Chasing grinding/growling sound

Hey everyone, newish member here, first post. I have a 2017 TRD Sport, 6cyl, Auto Trans, 4x4. Bought the truck with a leveling kit on it, I believe it's 2" in front and 3" in back, but not positive on that. That's the only mod on the truck that I'm aware of.

Backstory: In December, went out 4 wheeling with my father in law. Had fun in the snow and when it was time to leave, I was stuck in 4L. After switching the selector knob millions of time and moving it forwards and backwards, decided to take the slow drive home in 4L.

Tried dealership route, they denied any warranty due to lift. Quoted 4000$ for new Tcase. Laughed and walked out.

After some research here, I removed the Tcase actuator and manually shifted the truck into 2WD. After that I couldn't move out of 2H (Which was alright since I could at least drive it again). I then removed to the A.D.D., all was well inside, no water, no corrosion, contacts were solid on the motor. Reinstalled A.D.D., waited 24 hours and refilled front diff. Then BOOM! Had full movement between 2H and 4H.

After replacing the ADD, FIL drove my truck home (he's got a nice heated workshop!) while I brought the wifes car home. He didn't notice anything while making the short trip back to my house (less than 5km).

Next day, started truck and went for a test drive and had a grinding/growling from what sounded to be front end. I could also feel it in my feet. Grinding happens primarily when first starting to drive in cold weather (< -25C). Sound only present while in motion and while truck is under load. Sound went away instantly when switching to 4H. Another note, sound would go away once truck was at full operating temperature. I would drive it in 4H until it warmed up, flipped it to 2H and all was well for the trip. Rinse and repeat for every drive.

From those symptoms and many hours of research, I figured needle bearing. Finally got around to installing the ECGS bushing this past weekend. Install went smooth, after test drive, sound was still present. I'm now at a loss and unsure of where to go next.

Here's a link to the sound

Any info or thoughts on where to look next?

Thanks in advance.

 

Sorry, forgot to mention, today (2 days after ECGS install), sound has shown up while in 4H. Sound did not go away when I came to full stop. Switched back to 2H and sound was gone. Thinking maybe I messed up with ADD and the collar is not fully engaging/disengaging.

 

Small update, crawled under truck last night. While in park and in 2wd, front drive shaft will not spin by hand. Jacked up front end and tried again, still not able to turn front shaft.

 

Removed the ADD and replaced with a new one. Noise seems to be gone now. Front drive shaft would not spin by hand while in 2wd before ADD replacement and now she spins freely, so I think something in the ADD was fucked and it wasn't in right position, which led to intermittent grinding. Also played around with the Tcase actuator and pulled it off to ensure the shift rod was all the way in.

We were able to move it one click in even though truck was in 2wd. Reassembled and took it for a spin. Now I cannot shift into 4WD. Light just blinks. Rewatched this video and realized I did not put truck in neutral before shifting the rod. May have messed up there. At least for now the god awful grinding is gone. Going to pull the Tcase actuator over the weekend and try again. Fingers crossed.

 

Having a slow day at work today and brought my truck inside the shop to play around. While the truck is in ACC, shifting into 4H, I hear the Tcase actuator moving, green light flashes on dash, but I hear a solid beep for about 3 seconds, and then a continuous beeping coming from the transfer case....Definitely no sound in the cab. Anyone everheard of this before? @BigWhiteTRD, you're the resident expert on 4x4 here. Do you have any idea of why the actuator beeps?

 

Sorry, of no help with your problem here. Just wanted to say, good on you for trying to figure out your issues. Keep us updated on what you find.

 

I have never heard an actuator 'beep'. Neither manually applying voltage to actuator nor with the ECU operating the actuator. (however to be fair, I have not operated the actuators via the ECU with my head next to the actuator THAT many times, but certainly in the dozens...)
I have definitely heard moaning and groaning and squealing, (as well as clunks), but never anything I would describe as a beep. The actuator is driven by a PWM signal by the ECU, and I dont know what frequency that is driven at.... Its possible that is the cause, although it doesnt seem to make any sense with what you are describing.


Can you record a video and upload to youtube or something?

 

Hey @BigWhiteTRD, here's the video clip. Truck was in ACC. Didn't point directly at it, cold as heck here today (-36C) and didn't want to kneel in snow. But this gives an idea. Beep is solid for first 3ish seconds and then going to a chirp. Sound only comes from undercarriage, not in cab.

 

OK
I misunderstood, sorry. That is the 'typical' warning buzzer. As far as I know, that can get activated for a couple of conditions. It typically is a 3 beep, or a continuous beep depending on the issue. Typically it is activated when you attempt to shift modes (4lo, etc) when the truck is not in the correct condition for it (neutral, speed, etc), or for a diff temperature issue.

Here is quickly what I know about the conditions that create it as pulled from the repair manual, see if you can match up what you are seeing. (note, this is not all inclusive, I might have missed something)

 

Thanks for putting that together @BigWhiteTRD. Unfortunately, none of those match what I have. Green Light on dash blinks and then the alarm sounds underneath, no warnings on multiple info display. I'm pretty confident I messed up timing of the gears in tcase actuator. I've got time on Sunday and gonna rip that sucker off again. I'll report back!

 

Good luck
sure seems odd, just about every time i have broken the system it gives a Multi- info-display error.
That video is the best reference I know of for actuator timing.

 

Are you just sitting in drive or parked when this happens, have you tried while the vehicle is in motion?

So front diff is engaging, but transfer case isn’t shifting to the selected gear?

 

@minium, I've tried while in park, in neutral (standing still), driving, coasting in neutral. None seemed to work. Unfortunately, my Father in Law bailed on me yesterday, so going to go tonight instead to try and re-time the gears in the transfer case motor.

 

Do you remember what your needle bearing looked like when you pulled it? was it intact? Maybe there are some needles in your front diff

 

Actually I recognize that sound. The other day I switched from neutral do drive and before the actuator finished and got a similar noise. maybe your actuator is still trying to go into 4h even though mechanically it is in 4h.

double check if it is properly lined up

 

Hey @FloridaFree, needle bearing came out in one piece with all needles still inside bearing. Thankfully, grinding is gone after replacing ADD and manually shifting truck back into 2WD upon removing transfer case actuator. Believe my issue is with timing the gears now. Hopefully should have an update tomorrow! Thanks for your input!

 

Update for you guys, sorry for the delay, been a busy week. Ripped off Transfer case motor and played with it a few times. Took about 6 attempts, but truck is now shifting in and out of 4H again. First few shifts I got a very short but angry grind while going into 4H (going back to 2H made no sound). The more I shifted, the grind seemed to go away. Lots of snow in Manitoba today, so going to take it for a good spin in the white stuff and ensure the shifting is smooth again. Man, is timing that transfer case motor a bugger! Ultimately, I had the large gear with the V notches aligned with the housing more towards the right hand side of the V. Tried multiple times aligning directly with left side of V, never wanted to shift. Moved it to center and received the 2WD / 4WD error on multi info display. Towards the right seemed to work out. I'll report back in a few days after driving around a bit. Thanks again for everyone's help! Glad to have full functionality of 4x4 again!

 

You try out 4L as well?

I got to a point where I was good in 2H and 4H but 4L was enough to throw it off again.

After getting it timed correctly and hitting all 3 without fault, I’ve had zero issues since.

 

I haven't tried 4L yet. I will this weekend so if it goes south, I can bring it right to the father in laws shop, lol.

 

Yeah, better than getting caught off guard when you need 4L and can’t get back out of it lol