Troopy Dilemma

Hi Jack,

We were faced with a dilemma like this in early March this year, near Warren. We stopped at road works, put the Troopy in gear to move off but instead heard a chattering noise. From then on no forward or reverse movement in any mode. We were towed back to Warren by the NRMA and it was fixed there. It was the tailshaft. Our mate, back in Adelaide, diagnosed it for us over the phone so that when the NRMA came we were able to suggest what it might be.

If it is an early model Troopy that could well be the fault.

Cheers,
Bruce

certainly sounds like a dual failure but im thinking not diffs

maybe axle studs on the rear which would have given them 1 wheel drive to the front, due to lack of traction they would have been giving it to her more stripping the locking hub

dont forget they are only 2wd
- take drive to either one of a back and front wheel and thats it

sounds like the drive shaft from the main gear box through to the 4wd box the splines are worn off

Your mate's troopie would be a 1999-2002 HZJ78 model. They had a 2-piece input shaft into the transfer that was known to break. Its not an overly expensive repair - Toyota supply an upgraded part.

This is probably what Bruce's problem was too.

Constant mesh gear on the main shaft to transfer box has stripped the splines. Gearbox overhaul is required.

I hope it wasn't anything over complicated like accidentally moving the High range Low range lever into neutral and not realising it. I often do that on purpose if leaving the 4by in a sus area as a security measure. I hope any would be thieves don't pick up on that little trick LOL

If both tailshafts are turning and you can't stop them them the problem is in the diff/axle area. My guess is the splines are stripped on both one of the rear and front hubs. Take the dust/grease caps of each axle end and see if the axle shaft is turning. Unlikely but possible are broken axles. If the problem was in the Diff or Transfer case the tailshafts would not be spinning.

Cheers Rod

I had same problem while in Mt Isa around 2005, it's a job on the Gearbox for you, not Transfer Case,

Just trying to help this young bloke. His work makes it a bit difficult to spend a weekend stripping his car down to locate a fault, so I am trying to help him with some further advice to save him some 'looking' time.

As of today the Troopy has been jacked up.
It is a 85 model FJ75. It has a non limited slip rear diff.

When jacked up off the ground, both rear wheels spin freely if they are spun by hand. That is, when the wheels are spun by hand there is no apparent resistance felt from the diff. At this stage we fear it is both diffs, but hope not.

With the front jacked up it is the same as the rear.

With the engine running and the vehicle in gear, both the tailshafts are rotating when in 4WD. In 2WD the rear shaft rotates. It all seems to be normal.

It speeds up when revved, and the tailshaft speed varies between high and low range, but still no drive.

When the vehicle is on the ground, the gears can be engaged without using the clutch.

I am going to get him some help on next weekend so that we can get him mobile again, and your input so far has been generous and appreciated. I am hoping this additional info will help him further and possibly narrow down the options.

Again, my thanks in advance.

Jack

Jack it comes down to diagnosis, not assumptions based on others similar but not identical experiences.

You carried out tests which give a good indication of the problem.

You have proved without doubt that there is no problem with the motor, clutch, gearbox or transfer case because together they are able to drive the tailshafts.

So with the tailshafts turning but no drive to the wheels the fault has to be somewhere between the talshafts and the wheels. This could be gears stripped in the diffs, broken axles, or the drive between axles and wheels.

Someone else mentioned this drive from axle to wheel namely the free wheeling hub on the front and the flange studs on the rear. It was also suggested that an easy check is to remove the hubs and see if the axles are turning. If the axles turn of course they are not broken nor is therea fault with the diffs but by the time you remove the hubs you would see any fault with the hubs anyway.

Don't be confused about being able to change gear without the clutch, this can be done while driving if the revs are correct but is easier with no load. Also dont be confused by turning the wheels by hand because even if everything is ok turning one wheel may not necessarily make the tailshaft turn. This is a normal function of the planetry gears.

In short the problem is between the tailshafts and the wheels.

Hope this helps

OK heres my theory and im putting $20 E dollors on it


one of the front locking hubs is not engaging which is moderatly common for a number of reasons including sticking or breaking of the gear

resulting in no drive to the front wheels

this has gone unnoticed - probablly just thought the troopys 4wd ability sucked a bit

then he has snapped the rear axle studs which is very common on troopies that age meaning there is now no drive to the rear wheels


go to the rear axles and check the bolts holding them in, when they snap usually the axle pops out a bit and should be obvios



this still does not explain how you can put the gearbox into gear with the engine running without the clutch

- or maybe it does, without having to immediatly turn the wheels which have no drive, all it needs to do is engage the drive shafts which being relativly light allows meshing of the moving gears

Get out more and Rodney B have it summed up Jack. Elsewhere though you are being given a lot of misleading and incorrect information.

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone who responded to this thread with advice and help.

The problem was a snapped rear axle, right at the hub end. He has been able to get a replacement for a good price. When he got it all together, he noticed that the front hubs were not engaged.

It had been suggested this could be a problem (Getoutmore I seem to recall). It was. Fortunately it was not a dual failure, and the beast is now ready to conquer whatever is next.

Young Matt says thanks, and so do I.

Safe travels.

Jack