Bad transfer case?

[tractor]

Thank you for the additional thoughts!

I did not see any spikes when doing the steering calibration, but I can check again. I'm guessing if it did spike it would do it when just reading the values and I wouldn't necessarily have to go through the entire calibration procedure again.

Purplefade, I'm open to any suggestions, so feel free to think out loud. It could be the front diff also I'm sure. I don't know how to rule that out though.

An interesting symptom happened today though. With DSC off, going around a left hand corner, a truck that I was following stopped to turn left in the middle of the corner. I applied the brakes and I could feel what is similar to the ABS kicking in through the pedal. The pedal got softer. Keep in mind, this was not an emergency stop, it was a slow, gradual slowdown.

I drove the road several times again to see if it was consistent and reproducible and it was. And just like when the DSC is on, it only occurred on sharper left hand turns.

Since the weather is starting to warm up slightly, I might do a brake fluid flush and possible ABS system flush if I can find out how to do that. If there is still an issue, I might have to see my local European car mechanic. I'm in a somewhat rural area so there's not a ton of European shops around here.

I did buy a spare used yaw sensor for cheap, but I have no idea where the yaw sensor is located on this car. Does anyone know?

[robnitro]

Maybe your abs wheel speed sensors are dirty. In some cases the ring gets messed up with rust, causing it to be too close or too far from the sensor.
When cornering there is a bit of flex on the hub and you might be just barely in range of a sensor.
Not sure where you can log the wheel speed sensors but that might be worth a shot to do while cornering left to see if there are spikes or drops on a wheel relative to the others.

[Purplefade]

tractor, get both front tires up off the ground and turn them by hand, make sure they rotate smoothly enough and that you don’t feel any “grinding” or significant resistance on one side or the other.

If that’s all good you can have someone hold the right side tire while you try to turn the left side tire feeling for any play or slippage in that sides drivetrain.

With everything that you have already tried I’m wondering if there might be play in that side of the drive line either in the gear box itself or the cv shaft.

Another thing you can check - totally grasping here - but make sure the tires are the same pressure. With the left being the outside tire as you’re turning if it’s (significantly) lower than the inside tire the wheel speed sensor may read a quick change in tire speed as the weight of the truck compresses it going in to the corner and engage the DSC thinking that tire is slipping.

Let me know how that goes, I’d be happy to keep thinking if you need a hand.


2005 X5 4.4i (04/05 build date)
Titanium Silver w/Black Interior

[tractor]

Thanks. I didn't get a chance to lift both front wheels, but I did get the left front wheel off to check the ABS sensor, that is only a few months old.





You can see the tip is rubbing, maybe just when driving around corners?

robnitro's comment about flex in the hub makes me wonder if that's kind of what's happening. I'm not sure how I would fix that issue though. Do I need an entirely new hub?

I won't be able to work on it for a couple weeks unfortunately due to my job.

[ard]

Hmm, not sure about flex. Unless bearings are bad...I should think

Make sure the mounting surfaces for that sensor are well cleaned- if there is rust/crap it could lead to a 'cocked' position, and rubbing.



Finally, you sure that 'couple of month old sensor' is OE? Not some cheap no-name 'close enough- it fits' thing?

[Purplefade]

Originally Posted by ard

Hmm, not sure about flex. Unless bearings are bad...I should think

Make sure the mounting surfaces for that sensor are well cleaned- if there is rust/crap it could lead to a 'cocked' position, and rubbing.

+1 on that, my first thought was possible bad bearing, I also like the idea that maybe grime under the sensor is causing it to sit at a strange angle.

Another thought is do you know if that side suspension has ever had any work done to it? Maybe the bearing isn’t pressed in fully or the “speed sensor ring” is fudged some how.

Weird part is that I would think that you would feel and hear it rubbing... Maybe try setting a jack stand under the jack pad so the control arm hangs loose. Then, using a small jack, jack up the control arm at the center and rotate the hub assembly and then repeat that process on the front and back edges of the control arm - my logic is that by applying pressure center then front then back maybe you’ll get some deflection and see more of the issue.

Last thing, use some electrical tape on the end of an extension and insert it into the speed sensor hole and rotate the hub assembly feeling for any rubbing.

Don’t you love shit that just doesn’t seem to make any sense...


2005 X5 4.4i (04/05 build date)
Titanium Silver w/Black Interior

[robnitro]

The video I saw was a guy explaining that the ring gets rusty and expands, rubbing on the sensor... So take a peek and see what might look off.

[tractor]

Just wanted to give an update on this issue.

I have been disabled the traction control as a workaround since I don't drive this car that often.

I'm driving it more lately though, so I thought I would see if the steering position sensor was dirty. It was clean as new, but the clockspring was kind of a disaster. It fell apart as I removed the steering wheel. So I decided to replace it.

After that, and a bit of difficulty with the recalibration, I have not seen the issue since!

It's only been a few days, but I'm hopeful. The clockspring ribbon could have been binding during turning and maybe that affected the steering angle sensor somehow. Not sure, but I'll be happy with the result!

Thanks for all the input and ideas.