Have a (slight) grinding noise.....

[alpinecrick]

96 K1500 NP243C T-Case (push button)
Front diff rebuilt less than 20k ago by a mechanic I trust (turned out nothing was wrong with it, I was chasing a gremlin)
Timken hub bearing assemblies less than 20k ago.
New CV axles less than 10k ago.

Have a grinding noise at very slow speed (less than 5 mph) coming from the drivers side front wheel/CV axle/stub axle, but I know it is possible it's in the diff. It's more like a slight "ticking" of gears just touching one another. When I put it in 4wd it instantly goes away. I have the electric actuator. Punch the 2wd button and the ticking instantly comes back.

Applying the brakes changes nothing.

My only thought I can come up with is the actuator fork is not retracting enough and the left front axle is almost engaging. I am not all that familiar with the innards of the 8.25, but I'm wondering if the actuator fork spring is not fully retracting the fork.
Can that be accessed without splitting the diff case?

I'm wondering if it could be the electric actuator itself not fully retracting?

Any other thoughts?

I seem to always ask the hard questions, but.....

 

[Raspi454]

Like This?
It's my compressor, which sucks, but the ac didn't even work before, so now it's just extra noise

 

[Raspi454]

Wait I also have a strange noise when driving, like a whining or something. Thought it was coming form front passenger side, but I could be completely wrong.

 

[alpinecrick]

Like This?
It's my compressor, which sucks, but the ac didn't even work before, so now it's just extra noise

?

 

[mr_josh]

96 K1500 NP253C T-Case (push button)

Have a grinding noise at very slow speed (less than 5 mph) coming from the drivers side front wheel/CV axle/stub axle, but I know it is possible it's in the diff. It's more like a slight "ticking" of gears just touching one another. When I put it in 4wd it instantly goes away. I have the electric actuator. Punch the 2wd button and the ticking instantly comes back.

I think you're on the right track with the fork not disengaging completely. Maybe remove the actuator and see if the sound goes away?

 

[Raspi454]

?

I have a bad noise as well, just kinda sharing. Was unnecessary tho.

 

[96Hoe]

Mine made a similar noise when my electric actuator got stuck extended. The piston wouldn't retract past a certain point so it was always exerting slight pressure. Changing it out fixed it. Like yours, the noise went away when I engaged 4 wheel drive. When I removed the actuator, the problem was obvious.

 

[alpinecrick]

Mine made a similar noise when my electric actuator got stuck extended. The piston wouldn't retract past a certain point so it was always exerting slight pressure. Changing it out fixed it. Like yours, the noise went away when I engaged 4 wheel drive. When I removed the actuator, the problem was obvious.

Well now that I spent 45 minutes repairing an old Fleet ratchet that is going up to our high country place, I'm about to drain some of the fluid out of the front diff and pull the actuator and test just like you suggested. Other than a possible weak/broken fork spring, the actuator is the only other thing I can think of.
Hope it's the actuator, a whole lot easier to replace then a deep dive into the front diff......

 

[alpinecrick]

It was indeed the actuator. Got two on order from RA.