I need help identifying a sound

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Okay. So my LX was in for service. And I asked them to check again for my noise problem.
They now suspect it to be the transfer case. But they are not sure what to do. Nor do I.

Any tips or suggestions are welcome.
 
Is there anybody that has an idea on how to proceed? Can a transfer case be rebuilt? Should I consider replacing it? If so Where do I find one? Should I go for a used one or bite the bullet and price out a new one?
 
I've not reviewed last years post. But it seem you have the same cold weather sound issue. That is: sound which goes away when warm and it runs fine. It's normal to hear the transfer case & differentials whine when cold, mine has for past ten years. I'd put in a good synthetic gear lube in all gear boxes. Sometimes you just have to wait for the failure before it can be identified, but I doubt that is the case here.
 
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My transfer case makes a whining noise when its really cold. Just the cold gears and fluid moving. It totally stops after a few miles. I am not worried about it at all, I have heard that on some of my other trucks too. My power steering pump is a little noisy too when cold also.
 
It has me worried so I need some reassurance. It almost sounds like a dry bearing and I am afraid that my transfer case might grenade leaving me stranded somewhere.
I have the shop price out a new transfer case, which turned out to be a disappointment to say the least. They are talking about over $3000 Canadian. Which is obviously not the route I want to take. Used transfer cases are not to be found and I am not sure if I can trust their expertise enough to have them rebuild it. That leave me with to options. Experiment with the oil or sell the vehicle.
On the subject of oil, I could try full synthetic to minimize the noise. Which one should I choose? Any viscosity and brand suggestions. My rig just passed the 100k mark last week. Is it even wise to consider full synth. oil?
 
Find a good transmission shop, not a ghetto one, and ask them. Then go to another one and do the same. I would think a bearing wouldn't stop making noise after warm. A bearing would keep making some noise. Maybe the fluid is broke down or the wrong viscosity for cold weather. Maybe its a little low. Check it. Mine does the same thing but its pretty quiet.
 
Good point, worn bearings would always make noise. Could it be that some bearing starves for oil when cold?
The transfer case oil was checked and changed. The oil oil gave no indication that there is something wrong. The viscosity is correct as far as I know, I think 80W90 but I can check.
 
DeltaT said:
Good point, worn bearings would always make noise. Could it be that some bearing starves for oil when cold?
The transfer case oil was checked and changed. The oil oil gave no indication that there is something wrong. The viscosity is correct as far as I know, I think 80W90 but I can check.
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Did the noise start after the oil change?
 
Toyota recommends Hypoid gear oil GL-5, 75W-90.

I use Mobil 1 full synthetic gear lube 75W-90 (easy to get around here).

I use M1 syn for all fluid changes....transmission, power steering, oil, gear lube, even propeller shafts and wheel bearings. Again easy to get and remember what's what. The only exception is the inner axle needle bearings (don't recall actual name), which call for #1 lithium based bearing lube, which is hard to come by.

The front diff & transfer case need changing about every 25,000 miles, and rear diff seem good to about 35,000. But just to make it easy I do all at 30K miles. If old gear lube is really dark you may want to re do after 5 or 10K. But really they all whine on cold mornings and stop when warmed up.
 
kelly saad said:
Did the noise start after the oil change?
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All fluids were changed during the summer. The noise started to be noticeable in the winter but as you can see in this thread I had a hard time identifying the sound. As soon as temperatures started climbing above freezing the sound disappeared. This cold winter it is back again with a vengeance (of course)

2001LC said:
Toyota recommends Hypoid gear oil GL-5, 75W-90.

I use Mobil 1 full synthetic gear lube 75W-90 (easy to get around here).

I use M1 syn for all fluid changes....transmission, power steering, oil, gear lube, even propeller shafts and wheel bearings. Again easy to get and remember what's what. The only exception is the inner axle needle bearings (don't recall actual name), which call for #1 lithium based bearing lube, which is hard to come by.

The front diff & transfer case need changing about every 25,000 miles, and rear diff seem good to about 35,000. But just to make it easy I do all at 30K miles. If old gear lube is really dark you may want to re do after 5 or 10K. But really they all whine on cold mornings and stop when warmed up.
Click to expand...

I am going to try this. I hope it makes a difference. Thanks.
 
I'll bet it will whine on cold mornings even with synthetic. There are additives to aid this issue, but I would NOT use except perhaps BG products. Many additives change the antifoaming chemical % of the lubricant which causes foaming, this you do not want.

Synthetic gear lube have a wider temp range like 0W- 50 oil, will reduce fiction which aids in keeping operating temp in range and thus add to usable life of parts. I notice a little less vibration perhaps and cleaner looking used (new almost) gear lube when changed. Cleaner means it is not breaking down. The fact synthetic don’t break down as conventional do, is why I use them. They keep internal parts clean and lubricating even under extreme conditions. This also means less chance of over heating, which is most noticeable with synthetic ATF in that it's hard to get hot to check transmission level, it just runs cooler. It takes one or two changes with full synthetic oil/lube to clean out old grim (carbon) from the broken down conventional oils. This cleaning effect is why they say don’t us on older engine that have been using conventional oil. They will do such a good job that leaky seal will have gunk removed that was plugging leaks, and transmission will fail as worn disk come apart that are held together by gunk. What I do notice is smoother transmission shifting with less vibration and a quite power steering pump with synthetic ATF, but that a different issue.
 
I'm going to try and go full synthetic. It's not going to hurt.

I haven't heard of BG products. I'm not sure if it's even available in Canada. Why would you prefer BG?
 
BG is good stuff but pricy. Like 44K which cleans fuel system at $25 a can. The only place I know where to get the BG stuff is NAPA auto parts. A Toyota dealer around here used BG additive in my auto transmission (10yrs ago) with statanrd Dex III ATF. I changed to synthetic by itself (no additive) and like the smoother shifting.
 
The transfer case and both diff fluids have been changed yesterday. But it makes no difference. If anything, it seems worse but I am pretty sure that's in my head. :(
 
As long as whining goes away once warmed up "by driving" to get gear box hot, it's normal.
 
I've decided to sell the LX.
I have found a serious buyer, but I can't sell it with the whining sound. It just wouldn't be right.
So it's off to the transmission shop where they will diagnose and fix the problem.

I was cold this morning (-7F), so I made a new recording:

Transfer Case cold

I accelerate in the clip and end up doing about 55 mph. The sound fades away after 6 minutes or so. The crackling noise is the sound of cold leather and the phone rattling.

The second recording is when things are warmed up, also at 55 mph. As you can hear, it is nice and quiet:

Transfer Cas warm

I had them listen to the audio recording and they suspect the circulation pump (if the transfer case has one). I could be something simple as stuck debris or rubbing of parts which do not touch expanded due to heat.

They will be able to identify it once the T-case is cold so I left it behind and they pin point it on a hoist tomorrow morning.

Wish me luck.
 
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That's not the whining sound I've heard from my LC T-Case. Don't know what that is. Make sure they check all the spider joint (AKA U-joints) on both propeller shaft, along with slip joints and also CV joints. GOOD LUCK
 
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