iX driveline failure.. help!

[downforce22]

Well I was heading home driving as usual when my car seemed to lock up, as if I suddenly ran out of gas when I was accelerating. Before I knew what had happened I was already basically stopped. I tried moving again and the car moved about a foot before I felt a large amount of torque opposing the power from the engine. I let go of the gas and turned the car off/ got out to look for a problem.

Upon visual inspection, nothing looked wrong, nothing broken/ dragging/ leaking. I got back in fired it up and tried again. The car lurched an inch before experiencing the same thing. I tried reverse as the clutch, motor and transmission seemed fine. The car lurch backwards and locked up again.

Even with the car in neutral it will not roll forward or backward.

The rear wheels spin when in gear and are what can temporarily move the car, but the front do not, however they still turn fine in both directions but do not act as a driven wheel. The car was towed home on the snow where I noticed the rear wheels rolled while the front were locked up.


So I am trying to narrow down the problem before actually looking at it. Is this a viscous coupling failure or does it have to do with the front differential?

And I am lucky to be in denver where there are a fair amount of possible iX doners, but what should I check first, fluid in the TC? obviously something is broken...

Thanks


looking sad as the sun goes down

[OttoBob]

Not sure what the problem is, but I understand that you are not supposed to tow the iX on two wheels - damage to the transfer case can result. Maybe it did not matter, but I hope you did not make it worse!

[Erik j]

My money is on a broken t-case chain... when your moving a little bit the chain binds up in the case.

[downforce22]

Thanks guys, and yes I am crossing my fingers that the fact that the tow home was on snow and din't do any further damage (it was about a mile).

Is it possible the chain caused any further damage to any of the components?
There are several in there:

http://www.garlington.biz/Ray/BMW/xfercase.htm

If the chain did break, could it be due to age/mileage possible combined with low fluid?

I forgot to mention the car just hit 243k last week

[nando]

My money is on a broken t-case chain... when your moving a little bit the chain binds up in the case.

if you've ever held one of those chains in your hands, you'd realize that is so unlikey as to be preposterous.

When's the last time you checked your fluid level? recently there was a guy who ran his bone dry, and it did the same thing - all the bearings in the t-case froze and the VC locked up solid.

did you have the car towed on two wheels or a flat bed? towing it on 2 wheels would have killed your VC for sure, if it was still working, even in a mile. NEVER tow an ix on 2 wheels.

[downforce22]

I jacked the car up and spun the front wheels. they turned opposite as usual and didn't grind squeal or make any noise. I'm thinking this solidifies the problem to the transfer case. Found a couple available..

Nando, have you ever replaced one before? I understand the automatic is different from the manual transfer case and am trying to get an estimate for parts/ work and or the time it would take to DIY.

And what are your thoughts on removing the driveshaft to the front wheels to move the car to where it can be worked on?

Thanks, iX novice learning the ropes.

[downforce22]

determined the front differential is the problem, looking into a replacement, anyone done the swap before?

[nando]

it's not bad, you just need to get the halfshafts out, it unbolts pretty easy.

[downforce22]

Found this article on the ix registry, is this accurate?

I unbolted the guibo on the input shaft and pushed it back as far as I could, tapped off the tie rod ends and ball joints, pulled on the hubs to withdraw the halfshafts, removed the splash shield to gain access and removed the mounting bolts. At this point the beast was loose. CAUTION!! I was working at extracting it from its comfortable location and it proved a bit resistant and HEAVY! Naturally it got pretty well jammed in place since the input shaft was still slightly engaged. As I lay on my back (an old pillow for my head made this all much more comfortable) contemplating other things for a moment to relax (the -expletives deleted- thing must come out somehow) it just let go all on its own and took a chunk out of my nice new garage floor paint. Better than my face, I figure. Please be careful as I was not to keep any part of your body under an unsupported chunk of very heavy German steel even though it would appear at first to be hopelessly stuck-God-have-mercy-I'm-going-to-take-a-torch-to-it-if-it-doesn't-move-soon in place. Overall not a bad job at all.

Thanks, may give it a shot tomorrow

[nando]

sounds right

[downforce22]

I can't get the ball joint on the control arm off. When the other control arm was replaced last year we could access the third bolt from above the passenger side door and beat the crap out of it to get the last one since it was being replaced anyway. Can't really access the third bolt on the drivers side.

Any ideas on how to get the ball joint out since the half shaft is in the way? Not looking to ruin the control arm..

[ELONZOOOO]

still need a front diff? i have one and am local

[Ceeker]

I can't get the ball joint on the control arm off. When the other control arm was replaced last year we could access the third bolt from above the passenger side door and beat the crap out of it to get the last one since it was being replaced anyway. Can't really access the third bolt on the drivers side.

Any ideas on how to get the ball joint out since the half shaft is in the way? Not looking to ruin the control arm..

You can't get to it from below; You need to remove the nut with air and a long extension or try to get a wrench on the nut from below. then you need to get an air hammer on it. Your air gun and a long hammer attachment. Sometimes you're lucky and it will pound it through. and other times and you may need to drop the sub frame. Since the neck of the ball joint is tapered it is designed to compress into the sleeve so that it doesn't spin when installing the nut. If you are willing to sacrifice the ball joint - using the air hammer or try a pickle fork between the subframe and ball joint boot.

[downforce22]

got it ff with a pickle fork and hammer

The bolts are off the diff. do I need to take the passenger side half shaft out (hub nut, control arm ball joint, tie rod etc) all apart or is there a way I can just slide the diff off the spindles without taking the entire passenger side apart too?

Thanks