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Question: I have a 2004 Ford Crown Vic LX. I have a tick-tick noise coming from the rear end and as I drive faster, the noise increases in velocity and it gets louder. Its currently in my backyard and the 2 rear tires are jacked up in the air. As I'm trying to troubleshoot the problem with the noise, I found another weird issue. When it's in drive the right rear tire spins but the left rear tire won't if I tried to manually spin it myself. When it's even in park I can spin the left tire, but when it's in gear, it won't spin. Any thoughts?
Fairly sure you will only have traction on one wheel. Only one wheel will spin. If the rear end is not a limited slip it will behave this way. I recall doing this a few times when I was a kid with rear wheel drive vehicles. I would jack both rear wheels off the ground and accelerate. Only one wheel would spin. If you stop, or physically restrict/hold the wheel that spins, the opposite side will spin. Think of when you are stuck in the snow in a rear wheel drive vehicle. Only the side that is slipping is spinning. The other side is not.
On a tractor with separate brakes for the right and left rear wheels, if you are stuck, for example, and the right wheel is spinning, and the left wheel is not spinning (it won't be), you can apply the right side brake and the power transfers to the opposite side and this may get you unstuck. This works very well for getting unstuck in mud and snow. I think a non limited slip rear end works the same. I believe what you are encountering is normal for a non limited slip rear end.
A word of caution. Stay completely away from the drive shaft, underneath the car, that runs back to the rear differential. It is extremely dangerous and is similar to a power take off drive shaft on a tractor. The shaft can grab clothing, particularly the U joints.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
When it's in drive the right rear tire spins but the left rear tire won't if I tried to manually spin it myself. When it's even in park I can spin the left tire, but when it's in gear, it won't spin. Any thoughts?
weird....
conventional diff, the wheels will tend to spin opposite directions
Limited slip, often they will spin same direction, (But either with be 'free')
issues... Check for those loose springs / ebrake (especially the left rear)
ticking can be bearings (including U-joint) / brakes, / diff. / backing plate (or a ROCK in your tire )
worse case... broken limited diff (you don't want that)
Question: I have a 2004 Ford Crown Vic LX. I have a tick-tick noise coming from the rear end and as I drive faster, the noise increases in velocity and it gets louder. Its currently in my backyard and the 2 rear tires are jacked up in the air. As I'm trying to troubleshoot the problem with the noise, I found another weird issue. When it's in drive the right rear tire spins but the left rear tire won't if I tried to manually spin it myself. When it's even in park I can spin the left tire, but when it's in gear, it won't spin. Any thoughts?
You have what is known as an open differential (as opposed to limited slip). The behavior you are describing is perfectly normal. I suspect the ticking noise is a universal joint.
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