torn the CV is shot and needs replaced. You can purchase a new CV joint from DriveShaftParts.com for $55 plus shipping - the repair will take about 45 minutes to an hour. DO NOT let a dealer or other mechanic convince you that the entire driveshaft needs replaced! The CV joints are replaceable parts and the job can be done at home.

If that CV joint isn't it then there is something else going on. BTW, which transfer case do you have - the CommandTrac part time or SelecTrac full time case?

Bob

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 Post subject: Re: '06 Liberty 6 speed _partly_(?) stuck in 4WD
PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 6:09 pm 
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That friend of mine from church drove it to his garage and looked at it.

I'm not familiar with the suspension on these things, so I might be off-base with my description, but he tells me the rear arms have three points that attach the frame to the axle. One of the three broke, allowing the rear end to shift forward or backward. This produced the "klunk" when accelerating and over bumps plus the humming during deceleration. The driveshaft to the rear diff was shifting around, along with the rear axle.

Parts and labor are under $400.

I'll post a wrap-up message, after I talk to him next week. Many thanks for the replies!!

(I'm guessing it's "Command Trac" since it's got a lever for 2 High, 4 High, Neutral, 4 Low. She's broken the rear loose on wet roads. A "Part time" light comes on when it's in 4 HIgh. It's definitely not like my Subie's all wheel drive.)

-Joe


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 Post subject: Re: '06 Liberty 6 speed _partly_(?) stuck in 4WD
PostPosted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:18 pm 
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Ok. A bit late but here's the final word on the problem.

It turned out that a suspension mount sheared it's pin off, on the upper control arm (rear end). Technically, it was the ball joint's pin. Once this broke, the remainder of the rear suspension was left to keep everything aligned soooo....the universal joint was replaced too.

The entire rear end was shifting side to side and the rear diff was pointing up and down depending on whether accelerating or decelerating. This would explain the "floating off to one side" feeling my wife and the mechanic experienced on turns plus the hark "klunk" over bumps and when starting plus the rumble on deceleration in gear.

Once the mechanic explained to me just how dangerous the situation could have been, it's safe to say this will be our last Liberty! Granted, when backing up onto our parking area, there is an old concrete step that we sometimes hit though not at any kind of speed. That's the only jarring of the suspension we might encounter. It's never been off-road during our ownership but she does have a habit of accelerating hard and standing on the brakes. (Better brakes than my '99 Subaru, I have to admit.)

Oh, there was the time when she pulled out in front of someone and she was hit hard enough that we couldn't open the passenger side, rear door for months. That hard sideways jolt could have damaged that ball joint as well.

My sincere thanks for everyone who's responded! I mean that! There's nothing like real-life experiences from people who've spent way more time around these things than I have. I honestly can't complain about the reliability of her Jeep otherwise. For the beating she gives it, it's done pretty well. (Probably not as well as my '99 Subie at 323k miles but we have very different driving styles.)


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 Post subject: Re: '06 Liberty 6 speed _partly_(?) stuck in 4WD
PostPosted: Wed Aug 28, 2013 1:48 pm 
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Parts wear out so this will be your last Liberty ??
Kind of funny to me, when something wears out I replace it and move on enjoying every minute of driving the Liberty
With that part worn out/broken I would of thought you would of seen it while you were checking out the rear diff .

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