Lost drive to front wheels

[tercle]

Lost my front wheel drive yesterday on I-5.
Checked all gears - nothing.
In forward gears, the speedometer moves up as if I am moving.
Didn't think of trying to switch to 4wd yesterday. Just got it towed home.

This morning I put it in 4wd and the car moves forward and reverse.
Bad whirring and metal noises though.

I checked this morning to see if one of the axles popped out, but they both are pushed in the same.
I read on the Internet that some people have had no drive but speedometer moves with engine rpm, and it was one of the axles had popped out.
Which one of them is driven most? I don't remember what it's called, but isn't one of the wheels driven more directly than the other in 2wd?



I think the Automatic Transmission is toast,
but I guess I will pop out both axles and compare the splines, to see if they are partially sheared off on one side.
That's probably unlikely, though

[dlb]

yes, it's possible that one of the axles failed. besides the splines shearing off, the joints can also fail completely. i had it happen once. a joint on one axle had been clicking and thumping for a few weeks and then got much worse one day until i turned a corner and lost all power to the wheels. so check both axles carefully and if both are fine, drain the ATF and look for big shards of metal.

did you have any issues with this trans before this incident?

[tercle]

No problems with the transmission until yesterday.
Just bad CV joint clicking from right axle.
Can't remember now if it was when turning right or left.
Left? Anyway, it was from the right side and sounded just like a CV joint.

[dlb]

if your trans has been fine but you'd had bad clicking, i'd wager the joint just finally died. look for a split boot on one of the axles as an indicator of which one is bad. if the boots look fine, you'll have to at least remove the steering hub so you can try spinning the outer end of the axle. if it spins at a joint, that's the culprit.

[tercle]

The boots look fine.

I got the front on jackstands.
If I turn the passenger-side wheel, the opposite wheel also turns - but not always.
If I hold the driver-side shaft and turn the passenger wheel with my foot, the driver-side wheel doesn't turn.
I can feel the vibration in the driver-side axle of something like a gear or splines rubbing but not connecting.

I think I need to put the car down and loosen the axle bolts and remove them, brake calipers and link to the steering knuckle to pull the axles.

[Petros]

Pull the front axles, likely one of the spline shafts broke off just inside the trans. You will have to drain the diff to get any metal out, and you may have to drill a hole in the end of the broken off axles shaft, thread the hole with a tape and put a screw or bolt in it so you can pull it out. ONce you have the axles removed you will be able to tell if that is the problem.

It is also possible the front output shaft failed, but more likely it is just the axles shaft. That is a fairly easy fix, you will need a new axle is that is the case. you can also pull the front cover on the diff to inspect inside to see that the front diff input shaft is still connected to the trans, and to check for broken metal parts.

There was a recent thread by another forum member that had this exact same problem, but I could not find the thread.

[dlb]

just found the thread peter mentioned above:

https://tercel4wd.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8789

[tercle]

Looking at both front axles, the splines look the same.
Nothing sheared off.

Transmission is toast (?)

[dlb]

have you removed both axles to inspect both the inner and outer splines?

[tercle]

Yes.
Boots intact. Splines look intact to me.


inner


outer

[tercle]

Anyone know of a wagon that just needs a motor?
I pulled a motor so that I could plug into my late Automatic 4x4.

[Mark]

Sounds exactly like what happened to me. Since yours is an auto as well, it's probably stripped splines on the governor valve body in the transmission. This acts as a coupling between the transmission's front output shaft and the front differential's input shaft. Replacing it would involve removing the transmission, finding a decent replacement part from another transmission (the 2wd ones work as well) and installing it along with whatever gaskets were tampered with when splitting the transmission and differential housing apart. This is what I did and it wasn't fun lying on my back in my driveway. It would be much easier to find a replacement trans from a wrecker, but there were none available in Western Canada when I looked. I'm attached to my car otherwise there's no way in hell I would have gone through the effort to repair it.

[Mark]

By the way, you should be able to drive it around in RWD if you want. I did that for about a month before I bought a 2wd hatchback as a replacement while I fixed the 4wd wagon. I'm surprised you have noise when driving in RWD. On mine, the torque all went to the rear differential and there was no noise from the trans. When I took it out of 4WD, there was a nasty grinding noise.

[tercle]

you can also pull the front cover on the diff to inspect inside to see that the front diff input shaft is still connected to the trans, and to check for broken metal parts.

The crossmember seems to be in the way.
Do you have to pull the transmission?
What needs to be replaced if the front diff input shaft is not connected correctly?

Which transmissions use the same input shaft parts as the automatic 4x4 ?

[tercle]

By the way, you should be able to drive it around in RWD if you want. I did that for about a month before I bought a 2wd hatchback as a replacement while I fixed the 4wd wagon. I'm surprised you have noise when driving in RWD. On mine, the torque all went to the rear differential and there was no noise from the trans. When I took it out of 4WD, there was a nasty grinding noise.

I didn't actually try to drive it in 4wd.
I just moved forward and reverse a few inches.
I will put the axles and stuff back in and try RWD tomorrow.