Nissan Mistral making loud clunking noises while in 4wd

[Josh22]

Hi,
Just wondering if anyone would know whats wrong with my nissan mistral, when it is in 4wd it makes very loud clunking noises, and doesnt perform as it should in 4wd very well at all, basically unusable....Does anyone know what the problem could be? In 2wd it drives just as normal, so maybe something to do with the front diff? Cheers

[sibainmud]

Hey there,
Welcome.
Front hubs, cv's, diff or front drive shaft.
Sounds like the front diff to me, i should know

Cheers,

[Josh22]

Have you had this problem before? I hope its not the front diff, they can be pretty pricey??

[SP450andLE]

What sort of clunking noises? Do they happen all the time when in 4wd? Or mostly when turning?

Knowing all the symptoms help immensely

[sibainmud]

3 front diffs in 4 months makes me a bit of an expert in this field
Jack both front wheels off the ground and put on axle stands for safety. With the transfer box in 2wd turn the drive shaft between the transfer box and front diff by hand (or get someone else to it). Look and listen to both cv shafts. If just one cv shaft turns and you cant feel or hear the clunk within 5 turns of drive shaft, then hold that cv still while continuing to turn input drive shaft another 5 times. You should be able to hear the clunk. You will soon know if there is teeth missing off the crown gear. By turning each shaft one at a time you will be able to track it down, even if it is an auto locking hub giving you grief.

Best of luck.

P.S, last diff i got from a wrecker cost $220, however I just picked one up off trademe for a few dollars

Cheers,

[KIWI_TERRANO]

My old lady use to have a mistrall and it did same thing in 4wd, take the hubs off and greese them up or replace with manual hubs will solve it. Most nissan terrano/mistrals have auto hubs and are know for doing this

[The Stranger]

Whilst we are on the topic, my Terrano seems to work fine in 4WD, but when I put it back into 2WD, reverse up a bit then go forward I tend to get a loud clunking noise from the front end. Any ideas here please?

[Josh22]

Thanks heaps for your help with this i am going to be taking all of your suggestions and hopefully will be able to find the problem, if not i'll be back here and asking for help again

[Josh22]

What sort of clunking noises? Do they happen all the time when in 4wd? Or mostly when turning?

Knowing all the symptoms help immensely

The clunking noises sound like something grinding together, hard to explain but are very loud especially when turning or when in mud or over some obstacle that requires the car to work harder.

[playingInTheDitch]

Whilst we are on the topic, my Terrano seems to work fine in 4WD, but when I put it back into 2WD, reverse up a bit then go forward I tend to get a loud clunking noise from the front end. Any ideas here please?

possibly the hubs releasing. mine do that sometimes (usually at the worst time)