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4x4 spewed oil while in 4WH

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4wd oil spare spew
2K views 10 replies 4 participants last post by  dodge man 
#1 ·
Hi,

Long story ... I have a 2005 Ram 4X4 4.7L. It has bad tires, dry rotted and I need to replace. So when in 2wd at about 70 it vibrates bad. But when i put it in 4wh it's smooth unless i don't have the accelerator engaged (like coasting or downhill) the vibration returns. Second half of story - i went camping this weekend and noticed a complete flat after arriving to campground. So I put my spare on which is a bit smaller in diameter than the existing tires (which are slightly oversized). Coming home i put er in 4wh when i entered the interstate. Didn't sound right, like it wasn't engaged correctly, whinning which i didn't notice before i had the spare on it. So i take the next exit and disengage, re-engage 4wh and re-enter interstate. Same noise but this time it blew oil out all over my drivers side. I pulled over on the interstate and let it cool, then put it in 2wd. Seemed ok so i accelerated to speed and all went well -made it all the way home 100 miles. I tried to figure out where the oil was coming from, my opinion was that there was a form of relief tube right by the battery where it seems the oil/fluid was coming from. Question: Was it driving with the spare that caused this? and has anyone heard of such a relief tube where oil could spew from? Also, have i done any damage? Thanks!
 
#2 ·
first thing, on a 4wd, all the tires have to be the same size, or darn close. it puts great stress on the differentials when they are not, and undue wear and tear, second, you dont run the truck down a paved highway in 4wd, its bad for the truck to be in 4wd on pavement that is not slippery, especially with odd sized tires.....so yeah, something probably is broke, you dont use 4wd unles on a slippery surface, like mud, sand, snow, ice etc.....on pavement is a big no no. theres a reason why 4wd trucks come with a matching full size spare.
 
#4 ·
That relief tube by the battery is a vent, nothing more. If you have oil coming out of that, you just sheared your output shafts on your differential. Sounds like you will need a new Axle/Diff assembly my friend.

And if your vibration goes away in 4wd, your vibration was caused by your axle going bad.
 
#6 ·
moparonlineparts.com is where I go.

To make it a 2wd, all you have to do is disconnect the front driveshaft. The problem with this, is that your differential gears will still spin (normally) when the wheels do. Its just in neutral (along for the ride). With your situation this is a problem, because your gearset is sitting in the bottom of your differential carrier (more than likely), or is, at the very least, missing several teeth. This will cause you to have to replace axles instead of just your gearset. If you are driving down the road and that gearset comes apart/gets lodged in the diff casing, you could be looking at a lot more than a simple gearset replacement.
 
#7 · (Edited)
First off, I agree, don't drive on paved surfaces in 4wd on a regular basis, and yes, all the tires are the same.

Second, no one has a clue what is broken. Being in 4wd doesn't really stress the front differential by itself going in a straight line. The problem is the transfer case doesn't have a differential in it, so when the front and rear wheels aren't spinning the same speed, it puts stress on things. This occurs when going around corners. Anybody that has turned tight in 4wd on dry pavement will feel the tires and wheels hopping and skiding.

Things I would look at are the ends of the axles for leaks (where the wheels hook on), the seal where the driveshafts go into the differentials, and the seals where the driveshafts go into the transfer case.

By the vague description of where you say oil is getting on the drivers side, I'd bet the front axle seal is out on the drivers front, and I bet you have a bad bearing which is what the vibration is from.
 
#8 ·
Here's more on where the fluid was (smelled like gear oil): All over the battery and fuse box (on driver's side). All over the d/s front fender, rear-view mirror, d/s window, d/s door, little on the windshield, d/s front wheel well. But there was quite a bit on the battery which is shielded from the axle area kinda, and there's a tube that comes up from the diff area right by the battery where I suspect it came from. I looked at all the seals that i could see and didn't see any tears. Here's what i'm hoping: I just overheated the oil and it boiled out the vent. I plan to take the cover off the front diff and check out the gears next. It drives fine around town currently in 2wd and very rarely do i need to get on the interstate. Thanks again for the help.
 
#9 ·
Where did you have the odd size tires? On the front? I can't picture a situation where you can overheat anything just driving down the road in 4 high, unless the odd size tire caused it. The only way anything like the front gears, transfer case, transmission would overheat would be towing heavy. I'd sure the heck figure out what the fluid was, and where it came from. Figure out where that tube comes from, and you probably will find the source. It might be a vent for something.
 
#11 ·
That doesn't sound good. Did you say how many miles are on the truck? Its possible that having it in 4 wheel drive going down the interstate overheated the front diff., but I don't see how. There wasn't a heavy load on it. At the very least you want to top of the fluid. If it were me, I'd pull the cover and have a look around. My guess is that you have a bearing that if failing and that is causing it to overheat.
 
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