I'm trying to diagnose the following issue and I've already searched the forums for some sort of plausible answer/direction for mechanic as this issue is over my head.
I installed a
front drive shaft(items 1 &2 in diagram) yesterday and now when accelerating I can feel a (violently) slipping. It's almost as if the front wheels are fighting for traction, but I fear it's the gears in the front diff are worn.
When decelerating I can hear a clunk noise around the transfer case once the car is nearly stopped.
The rpms feel like they're stepping rather than gradually climbing. The car will hang at 2.2K rpms for half a second and then jump up to 2.4k. You can feel a distinct lurch inside the cabin when this happens..
I'm unsure if it's coming from the front diff, the transfer case, or if something is wrong with the driveshaft itself.
How can I go about diagnosing the cause of the issue? I have Bimmergeeks standard tools on my laptop and a K+DCAN cable. There are no codes nor warning lights in the dash, but should I be looking for faults in the logs?
I'm going to remove the front driveshaft again, since I don't have any problems driving without it, but wanted the full power available by having it connected. Or should I leave it connected and try to get Xdelete working instead?
Backstory:
I purchased the car a few months ago and the front drive shaft was not connected. I asked the previous owner why it wasn't connected and they "had no idea"(of course not). I'm just trying to get this car back in shape after being neglected for too long and want to do most of the work myself.