How does the 2004 Vue V6 AWD work?

Discussion in 'Saturn VUE' started by Rusty Shackleford, Apr 29, 2004.

  1. I assume that the Honda V6 that is in the 2004 is also mated to a Hondo 5
    speed transmission. If so does the AWD work the same as in the Honda Pilot.
    The advertising for the Honda Pilot AWD system is very informative but with
    the 2004 Vue with the V6 they hardly mention any of the technical aspects of
    the AWD system.

    I did an experiment with my 2004 Saturn Vue with the V6. I drove and
    stopped the car off the road so that the left front and rear tires were on
    the pavement and the right were on the sand on the shoulder of the road. I
    then did a hard acceleration from a stop and what happened surprised me. I
    was expecting the right front tire that was in the sand to spin and then
    hear a clunk as the rear differential kicked in but instead I herd the left
    front tire that was on the pavement burn a small patch of rubber and then
    herd a clunk as the rear differential kicked in. This almost sound like the
    front differential is what the call in the off road Four wheel drive systems
    a 'Locker differential. Does anybody know how the system works? Just
    curious.

    --
    Rusty Shackleford

    'What ever happens, happens necessarily'



    Remove NOSPAM from E-mail address to reply.
     
    Rusty Shackleford, Apr 29, 2004
    #1
  2. Rusty Shackleford

    Blah blah Guest

    This is where a lot of people get it wrong. There are no lockers for
    any cars/suv's for the front wheels. If there were the wheel would get
    jerked from your hands everytime you tried to make a turn and the locker
    would eventually break. The front wheels need to turn at different
    rates. I doubt their is even a locker for the rear diff. The entire
    system uses "traction control". It uses the abs control module to apply
    brakes to the slipping wheels causing the power to shift to the other
    wheel. GM has been using this system for years. The Bravada had
    intelligent awd traction control longer than most anything if not
    everything out there.
     
    Blah blah, Apr 29, 2004
    #2
  3. Well that very interesting. Now I can understand why it acted the way it
    did when I started with the right wheels in sand. They do have lockers as I
    had one installed in my rear differential in my 1984 CJ7 jeep. The locker
    system only has a ring and pinion gear and then it uses roller bearings that
    ride inside two separate (for each shaft) barrels. The way it works is that
    when power is applied the roller bearings lock up into the barrel shaft and
    then only the wheel turning the slowest gets the power. In sand both wheels
    will lock up in that situation but when turning the wheel spinning the
    fastest will spin free. It works exactly opposite the way a normal
    differential works except it does have the ability to lock both wheels up in
    certain situations. The only drawback I noticed was that when you were
    making sharp slow turns the engine had to work harder.

    I live in the desert and the shoulder of the road in some places have deep
    sand. I wonder how the AWD Vue would handle that with all four wheels in
    the sand with its system. My CJ7 would pull out of it with no problem but I
    am not going to put the VUE to the test as I think there is a possibility I
    would get stuck.

    --
    Rusty Shackleford

    'What ever happens, happens necessarily'



    Remove NOSPAM from E-mail address to reply.
     
    Rusty Shackleford, Apr 29, 2004
    #3
  4. Rusty Shackleford

    M. Butkus Guest

    Not very well in the sand I bet. I'm trying to confirm it but it suppose to
    have 90-10 to back. No locker on back like there was in my 2001 Outback.
    Not finding much on the details of the AWD. I'm wondering what they did to
    the AWD to get the new Honda trans/diff into the old AWD. I'm guessing just
    different housing mount but that usually means more and different parts
    inside the AWD system.
    The Ford Excape has a similar system BUT a button that you can choose normal
    and AWD when in snow and rain.
     
    M. Butkus, May 2, 2004
    #4
Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments (here). After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.