Intermediate Shaft symptoms. Let's make this a sticky.

LetFreedomRing · **Joined:** Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:51 am **Posts:** 268

I do believe that I am chasing around an intermediate shaft issue and am looking for some symptoms to see if they match mine. I figured if everyone could all post what they were experiencing when their intermediate shaft failed, we could eventually make a sticky since this seems to be a common problem with the KJ.

Now on to my symptoms. A noticeably louder type of tire/wheel bearing noise coming from the passenger front wheel that seems to change with suspension movement. More noticeable and felt when making SLOW left hand turns. Also, get noticeably worse the longer I drive(heating up) until it reaches a certain point, then it sounds the same until it cools down. Both front wheel bearings where replaced with Timken bearings thinking I had a bad bearing(Also rotated tires.) Wrong. So eventually I'm going to pull it apart and check it out. I should also note that when installing my bearings, the passenger front cv made a wierd/hollow type of sound whenever pushed in. The drivers side did not do this. Does this sound like a intermediate shaft issue?

So what were YOUR symptoms?

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 11:00 am

The best way to check the intermediate shaft is to take it apart and visually check the splines.... if its good throw it back in... anything else is guessing....only takes an hr to take it apart and put it all back together....and even less if you are good :wink:

No need for sticky... I have 185,000+ miles and have only changed it once...

LetFreedomRing · **Joined:** Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:51 am **Posts:** 268

03CDKJ wrote:

The best way to check the intermediate shaft is to take it apart and visually check the splines.... if its good throw it back in... anything else is guessing....only takes an hr to take it apart and put it all back together....and even less if you are good :wink:

No need for sticky... I have 185,000+ miles and have only changed it once...

I'm sure there was a reason you changed your shaft. Let's hear it! :wink:

Also, this is for the people who don't have access to a garage/tools to rip everything apart just to check it! :mrgreen:

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 12:20 pm

I noticed a vibration... constant with wheel speed. The faster the speed, the faster the vibration. And some clunking while turning... still rotational...

So who is going to change it? If you are going to a shop or the dealer they are going to charge $300 minimum...

That's 90 for the shaft.... and 200 for tools...
Part of Jeepin is tools. :wink:

and you don't need anything except a 3/8 rachet, some sockets, a Jack stand, a 3-5lb hammer, and 2 rachet straps. Way under 200... then you'll be able to change your drivers side cv, etc... for free
I've changed my entire suspension in a stone driveway... you don't need a garage.

LetFreedomRing · **Joined:** Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:51 am **Posts:** 268

03CDKJ wrote:

I noticed a vibration... constant with wheel speed. The faster the speed, the faster the vibration. And some clunking while turning... still rotational...

So who is going to change it? If you are going to a shop or the dealer they are going to charge $300 minimum...

That's 90 for the shaft.... and 200 for tools...
Part of Jeepin is tools. :wink:

and you don't need anything except a 3/8 rachet, some sockets, a Jack stand, a 3-5lb hammer, and 2 rachet straps. Way under 200... then you'll be able to change your drivers side cv, etc... for free
I've changed my entire suspension in a stone driveway... you don't need a garage.

My brother and I put the lift on, I'm pretty sure we can change an intermediate shaft. :wink:

This was intended to help people pin point a failing intermediate shaft! And to confirm mine! :mrgreen:

It's not the matter of doing it, it just finding the time to do it!

The more I think about it, maybe it's just my junk Kumho tires......

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 12:43 pm

Like I said. You will not be able to pin-point the problem unless you take it apart. It could be the cv's... out of balance wheel... u joints.. etc...
Just do a search for noise or sounds and see how many different things people have posted...
You could have had it apart by now.... :wink:

LetFreedomRing · **Joined:** Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:51 am **Posts:** 268

03CDKJ wrote:

Like I said. You will not be able to pin-point the problem unless you take it apart. It could be the cv's... out of balance wheel... u joints.. etc...
Just do a search for noise or sounds and see how many different things people have posted...
You could have had it apart by now.... :wink:

I wish I could work on my jeep at work! :ROTFL:

The only thing is, I have to convince my brother to "help" (borrow his impact gun and tools :mrgreen:

) which he isn't too keen on doing something that is not a for sure problem. So basically I would need to buy the parts to get him motivated! Regardless if they are bad or not!

