2005 Jeep Liberty 4WD clunk

If the noise you're hearing sounds like an airplane engine, a steady buzzing or droning sound, that is likely caused by a noisy wheel bearing. Your mechanic will run the vehicle in gear on a hoist, then listen with a stethoscope to verify that. Most likely the 4wd problem is not related to the wheel bearing. He will look for a sliding coupler that needs to be lubricated, tight universal joints, or anything else that is preventing the mechanical parts from disengaging smoothly.

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You don't have to worry about "running out of warranty" as long as the problem was documented within the warranty period. When you visit the dealer's repair department and they print out a repair order, it's documented. The dealership I worked for in WI was very good about getting the zone manager involved if necessary to cover previously-documented problems.

If you're rotating the wheels by hand you will never hear that buzzing noise. You won't even hear it when running it in gear without a stethoscope because there is no weight on the bearing. Also, with the bolt-on style bearing assembly, you can not be sure which side is the noisy one. It can sound like the right one and be caused by the left bearing. You MUST listen to both of them with a stethoscope. The good news is if you do replace the wrong one, the old bearing can be reinstalled on the other side.

The biggest mistake do-it-yourselfers make when they replace wheel bearings has to do with tightening the axle nut. The torque value is very high, typically 180 - 240 foot-pounds. That is what holds the bearing together. To hold the axle from turning when they try to make the nut that tight, some people install the wheel and set the vehicle down on the ground. That just instantly made the new bearing noisy too. There absolutely must be no weight put on the bearing until the axle nut is tightened. It's real easy to hold the axle from turning by sticking a screwdriver into the cooling fin slots of the brake rotor before the wheel is installed.

Don't know what to tell you about your dealerships. I worked for a very nice family-owned Chrysler / Dodge dealership. They had the Jeep franchise at two of their other three dealerships. Mine took the Jeep line over from someone else after I left, then all of the mechanics were required to attend factory training classes. Mechanics have to go through update training every year to learn new models and systems. Doctors have it easy. They only have to learn two models in varying sizes. Mechanics are held to much higher standards than doctors too. If they don't hit the right diagnosis the first time, they're "incompetent idiots". With doctors we just keep going back and we pay for every visit.

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Very interesting. I'm on my way right now to the home improvement store to look at plumbing fittings. I ran out of propane and let my house get down to below freezing last week. So far I found 6 busted pipes. One goes over a finished ceiling to the washing machine. My water tank is in an unheated / drafty garage. I want to move that to inside the house but didn't have time last summer. Until I do that, I don't have running water to fill the hydronic system even if I DO get everything fixed. Wish I could tell if my five-year-old furnace froze and split. It's real hard to gain access to it. Don't want to fix the line to the washer either because I'll be planting the water tank right next to it, then I'm going to run PEX all over.

I hate winter!

Take a look at this; bottom one in the list:

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,carcode,1434756,parttype,1672

If you look underneath, you should see one or two of the three bolt heads on the backside of the steering knuckle. Basically, you remove the wheel, axle nut, brake caliper and rotor, (don't let the caliper hang by the hose), the three bolts, then slide the assembly off. If you have a cv joint, you might have to push the shaft in against spring pressure toward the transmission to gain enough room for a socket or box wrench. If the bearing doesn't come out by banging on the hub, you can reinstall the bolts part way then bang on the heads. Usually though that is less effective than hitting the hub flange.

To avoid a possible harmless but irritating crunching sound when cornering, place a light coating of high-temperature brake grease around the hub where it contacts the center hole of the rotor. Also check the inside mounting surface of the rotor for round spots of rust buildup that correspond to access holes in the hub, if there are any. Those rust spots, if they exists, will hold the rotor from sitting squarely on the hub. That can cause a brake pedal pulsation and a wheel wobble that could be felt in the steering wheel at higher speeds.

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