Hey everyone. I've got a 2000 TJ with a 4.0, NV3550, NP231 with a SYE (~4" lift) and 150,000 miles.
I bought this jeep back in December last year. The transmission has always made a clunking noise as though it were physically shifting in place (vs shifting the gears, if you get my meaning).
A little while ago, after doing an oil change, I took it out to drive it around and noticed a rhythmic clunking sound coming from what sounded like under my seat. It wasn't too bad at first, but got progressively worse fairly quickly. It is worse under acceleration and you can feel it through the whole vehicle when going uphill. This happens both in reverse and forward.
I figured it was a bad u-joint somewhere (even though there was no significant play in either drive-shaft) so I went ahead and replaced the front axle u-joints and put in new hubs while I was up there. I also replaced the u-joints in the rear driveshaft. While the rear was out, I drove it in 4HI to see if the sound was still there and avoid replacing the u-joints on the front drive shaft. It was still there, though less pronounced. So I put the rear shaft back in, took out the front, and drove it again to confirm the front shaft was the issue. The noise was still there and was much worse.
I took this video () to try and get the ratio of clunks to tire rotations and seem to be getting more than 3 and less than 4 which, to me, means that the issue is after the transmission but before the output of the differentials. Sorry for the bad quality and hard to hear sound. If I can do anything to be more helpful, let me know!
The next part I'd think to load into the cannon is a Transmission Mount given the sound it was making when applying power after shifting to 1st from reverse or just to reverse from going forward. Maybe it's out of alignment and just needs to get pointed in the right direction?
Thanks for any wisdom. Thanks twice if you have an answer that doesn't involve getting a new Transfer Case!
I bought this jeep back in December last year. The transmission has always made a clunking noise as though it were physically shifting in place (vs shifting the gears, if you get my meaning).
A little while ago, after doing an oil change, I took it out to drive it around and noticed a rhythmic clunking sound coming from what sounded like under my seat. It wasn't too bad at first, but got progressively worse fairly quickly. It is worse under acceleration and you can feel it through the whole vehicle when going uphill. This happens both in reverse and forward.
I figured it was a bad u-joint somewhere (even though there was no significant play in either drive-shaft) so I went ahead and replaced the front axle u-joints and put in new hubs while I was up there. I also replaced the u-joints in the rear driveshaft. While the rear was out, I drove it in 4HI to see if the sound was still there and avoid replacing the u-joints on the front drive shaft. It was still there, though less pronounced. So I put the rear shaft back in, took out the front, and drove it again to confirm the front shaft was the issue. The noise was still there and was much worse.
I took this video () to try and get the ratio of clunks to tire rotations and seem to be getting more than 3 and less than 4 which, to me, means that the issue is after the transmission but before the output of the differentials. Sorry for the bad quality and hard to hear sound. If I can do anything to be more helpful, let me know!
The next part I'd think to load into the cannon is a Transmission Mount given the sound it was making when applying power after shifting to 1st from reverse or just to reverse from going forward. Maybe it's out of alignment and just needs to get pointed in the right direction?
Thanks for any wisdom. Thanks twice if you have an answer that doesn't involve getting a new Transfer Case!