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:03 pm

Use his impact gun? For what?
I've done 20 lifts on KJs, helped with 4 or 5 more, had mine torn apart 30 -40 times, replaced CVs complete front diffs etc and NEVER have used an impact gun for any of it! Build up your muscles and get to work :pepper:

and as far as what you hear or feel Chris is right, unless you totally tear it apart is 90% guessing. Mine I just heard a noise at about 25-30 MPH, and knew what it was from tearing into Chris' before that. It is not something you can say "yes I am 100 % sure it is the intermediate shaft. " Maybe 85% but..... :ROTFL:

Oh and I do have access to air tools, have them laying on the work bench all of the time, have a CO2 tank as well but I like to feel what I am doing and can do it almost as fast, so....... :JEEPIN:

LetFreedomRing · **Joined:** Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:51 am **Posts:** 268

Apparently they don't salt the roads out there as much as they do around here.

I'm actually quite surprised we didn't have to burn anything off during the lift install. Hey, if you want to use your muscles, more power to you! :wink:

Like I always heard, work smarter not harder! :mrgreen:

Thanks for the info guys!

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:32 pm

Pfffffttt. Trust me they salt the roads plenty....
Try taking apart the front with a half a bottle of red loctite on each bolt!
Daryl!

JL Rockies · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 6:31 pm

The search button is all the sticky you'll need... just sayin'

03CDKJ · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 7:11 pm

Another completely useless post by "not a big deal to anyone but himself"
Just sayin' :roll:

CIMARRON13 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 8:28 pm

03CDKJ wrote:

Another completely useless post by "not a big deal to anyone but himself"
Just sayin' :roll:

I agree. I wonder how many of his 3,700 posts are helpful? I have never seen one. The search doesn't work very well and some people like the personal feeling of getting their questions answered. I see nothing wrong with that. JLRockies should start his own forum that only allows searches and no PMs.

tommudd · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 8:37 pm

So BACK ON TOPIC here

To the OP
there is no real way to determine if it is the intermediate shaft/CV or say a wheel bearing until you get right into it.
For example on 03CDKJs I didn't think it was that ( intermediate shaft) but we ended up tearing into it and almost all of the splines were GONE. Of course he had driven it a good while like that. Was making a racket at all speeds.
Mine was basically just rusted together and make some low noises at low speeds.
So while it could be a sticky how do you explain to some one to check what could be 4 or 5 things going on?

kjon · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 10:12 pm

Mine was on the fritz for a while before it had a total failure. I hit a pothole at 70mph and the rotational vibe turned into a rotational clunk. I limped it to the dealer at about 10mph for a diagnosis- where they told me it was probably the throw out bearing on my clutch- and I believed them since my clutch had been nearly non-existent for at least a year (the tech couldn't even get it out of the parking spot!). So, I had them do the clutch, and $700 later I had a new clutch and the clunking problem was still there.
I ended up replacing the CV on the front drive shaft, both U-joints, passenger side CV and intermediate shaft (in that order). The U joints and driveshaft were still functional, but when I pulled out the passenger CV, it was readily apparent that was the problem. Those splines were ground almost completely off both CV and intermediate shaft.

So, Chris is right- it's hard to diagnose unless you pull it apart, and it's a quick job if you have some basic tools. You need an axle nut socket (I think it's 34mm, but you'll never find it so just get a 35mm), and a big breaking bar!

LetFreedomRing · **Joined:** Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:51 am **Posts:** 268

JL Rockies wrote:

The search button is all the sticky you'll need... just sayin'

I assume that you know that the search function on this forum sucks since you been here so long...... :roll:

To everyone else, thanks for the info. I've been having low speed sound problems and already replaced the wheel bearings, so it looks like I'll be ripping into it some day when I get a chance.

Intermediate Shaft symptoms. Let's make this a sticky.

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