Harmonic Balancer????
 

So now that I got my front end all tight and DW all but gone now the next problem is popping up...

Driving it tonight I was getting a vibration that I was blaming on my rear. It felt like it was coming from the rear but I'm not so sure now. I couldn't figure out if it was at 40mph or 2,000 rpm so I'm not sure if its speed or RPM related.

I parked it for a while then got in to drive home... I now believe the vibe is RPM related because it got worse and I had it at about 20mph too. I was getting a squeal too but it sounded like a metallic squeal and not a loud high pitched belt squeal. The squeal is load related. It happens under acceleration not a certain speed or RPM.

When I got home I put it in neutral and revved it up a little and couldn't duplicate the vibe or the squeal. I put it in drive and kinda went like I would if I wanted to power brake a car to load the drive line and still couldn't reproduce it.

Is there a way to check or diagnose the balancer?

its an '01 4.0 AW4

get under the front and look up at the balancer.. there is a inner and outer ring to the balancer held together by rubber.. the outer ring likes to move in and out when the rubber goes bad. mine moved in and started rubbing through the timing cover. look up and make sure the inner and outer ring are flush with each other. if not or the rubber is cracked replace the thing before it gets worse. make sure you buy/rent a puller and installer for the job tho you will need it. People say its a hard job, its really not. took me 30 min from start to end by going from under the rig and working on my back. also make sure you replace the seal as they wear to the balancer and will leak on your new one

here is a pic of mine. you can see the outer ring moved in and the rubber is sticking out the front
Attachment 367486

The balancer is two metal rings with rubber sandwiched in between. Normally you can spot a slipping outer ring visually. Might try applying a little pressure to the outer ring with a pry bar and see if it's solid.

Might also try removing your drive belt and running the engine for a few moments to see if the noise disappears. Could be a bearing in something driven by the belt.

It sure sounds like you are describing a U-Joint. I know it sounds a little goofy, But I liken it to the feel of having a fish on the line, the feel of the wiggle. Also the cherps and squeals would be well connected to the speed you are moving btw.

Or possibly a pinion bearing? Mine is wet around the front (pinion) pretty good. It wasn't a month or so ago and it seems to be getting wetter. The vibes feel like they are coming from the back but the squeal sounds like the front.

I guess I should get outta bed n go diagnose the balancer.

I just went out and checked it as best I could. The belt is tracking straight and I couldn't really get a pry bar in there to well... but the best I could I couldn't get and play out of it.

I revved it up to around 3 grand and still couldn't get any noise or vibes out of it. The belt was tracking straight.

I also checked my u-joints for my rear drive shaft and couldn't feel any play.

The front drive shaft isn't in the Jeep right now.

I took a picture of the balancer to see if you guys see anything obvious that I am missing. To me it looks good minus the pan gasket leaking behind it.

Oh, not to be a pest. You do know if the driveline is under any pressure you won't feel any movement. You gotta be in neutral or have one wheel raised up. Sometimes if you lay your finger on the gap between the ears and turn the drive line back and forth with the other HAND, you can feel play. Of course you have the engine off for this! ("Zero play!),(any movement is bad.) Anyway something to check, mine go often. If it IS a U-Joint, it will get worse soon enough!

Replaced the rear ds u joints n that seemed to fix the problem. Now I just need front ds u joints and a new rear lol

And the crowd cheers! :thumbsup::happybday::head: Well done. Now the front will be easy:boxing: