CRD Vibration/Rattle from 1900-2200RPM. Maddening!!!!

PathFinder7 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:24 pm

I have an 05 CRD Limited with a Frankie IIP lift, 32" tires, ARB front and rear and JBA steel front diff. I have been experiencing horrible noise/vibration that comes on at about 1900RPM and stays until around 2200RPM. It is very loud and seems to be coming from the front right perhaps? I have removed, tightened, cut and checked many components and cannot find anything that it might be. This range is right at cruising speed and it is driving me mad. If it wasn't covered in snow and freezing cold, I would be taking the entire front end apart piece by piece to try to figure this out.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks!

Radman · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:38 pm

Failing Torque Converter?

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:41 pm

does it change in neutral vs forward vs reverse - while sitting at a stop??

The engine mounts die and they rattle - passenger side tends to die first - because of the exhaust pipe - but my worst one was the drivers side.
GDE has a writeup on replacing them
http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/2444390/kj-crd-engine-mount-replacement-rev1-pdf-december-15-2010-9-20-am-1-4-meg?da=y

PathFinder7 · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:53 pm

Both options I never thought of. I have not tried it in neutral or reverse, I will check that today. Thanks to both of you guys for the input!

DGM635csi · **Posted:** Tue Jan 11, 2011 4:57 pm

I remember the exact same symptoms in my CRD a couple month back. I took an offroad excursion and accidentally hit my front skid plate on a snow covered rock. I would say it was a moderate hit, not light or really hard. Anyway, the result was that it bent my front skid plate upwards slightly, and my front differential was rubbing against the skid plate. This caused an increase in vibration between 1500 and 2000 rpm in any gear, and was even more noticeable in 4wd. I would remove your skidplate and check for signs of contact between the plate and the front differential. There is less than 1/2" clearance between the two if your skidplate is intact, and all it take is a good whack in the right spot to make them touch. I ended up bending mine back with a 5 pound sledge, and the problem instantly went away.

flyingdoc · **Posted:** Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:29 pm

I had a problem like this a while back, turned out to be a failed bearing in the viscous fan, some of the ball bearings came out of the bearing, then the fan seized at an angle causing a bad vibration, its worth a look it only takes a few seconds!!

JeepBumm68 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:58 pm

WE had to replace the MM's on the girls CRD when we did the SFA swap. They looked very bad. And now rattle free lol

flman · **Posted:** Thu Jan 13, 2011 8:50 pm

My limited sounded like new after swapping out the MMs, it sure did sound like an imminent drive line failure was going to happen, those MMs can cause alot of noise and vibration.

dgeist · **Posted:** Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:25 pm

Transmission dipstick? That tends to rattle at certain RPMs if it's popped out of its sleeve a couple inches (the plastic engine cover's sole purpose is apparently to prevent that from happening).

Dan

PathFinder7 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 17, 2011 1:40 pm

All awesome suggestions, you guys rock! The skid plates all seem to have clearance so I think that's out. The vibration does NOT occur while in neutral. I have not checked it in reverse since there has been ice around and plenty of people to slow down my momentum.

Today is supposed to be nice weather so I will be checking out all the other suggestions. Any idea on the best way to check the motor mounts? They seem like the most likely suspect, though I would love if it was the transmission dipstick, or perhaps even the viscous fan...I hope it's not that damned torque converter.

Thanks again guys!

PathFinder7 · **Posted:** Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:15 pm

So I did something crazy and searched the forums. Sounds like to motor mounts might be the cause of all my issues. I;ve had clunking coming from the passenger side for quite sometime, I chalked it up to something with the suspension. Me and a buddy even taped his Droid under the Libby to video it and try to find something moving, nothing. I have also been getting the increased vibration idling in gear, and it goes away in neutral.

All this makes a pretty good case for the ills befalling my Jeep. I hope this is it as all this has really been frustrating me and making me think of setting her on fire...

Thanks again for all the input.

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:36 pm

If the clunk is most pronounced when you're starting from standstill or coming to a stop, then yes, it's probably the mount. When you take it off and shake it around, there's a heavy metallic rattle. Yours might be so far gone that this is what you're hearing. The good news is you can swap it out yourself with a jack, some scrap lumber, some deep sockets, a few universal joint adapters, and a lot of twisting and squeezing.

Dan

PathFinder7 · **Posted:** Fri Jan 28, 2011 6:20 pm

Ok, so thanks to the awesome 65 deg weather in Denver today I was able to put my new mounts in. This may have been one of the easier things I've done to my Jeep. It took maybe 30 minutes by myself. When I pulled the old ones out, they looked ok. I expected to see tears or cracks or some such. I figured I'd replaced yet another good part (stupid tri-link arm).

When I got it back together, I took her out and BEHOLD, no vibration, no clunking, no rattling and no more global warming!!! Ok, we may have to gather data for the next couple years to validate that last claim, but my faith is nearly restored in the little Jeep. It runs so smooth and quiet once again. Thanks to all of you guys who gave suggestions and pointed me down the right path. It had been driving me crazy for about 4 months, and it is finally fixed. This board rocks and you guys are the best.

Now, if I could just get that damned transfer case replaced and have an actual 4-wheel drive again....

Thanks again!!

europachris · **Posted:** Mon Apr 04, 2011 2:01 pm

PathFinder7 wrote:

This may have been one of the easier things I've done to my Jeep. It took maybe 30 minutes by myself.

Good grief.....if only.....

