UPDATE: Drive shaft issue, transmission, clutch, etc?

This issue I'm having took about 10 miles from barely a whimper, to leaving me stranded up on the mountain.

So I recently left my truck sitting for about two weeks & took my beater up north for the holidays because California.

When I got back, I replaced the slave cylinder because I was having issues (especially on inclines) getting out of gear. And bled the lines. Clutch feels alot better now. My first drive was when the issue arose.

At first it sounded like a exhaust leak. And progressed from there.
I was noticing depleted acceleration at first (along with the slight noise), then I was convinced one of my ujoints seized. Then I thought it may be a wheel bearing....
At the moment I'm getting a herky gerky acceleration. Completely associated with vehicle speed. I hear a distinct metallic clang with each revolution to whatever is causing the issue. The sound seems to originating on the front/mid & slightly to the passenger side.

Sound is consistent, no matter what position the transfer case is in including N. And no matter the position of the shifter, at least from 1-3 in 4lo.

At first the sound/vibration was more evident in forward than reverse. But now it seems equal.

I have manual hubs. So I disconnected electrically & mechanically the front DS. But didn't remove the actual DS. Lifted each of the front tires & it didn't feel like the issue was there. Spun the DS, again didn't feel like the issue was there either.

Lifted the rear, one tire at a time. Because of tool limitations. And didn't see an obvious issue. Checked fluid levels in everything but the front diff.

So at a loss. Replaced the slave cylinder last. Just a coincidence?

Vehicle info: 3.4/5spd 100k engine/tranny/TC/ DS's. 150k front/rear diffs.

Its cold & windy, & about to snow so ill try to get a tow in the morning.

Thanks guys.

 

Could be the pilot or throw out bearing.

 

Do either of those fail so dramatically?

 

Bump

 

The pilot and throwout bearing will make noise for a long time before they go out. Does it change when you push the clutch in and out? the noise that is?

 

I would disconnect the rear drive shaft, one flange at a time, and move the ujoints around by hand to feel for any sort of binding.

 

Thanks Beau.

Pilots been squeaking for a few months. And yes, it gets quieted with about 3/4" of pedal travel. No matter the pedal adjustment.. But I can hear the pilot squawking the same as its been accustomed to doing. Absolutely no change.

This symptom went from 0 to 10 in less than 10 miles. 3 to 10 within a mile. And it progressed worse the farther I drove.

The sound is completely dependent with vehicle speed. I go one mph it clanks a little. I go 30, i feel like something is going to explode. Clutch engaged. Disengaged. Tranny in gear, out of gear. Coasting down hill. TC in all settings(j-shift).

Thanks Frank.
Yeah i need to get it on jackstands.

 

You have ruled out a rod or main bearing knocking?? This would account for reduced power.

The noise is only with the truck moving never when parked.

changes with road speed not rpm??

Transmission and transfer case don`t effect the noise. No vibration felt through the gearshift ?

Good luck!

 

Don't want to hear that!
Engine sounds good when it's not moving along the roadway.

I haven't ruled out much. But it sounds like it's in the bellhousing.

I'll get it on jackstands tmmw.

 

I have the 1 piece driveshaft (regular cab), and recently had to replace it because of a bad double cardan joint. Aside from the fact that your issue progressed so quickly, it sounds pretty similar. It got a lot worse after replacing the clutch, maybe because there was more torque, or maybe because of how violent the clutch failure was. I was hearing it towards the front of the vehicle, but it was the rear driveshaft.

Your rear shaft has the carrier bearing, right? What did you do with your driveshafts when you replaced the clutch? Just let them hang? Maybe the carrier bearing got a little out of adjustment...? Definitely try to get the rear wheels off the ground and get them spinning to see if that's where the issue is. That's how I found my issue.

 

Good info.

The last time the clutch was replaced was 35k. And it was aftermarket. And had a shop do it.
Not sure if they knew to support the DS.

But my wheel bearings are leaking (same shop, a week prior to clutch), & I had to use a map gas torch to remove my wheel lugs after I snapped one off trying to rotate my tires after they touched it (bearing job). So who knows?

Long story short. I had a dying CB, that I thought was one issue, which I remedied. Which didn't fix the problem. Until I replaced the CB. And it was a low mileage used CB...

I have a spare rear DS so I'm going to get some sleep tonight believing that's the only issue.

Thanks Eric!

 

It's hard to guess over the internet but - almost sounds like driveshaft binding if it clanks. Might not be safe but I did this before. I have 4 jackstands and all wheels off the ground. I put my pickup and gear and let it just idle on it's own spinning the tires at low speed. Don't go to fast might shake too much. lol Mine was my double cardan joint. Had a bad u-joint. It's not impossible but I had a place rebuild my driveline. Good as new after that. Expensive! but - piece of mind for quite a while after that. Just throwing that out there. Might be U-joint related somewhere as others have stated that you just can't see when it's on the ground.

 

I would get that pilot bearing replaced ASAP. Mine went out & required a tranny rebuild.

 

Thanks Beau. How expensive was it?

Oh. Did it seize and booger up the input shaft?

 

Well - I was driving my 98 when all of a sudden I was completely unable to engage 1st gear. I thought it was shifter bushings. Nope. A bolt had sheared off in my transmission. I had a transmission shop completely rebuild by R150 5 speed with all new Toyota syncros and bearings, input shaft, marlin clutch etc. I noticed my u-joints in the driveline in the cardan section were not in good shape. Instead of replacing the whole driveline he offered to rebuild it. $2800 later I had all that done It was roughly about $375 to have the driveline rebuilt. He had quite the trouble finding u-joints for the cardan section but he did it. Old fella with over 30+ years of service work on transmission who loves 1st gen tacomas.

 

Wow. Why/how did the bolt shear? Hearing your story hurts my feelings alittle...

Those old fellars sure are something else.

 

Wish I knew. I think it was just a freak accident. I had my original trans go out so I picked up a used one from Colorado. drove there and picked it up. Came out of 97 4-runner. That's the one that had the bolt break. t the time I thought shoot- I'll still be ahead money fixing the Taco and I've been driving the hell out of it! lol It's also something that doesn't happen very often at all to the R150. It's a very robust transmission that typically has no problems at all I hope you find out what your issue is. Good luck!

 

I looked into rebuilding my double cardan, but the thread I found with parts numbers was pretty old and I couldn't find those u joints. Ended up buying one from a local wrecker for $200 and telling myself I'd get to rebuilding my old one "someday".

 

Yup. Bent the shaft.

 

So the issue is the 3rd (third) member making all this racket. I've attached a video.

Another issue is the clutch not disengaging in neutral. Probably replace the master cylinder. To root out if the Marlin Crawler clutch failed....

I guess I'll start a new thread on this.

Thanks guys!