I am working on my step dad’s 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo (V8, 4WD, quadra trac II, 200,000 miles)
Initial symptoms were repetitive popping noise when accelerating and turning(both left and right). When I would let off the gas the noise would die down. I immediately thought CV axle and after replacing both sides the symptoms remain. I’m out of answers, I will post a video of the symptoms soon.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
cv joints were a good guess, although its sort of unlikely both sides would fail at the same time, so usually you’d only notice the problem when turning one direction and not the other if it was a cv joint. You replace the entire half shafts right? not just the outer joint. Does it have different 4wd modes? You’ll have to do some experiments to try to narrow it down. If so can you hear this in both 2wd and 4wd? My 4wd truck makes popping noises if I forget to lock the hubs when they are supposed to be locked, maybe something like that.
The first place I’d look would be the U joints on the drive shafts. If one of those is seized up and binding it could cause a popping noise especially on acceleration. The next place may be the differentials. This has limited slip diffs in the front and rear I believe and its possible the clutches in one or both are binding up. Change the oil in both diff’s and be sure to use the recommended limited slip gear oil and or a friction modifier when refilling.
When my 4wd truck has a u-joint problem the sound is a squeak at first. If I don’t fix the problem it turns into a thunking noise, sort of like a pop I guess, heard when driving but usually most noticeable when shifting after a stop from N to D or R. If its the rear u-joint (and for me it is always the rear, never the front) I can usually figure it out by laying by the side of the road and watching the u-joint as the truck goes past while somebody manually pushes the truck along at 2 mph or so. When the rear differential clutches are the source of a sound I hear a sort of scraping noise, sort of like problematic brakes would sound, most evident when turning.
Yeah im not really liking the ujoint diagnosis myself… just looking for simple things to check out before jumping to the expensive stuff.
I have however had limited slips make a sort of popping noise (i guess) while turning as the clutches started binding though and was fixed with fresh oil and the adiditive.