[Jesse360]

Hi Guys...New to Auszookers and new to Jimnys.

This 2006 Jimny is my first car, it is a beauty and am a very proud owner....BUT in the past couple of weeks it has developed a very loud INTERMITANT rotational rubbing/grinding noise. (I have looked through your forums and have seen a couple of similar problems but can't find any fixes. The threads I was reading were a few years old......I was wondering if there is any one out there to help?

[watermouse]

Welcome to Auszookers!
Check that the inner guard plastic is not touching the tyre when you are turning or that the front bumper is not pushed back and bent the lower bracket. If this is the case you will be able to see rubbing marks on the inner guard in front of the tyre. The inner guards should have fasteners all around holding them in place. If any are missing they can flap around and touch the tyre.

Failing that it could be front bearings or brakes. Jack the front and give the wheels a spin to check for smoothness and play.
Check that the brake callipers are floating properly on their bolts.
Check for stones stuck behind the brake guards.

[Jesse360]

thank you i have had a quick look at that before but i will have a more careful inspection asap

my dad thinks it might be either the free wheel hubs engaging or the disc pad wear alert noise. does it doubd like that

[Jezza86]

the vaccum hubs have a magnet that retain the dog clutch in a disengaged state. some of the magnets seam to suffer manufacturing defects reducing their life expectancy. this can also occour if they have been heated excessively and if too much grease is inside the hub preventing the movement of the dog gear that engages/ disengages from the axle end.

in short, while lots of people say there are no issues at all ever with the hub itself, about 1% of jimnys seam to get the problem and aside from replacing the vacuum hub, most respond by replacing the auto hub with a manual hub. i went with AVM hubs.

as soon as i put the new hubs on the noise was gone. while puting the manual hubs on and there was some evidence of the dog gear eating away at the splines on the end of the cv shaft.

[Jesse360]

thanks Jezza86!for that. did yours only make the noise in 2wd and when switched to 4 wd it stopped?

and is there any way i can take out part of the hub assembly out and drive the jimny safely to prove it is that hub that is making the noise

[watermouse]

The disc brake wear alert is a squealing sound which starts when applying brake, then later (usually) when cornering until the pad is so worn they squeal all the time.

I think Jezza might be onto something.

[Jesse360]

thanks watermouse i will get onto it this afternoon
thanks for the fast reply

[Jezza86]

Quote:

did yours only make the noise in 2wd and when switched to 4 wd it stopped?

yes, no noise in 4WD, and in 2wd it would come and go at first but the more corrugations you hit the worse it gets.
i found myself popping the car into 4wd then shifting back to 2wd daily before i left for work and it was 5050 whether i would have the problem that day or not

Quote:

and is there any way i can take out part of the hub assembly out and drive the jimny safely to prove it is that hub that is making the noise

it was a 6 or 8 torqx head or a 10mm socket that fits the bolts. you could rip the hub off and go for a drive but if any dust gets in it could ruin your bearings. while your doing this youll probably have a flashing light from the unsealed vacum lines to the hubs.

it could be safer and chaper to go with just putting the manual hubs on if your in a dusty area.
http://www.allfourx4.com.au/epages/shop ... vQodv70GLQ
if you have a parts washer you could wash out the hub and replace the grease in there but all i think that would actually achieve is you would see any damage inside the hub and on the dog clutch.

[Jesse360]

Thanks I will price some hubs and see if i am able to put them in

[Mike57]

Standard Sierra hubs will fit. If you don't want to grind off the extra rim that seals the vacuum hubs buy the hub adaptors from Ben T who sells in the business section on this site.