I set out on Saturday afternoon to replace the mounts, thinking it would only take an hour or two. I had a bad feeling, though, when I read the "how-to" and it said "Remove skidplate". Last time I tried to remove the skidplate, the first bolt I tried siezed up and broke the weld nut loose inside the rear x-member. I put my tools away and said "screw it". Well, that was about 3 salt-filled winters ago, so I knew I was in for a fight.

To save everyone from the profanity, name calling, tantrums and other childish antics that went on, I'll merely state that I was able to drill the heads off the front mounting bolts, drill out the bolt itself and go in with an M10-1.5 tap to clean out the threads of what was left. The rear mounting bolts were just cut off with my angle grinder and the remaining weld nut was knocked loose with a punch. I then drilled through the top of the x-member and used some 2" long bolts/nuts to reinstall the plate.

The actual replacement of the mounts was quite easy, although the left side bottom nut was a buggar - very tight and very poor access. I finally removed the little bracket between the subframe and diff housing (3 small bolts to the diff and one big bolt/rubber bushing to the subframe) which allowed me to snake through with a long 1/2" extension and impact swivel on the end.

The left side mount was in fine shape but the right side mount rattled like a coffee can full of marbles. I kept the old left mount in the event the new right side mount fails some day, but for now the CRD is quiet again without that buzzy rattle that was driving me nuts.

flman · **Posted:** Mon Apr 04, 2011 3:32 pm

europachris wrote:

PathFinder7 wrote:

This may have been one of the easier things I've done to my Jeep. It took maybe 30 minutes by myself.

Good grief.....if only.....

I set out on Saturday afternoon to replace the mounts, thinking it would only take an hour or two. I had a bad feeling, though, when I read the "how-to" and it said "Remove skidplate". Last time I tried to remove the skidplate, the first bolt I tried siezed up and broke the weld nut loose inside the rear x-member. I put my tools away and said "screw it". Well, that was about 3 salt-filled winters ago, so I knew I was in for a fight.

I put never seize on my skids.

Hammy713 · **Posted:** Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:53 am

I'm curious, was the original issue a shutter/vibration or more of a rattle? I have recently noticed a shutter come on and now its pretty bad under acceleration. It feels like the tires are very unbalanced (not the case). I have the motor mounts but need to install them.

I guess I can start there and finish replacing every other part on this Jeep that originally came on it. It seems as soon as I get one problem fixed, I'm good for a few weeks then another problem arises...

I do have the GDE Hot tune and the stock torque converter but we drive it pretty normal and don't hot rod it. I guess it could be anything.

Any other ideas?

Craig

europachris · **Posted:** Fri Apr 08, 2011 7:18 am

Hammy713 wrote:

I'm curious, was the original issue a shutter/vibration or more of a rattle? I have recently noticed a shutter come on and now its pretty bad under acceleration. It feels like the tires are very unbalanced (not the case). I have the motor mounts but need to install them.

Any other ideas?

Craig

That sounds like a bad u-joint. When the motor mounts go bad, the rattle sounds almost like the exhaust pipe is buzzing/knocking against the frame, especially when you start or stop the engine or idling in gear.

Hammy713 · **Posted:** Fri Apr 08, 2011 12:10 pm

europachris wrote:

Hammy713 wrote:

I'm curious, was the original issue a shutter/vibration or more of a rattle? I have recently noticed a shutter come on and now its pretty bad under acceleration. It feels like the tires are very unbalanced (not the case). I have the motor mounts but need to install them.

Any other ideas?

Craig

That sounds like a bad u-joint. When the motor mounts go bad, the rattle sounds almost like the exhaust pipe is buzzing/knocking against the frame, especially when you start or stop the engine or idling in gear.

I'm glad you said that, that is what it feels and sounds like to me, no rattling.

SargeIndustries · **Posted:** Sun Apr 10, 2011 12:03 pm

Hammy713 wrote:

europachris wrote:

Hammy713 wrote:

I'm curious, was the original issue a shutter/vibration or more of a rattle? I have recently noticed a shutter come on and now its pretty bad under acceleration. It feels like the tires are very unbalanced (not the case). I have the motor mounts but need to install them.

Any other ideas?

Craig

That sounds like a bad u-joint. When the motor mounts go bad, the rattle sounds almost like the exhaust pipe is buzzing/knocking against the frame, especially when you start or stop the engine or idling in gear.

I'm glad you said that, that is what it feels and sounds like to me, no rattling.

So have you figured out your vibration issue yet? I am going to crawl under mine today to check my driveline u-joints for wear. If those are not the culprit, I will check the torque converter bolts to see if they are backing out again... My vibration really starts buzzing once the TC locks up and acceration is harder. This all came on in about 2 1/2 tanks of fuel after a 3000mile smooth vibration free trip to Bluff Utah and back. I hope its the ujoints..

edit: It was the rear U-joint....

PathFinder7 · **Posted:** Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:34 pm

I installed the new 231 t-case I got from Troy and the vibration went away. It's really weird since I could have sworn the vibe was coming from the front passenger side. Thankfully it is gone now. It's possible that the sprag (sp?) broke on the 242 t-case and the Jeep was actually stuck in 4 Full at all times, thus causing the vibration and crappy mileage. I didn't really do anything else while under there except what was required to change the t-case (remove drive shafts, cross member, skids and t-case, a lot I suppose)

At any rate, it went away and I am VERY happy with the new t-case. Thanks Troy!

CRD Vibration/Rattle from 1900-2200RPM. Maddening!!!!

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