Name that Tune!! (mystery cruiser noise) with video (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Oct 5, 2018
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17
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94
Location
Southern California
So my cruiser:
1996 cruiser, white, stock, locked, fourth possibly fifth owner, 187K miles. CA original vehicle been in Oregon last ten years, bought from dealer in Portland and shipped back to Cali.

So since the cruiser arrived I took to a local mechanic and they did the following:
  1. Oil change
  2. Block/HG test - passed
  3. New front and rear rotors, pads and calipers, new brake fluid
  4. new tires, old ones were 2/32", got BFG ATII 33's
  5. replaced thermostat, heater valve (at back against firewall), all radiator hoses including PHH
  6. new battery
  7. new plugs
  8. drained and refilled front and rear diff
  9. due to leak in transfer case replaced speed sensor and Oring and fluid
  10. tranny fluid change and new filter
  11. replaced both oil pans due to leak in upper pan, and the pick up pipe was crushed so replaced too
  12. replaced power steering fluid
  13. replaced radiator shroud and fan clutch with modded Blue hub
  14. new OEM air filter
  15. Greased all zerks in the drive shafts
This brings me to a noise it has been making since I got it, sounds like a loud whirring, burry noise coming from below the shifters. It is somewhat intermittent but occurs around 70% time from a stop, typically the noise occurs at specific RPMs, between 1200 and 2100, as you can see in the video. If I keep the engine rev constant while it is making the noise while accelerating the noise will just keep going, but if I speed up or come off the throttle it will stop. When I decelerate toward a red light etc it will occasionally make a short chirp as the revs pass through the RPMs that make a noise on acceleration but as the revs are falling faster (truck stops faster than it starts : ) ) than during acceleration it doesn't stay in the noisey RPM long enough to make a long noise. It seems to have gotten a bit more frequent in last two months. Previous owner had some kind of transmission work done around 165K miles but the seller I bought it from had no further info. I went through all the noise posts and didn't find one that matches this one for sound or source location. PLEASE help me figure out what it is, how to fix it and if something needs to be done to fix it, I hate to have this lead to a catastrophic failure of the drivetrain as this is my daily driver and I often take my kids in it! Thank you very much!!



 
By any chance are you using a wix or napa filter.. Lots of known issues with those filters causing low oil pressure.. As for your strange noise issue sounds like a whining gear. I had a old CJ7 that sounded that way not as bad as yours, but it turned out to be a broken tooth on my ring gear and pinion gear.. Hope that is not the case in your cruiser..
 
By any chance are you using a wix or napa filter.. Lots of known issues with those filters causing low oil pressure.. As for your strange noise issue sounds like a whining gear. I had a old CJ7 that sounded that way not as bad as yours, but it turned out to be a broken tooth on my ring gear and pinion gear.. Hope that is not the case in your cruiser..
Thanks, the filter is just plain old black with a series of numbers on it, no brand viislbe (OEM?) . As far as the whine source, we are talking a gear in the transmission (sorry for my beginner newbyism) any way to know if it is a certain gear? Any idea of the scope of the fix? If it breaks further (more teeth breaking off or whole gear breaking) would it destroy the transmission? Again learning from scratch here! THanks too!
 
I would guess your front diff, not likely the transfer case(center diff). If I knew how to post pics I would show you the parts diagram for front diff showing ring & pinion. Has your front axle been serviced?
 
Last edited:
Check out this link
Can You Drive Safely Without Front Drive Shaft?
You can remove your front drive shaft as long as your center diff is locked. If the noise goes away then you know it is the front diff.
Thanks for the link, I don't have a center diff lock switch installed, so I may be headed to the mechanic again! Ah I see there is a way to pull the fuse, hmm, cool, thanks
 
You don't need the switch. Just put it on low so it locks. Shut down pull cdl fuse start truck put back in high. Remove drive shaft and drive. CDL and abs lights will remain on. That link has more detailed instructions.
 
So my cruiser:
1996 cruiser, white, stock, locked, fourth possibly fifth owner, 187K miles. CA original vehicle been in Oregon last ten years, bought from dealer in Portland and shipped back to Cali.

So since the cruiser arrived I took to a local mechanic and they did the following:
  1. Oil change
  2. Block/HG test - passed
  3. New front and rear rotors, pads and calipers, new brake fluid
  4. new tires, old ones were 2/32", got BFG ATII 33's
  5. replaced thermostat, heater valve (at back against firewall), all radiator hoses including PHH
  6. new battery
  7. new plugs
  8. drained and refilled front and rear diff
  9. due to leak in transfer case replaced speed sensor and Oring and fluid
  10. tranny fluid change and new filter
  11. replaced both oil pans due to leak in upper pan, and the pick up pipe was crushed so replaced too
  12. replaced power steering fluid
  13. replaced radiator shroud and fan clutch with modded Blue hub
  14. new OEM air filter
  15. Greased all zerks in the drive shafts
This brings me to a noise it has been making since I got it, sounds like a loud whirring, burry noise coming from below the shifters. It is somewhat intermittent but occurs around 70% time from a stop, typically the noise occurs at specific RPMs, between 1200 and 2100, as you can see in the video. If I keep the engine rev constant while it is making the noise while accelerating the noise will just keep going, but if I speed up or come off the throttle it will stop. When I decelerate toward a red light etc it will occasionally make a short chirp as the revs pass through the RPMs that make a noise on acceleration but as the revs are falling faster (truck stops faster than it starts : ) ) than during acceleration it doesn't stay in the noisey RPM long enough to make a long noise. It seems to have gotten a bit more frequent in last two months. Previous owner had some kind of transmission work done around 165K miles but the seller I bought it from had no further info. I went through all the noise posts and didn't find one that matches this one for sound or source location. PLEASE help me figure out what it is, how to fix it and if something needs to be done to fix it, I hate to have this lead to a catastrophic failure of the drivetrain as this is my daily driver and I often take my kids in it! Thank you very much!!




Have you ever figured out what that sound is?
I am having the same thing happening. But not related to front or rear diff, since it still is there if I remove one of the propshafts...
 

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