Whining noise after disengaging 4x4

[Krafty10]

After driving in freezing rain and snow a few days ago in 4wd I seem to now have a whining noise (very similar to that when it is in 4wd) that seems to increase and decrease with the speed of my 86bii, auto,2.9,elec shift. I tried going in and out of 4wd and it seems to work but the whining still is there. Tried backing up too. Is something not completely disengaging? Any idea as to what I might look for? Thanks.

[Krafty10]

More information. I placed jacks under all 4 wheels and put it in drive. Only rear wheels turn. In 4 wd all wheels turn. I can turn front wheels by hand in both directions freely without front drive turning. BUT if I turn the front driveshaft by hand after less than 1/2 turn the front wheels engage as if in 4 wd. Before I go out and buy manual hubs I am hoping that someone will be able to confirm that this would in fact be the cause. Thanks again!!

[neb_scot]

I was just wondering if you ever found an resolution to this....

[Krafty10]

Not yet. I have been out of country for a while. Still working on possible solutions. I will be checking all tires and wheels, bearings, u joints etc, working my way through everything till I hopefully find the culprit. I took it to a shop and they did a road test but they could not provide any real solutions either. Offered to check everything out for me but I figured I could save their hourly shop rates and try to find it my self. When I do i will post it. Thanks for the interest.

[Ruffinit]

I placed jacks under all 4 wheels and put it in drive. Only rear wheels turn. In 4 wd all wheels turn. I can turn front wheels by hand in both directions freely without front drive turning. BUT if I turn the front driveshaft by hand after less than 1/2 turn the front wheels engage as if in 4 wd.

Looks like the whole thing is working like it should. By turning the front driveshaft it's just like putting it into 4x4 and the front auto-lockers are engaging as they are supposed to. When you disengage the 4x4, this disengages the front drive shaft and the front end free-wheels.

Just because you were using the 4x4 for a few days doesn't mean that there is anything wrong with your front end. You don't say where the whine comes from.. Sometimes it's hard to tell.. I would check ALL your fluids. Rearend, frontend, transfer case and tranny. It is quite possible you have a bearing going out, but you'll have to figure out where the whine is coming from first if it isn't the fluids.