Hiattech
New member
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2022
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- My Lincoln
- 2008 Navigator
TLDR: the vehicle makes a groaning noise at speeds under 10 to 15 miles an hour and the brakes have already been replaced in the front. Les Schwab thinks transfer case, drivetrain, or transmission but isn't sure. Doesn't seem to be a problem in 4x4.
Backstory: This is my wife's car so I'm not sure how long the issue was going for but about 3 months ago, she mentioned to me that the car was making an odd noise. I drove it a bit and noted it happened whether braking or accelerating and whether turning or driving straight but only under about 10ish mph. Though it didn't really seem like the problem, I decided perhaps it was grinding brakes. I felt justified when I checked the brakes and discovered the drivers side caliper had partially failed causing only one half of the brake pad to push against the rotor. This caused the tail of the pads to dig a trench into the rotor. I replaced the caliper, rotors, and pads thinking all would be fine. We went on a trip and didn't notice it then but, we were going highway speeds most of the time.
A few day after the trip and she hasn't mentioned it so i thought we were in the clear. I had to drive somewhere though and noticed it was back. I hadn't had the time to get it looked at but each time I drove it, it seems louder and more constant but still only when under 10 or so mph. I stopped at Les Schwab to see if maybe it was something else to do with the brakes that I wasn't aware of. He said the rear brakes did seem a bit worn but that wasn't the issue. He said the transfer case did seem to be leaking a bit but he couldn't pin down whether it was transfer case, transmission, or drive train.
I'm at a bit of a loss on what to check. The groaning is fairly loud but doesn't effect how the car drives and its only at low speeds. We noticed when it's in 4 when drive (which we have need for with all the snow now), the issue seems to go away. Any ideas? From everything I can find, I'm leaning towards transfer case. Would maybe a transfer case fluid exchange help?
If I can repair it myself, I'd love to.
Backstory: This is my wife's car so I'm not sure how long the issue was going for but about 3 months ago, she mentioned to me that the car was making an odd noise. I drove it a bit and noted it happened whether braking or accelerating and whether turning or driving straight but only under about 10ish mph. Though it didn't really seem like the problem, I decided perhaps it was grinding brakes. I felt justified when I checked the brakes and discovered the drivers side caliper had partially failed causing only one half of the brake pad to push against the rotor. This caused the tail of the pads to dig a trench into the rotor. I replaced the caliper, rotors, and pads thinking all would be fine. We went on a trip and didn't notice it then but, we were going highway speeds most of the time.
A few day after the trip and she hasn't mentioned it so i thought we were in the clear. I had to drive somewhere though and noticed it was back. I hadn't had the time to get it looked at but each time I drove it, it seems louder and more constant but still only when under 10 or so mph. I stopped at Les Schwab to see if maybe it was something else to do with the brakes that I wasn't aware of. He said the rear brakes did seem a bit worn but that wasn't the issue. He said the transfer case did seem to be leaking a bit but he couldn't pin down whether it was transfer case, transmission, or drive train.
I'm at a bit of a loss on what to check. The groaning is fairly loud but doesn't effect how the car drives and its only at low speeds. We noticed when it's in 4 when drive (which we have need for with all the snow now), the issue seems to go away. Any ideas? From everything I can find, I'm leaning towards transfer case. Would maybe a transfer case fluid exchange help?
If I can repair it myself, I'd love to.
