In this article I will try to tell about the gear axles used on of the car Ford Explorer (Ford Explorer owners manuals) and its analogs, as well as the typical gear failures and causes of these problems.
So, what do we have to do in relation to the vehicles listed above? First of all - a little about the manufacturers and developers of these critical units. The undisputed world leader in the design and manufacture of differentials, is a company Dana Holding Corporation, based in New Jersey (USA) back in 1904. Units designed and produced at Dana plants were established and continue to be installed on a variety of car brands. "Big Three" US car industry (Ford, GM, Chrysler) is used on the vast majority of the cars it gears Dana. On cars Ford Explorer (Ford Explorer) Gear Dana used mainly as a gear of the front axle. As the rear axle, gained extraordinary popularity development company known as Visteon Ford 8.8 "axle, which came to replace Ford 9.0" axle in 1983, and applied to various modifications and modifications to the present day.
Service bridges gearboxes used on Ford vehicles (Ford): The recommendations for services from FMC (Ford Motor Company) said that the oil in the gear bridge can not be replaced during the entire service life of the unit. Following this, many car owners and servismeny exclude these machines from its "focus areas". However, the same recommendations for servicing the saying goes - "axle differential service is not required, if his work is not satisfactory, and there is no oil leaks gear housing" (free translation). In addition to the manual for maintenance reasons, we consider it necessary to check the annual level and oil condition. The car owner is not likely to pay attention to the deep puddles, and even shallow fords, which he overcame to go fishing or to the cottage in the summer on the way, and noticed that the water reducer scored only when the destruction process has already begun and is irreversible.
Typical symptoms of malfunction gear axles: Usually fault rear differential manifests itself as hum (often this sound compared with sound voicing accelerates trolleybus), occurring at rates of 80-120 km.ch. when driving "in tightness" or vice versa, when driving "coasting". Reducer the front axle, as a rule, publishes a rumble in a narrow range of low speeds when connected to the front drive. Faults elements limited slip differentials are manifested as a lack of differential lock at the opposite wheels hanging axis, or vice versa - 100% differential lock on a dry road. If no lock is fairly easy to find, the excessive differential lock ( "sintering" friction package) can be easily confused with other malfunctions of knots and car units. Manifested this lock as vibration in the car body, clearly perceptible on the steering wheel, when you start on a dry road with any, even minor, turning the steering wheel. With the destruction of differential satellites, as well as master or slave pinion pair, symptoms are crunch and rattle when you try to move or the complete absence of the torque transmission to the drive axle.
Typical faults gear axles: The most common failure is the final drive wear liner bearings, differential bearings, or directly to its final gear. The destruction of the satellite differential or "falling out" finger satellites, as well as the complete destruction of one or both of the main pair of gears, fortunately much rarer, but this failure often causes damage to the axle housing, so that the body is subject to costly repairs or replacement. The bridges using a limited slip differential (Limited Slip Differential, LSD), may also experience trouble associated with damage to the differential lock elements. The bridges with one-piece crankcase common cause of failure is the deterioration of the landing wheel bearings (half-line) in the "stocking" of the bridge.
Causes of axle gear faults: In most cases, the cause of failure of gear axles and their components is delayed or poor quality of their service. Insufficient amount of oil in the crankcase of the bridge, or non-specification recommended by the vehicle manufacturer of oil certainly lead to increased wear of the elements of the bridge and ultimately to failure of the machine. Also, one of the most common causes of defects arising is the ingress of water into the gearbox housing from the vehicle overcoming water obstacles and / or malfunction of the axle breather.
Repair of bridges reducers: In spite of the apparent simplicity of its structure bridge repair gear is one of the most high-tech operations in auto repair shops. Not all technical centers, including technical centers and authorized dealers, are taken for the repair of drive axles, as for the quality of such work requires not only highly specialized knowledge and experience, but also costly special devices and measuring tools.