BolderX

Well I took the Sahara in today to get some minor things fixed and find out what the noise was sporadically coming from somewhere up front. Went in this morning and couldn't get the noise to happen. Sounds very much like brake pads when they need to be changed. Went back in this afternoon because I could hear it and managed to get a tech to ride with me and try to figure out what was causing this sound. The tech was very thorough and even walked along side the vehicle to diagnose the problem. After they had looked at it back in the garage they informed me it is a problem with the front pinion gear. So they ordered another part and found out they are on back order so they think this may be something occurring on other JK's as well. They said it would be a couple weeks before the new part comes in but they also said it won't be any problem until then, just make some noise.
Anyone else encounter this situation? Don't think I'll be wanting to chance any trails before this gets fixed. Haven't changed out the stock tires and wheels yet and kinda glad I didn't!

300diesel

Did your dealer replace the pinion part yet? If so, do you know exactly what was replaced? I have exactly the same problem. The dealer said it was a dry pinion seal, they lubed it, and gave the Jeep back to me two hours later. It was still making the screeching noise as I pulled out of the lot.

I am due to take it back and I want to go with as much information as possible.

BolderX

Haven't had the gear replaced yet, still on backorder. They are going to replace the entire pinion gear and they suspect it could be a common problem since they are on backorder. Adding lube to the dry seal won't fix the problem as they did that to mine as well. They knew it wouldn't fix the problem but they did that to try and quiet the noise. I only hear this sporadically now but I still want it replaced.

This noise does sound very similar to brake pads rubbing on rotors. When I pulled into the dealership with the noise there were 3 sales guys out front and they all thought it had something to do with the brakes. I had mud on the sides so they thought maybe I had some mud stuck up in between the pads and rotors. The mechanic on the other hand decided to take a lot of time with listening for this noise and figured out it wasn't the brakes but it was the pinion gear.

I'll update this thread whenever the gears arrive. Been wondering if this is a good excuse for having them throw an Aussie locker in while they have everything apart. Like I really need an excuse for adding a mod

mslc10

hmmm I can only assume the lube level is full...

RAD-ISH

A couple of days after picking up my new Red Rubi I got a helluva scraping rattling mettalic sound from the front end. I thought it was the brakes or dust shield. Now the sound has diminished quite a bit. Is this what you heard from your pinion gear?
Have you had the replacement yet? Anybody else out there have a comment?

BolderX

Well the noise does have a scraping sound to it, not really a rattle. It sounds just like the metal indicator on a brake pad scraping against the rotor. It was most obvious when driving slowly through a parking lot when you could hear the sound reflecting off the other vehicles. Not to mention the looks on peoples faces as they try to figure out why a brand new vehicle would be making that kind of noise.
Still no call on the parts arriving yet and the sound sometimes disappears completely. If you have a rattle sound it may be something different but if it sounds like brakes it may be worth having the gear examined. The best indicator is if the noise doesn't really change when you step on the brakes.

RAD-ISH

Now I can see that I have oil dripping from the axle onto the inside of my right front rim. I don't know the jeep anatomy very well but I am assuming that this probably means that my scraping sound is from the bearing or seal??

FiveOff

Bolder X -- I'm pretty sure that I have the very same thing going on. The dealership replaced the front rotors and pads hoping that would fix it. Nope, it is still there.

My problem is that everytime it is making the sound (like something metal slightly touching moving metal) I'm nohwere near the dealership. By the time I get there and wait for the shop foreman to come out hear it, it stops. AAARRGGHH!

At least this last time, my service guy heard the sound when I pulled up so they don't think I'm crazy or lying.

FiveOff

Well, the tech finally got to hear the noise in all its glory and after having it run for a while on a lift, he diagnosed it as a problem with the pinion. Yesterday they replaced the outer pinion bearing and seal. No noise!........yet

driley

On our Jeep, while in Baja, we had a loud squeal start coming from the left front wheel area. Of course this started late in the day on a dirt road and far from the Baja Hwy 1 – and about 700 miles from the nearest Jeep dealer. It sounded very much like a break pad indicator or some other brake component. The noise went away when the brakes were applied.

The noise started off sounding like many of you have described. It got bad enough though that I thought some damage may be going on and decided to try and see if I could fix it before we ended up having the wheel lock up or something. Better safe than sorry so far south of the border.

I diagnosed the problem by jacking up the left front wheel and spinning it. By doing this I was able to zero in on where the noise was coming from. The disk rotor cover was lightly touching the rotor and making a loud squeal when the wheel was turning. I held the cover away from the rotor and the noise stopped. Let it touch again and the noise came back. I ended up bending it so that it would not touch the rotor and have not had the bad/loud squeak since.

We do now on occasion have a much more subtle squeak still come from the left front wheel area. It can be best heard with the window down and at something less than HWY speeds. I have a slight suspicion that when the brakes get hot the rotor cover flexes just enough to make light contact someplace on the rotor. Recall that originally, the noise we had went away when the brake was applied. So there is likely some float for the brake rotor or some flex in these components that may lend to this being a random or intermittent issue.

The intermittent noise that we now have is VERY similar in nature and tone to the loud squeal that we had.

The sound ours made was very much metal on metal. It was in sync with the wheel RPM as well.

The clearance on the rotor cover is very tight at the bottom where I believe the steering rod connects. Even after bending the cover away, it has probably less than 1/8" clearance.


Devin