Whining noise help!

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petegangies

petegangies

Joined
Sep 18, 2024
Threads
23
Messages
602
Location
Sydney
Hi all,

The bruiser has recently developed a whining harmonic kinda noise when lightly on the accelerator and for a second when I back off it. If I push the accelerator down harder it goes away until I go back to light throttle. Could insufficiently greased uni joints or slip joints cause this? Or am I looking at something more nefarious like a diff, transfer case or transmission issue? Car drives fine.

attached sound here:

Many thanks
Pete
 
Last edited:
The link didn’t open up for me. What you describe is typical of noise a differential can make. You might confirm differential oil level and inspect the drain plug/magnet for metal particles. A small amount of dust like particles is normal.

Are your gears the factory installed sets? Some aftermarket gears will whine. My rear diff has made the noise you describe since I bought it in 2014 after the PO had Nitro 4.88 gears installed in 2010.
 
petegangies said:
Could insufficiently greased uni joints or slip joints cause this?
Click to expand...

Yes, could be this.
Grease them with some good quality grease. I use lithium based moly fortified grease, but a good quality multipurpose grease, or high two when bearing grease will be just fine too.

Uni joints, pump grease in until you see clean grease ooze out of all four bearing caps.
Cheap uni joints, grease will blow past the weak external rubber seals before you can achieve this. It's hard to be certain the bearings get fresh grease.
OEM uni joints have an oring seal inside the bearing cap, these take more pressure to breach, and you should be able to get fresh grease forced all the way into the bearing cap before the seal oozes grease.
Wipe away oozed out grease or it will coat the floor with gunk.

Slip joints, give them maybe 4-6 shots of grease. If you see the slip joint extend, you've put too much in which can also cause a vibration.

If you hit stuff with fresh grease, and the noise goes away, there's your answer.
Greasing wear items can temporarily mask an issue as fresh grease fills void, and temporarily makes every thing slick. If the issue goes away temporarily and comes back quickly, unis are probably toast and due for replacement.

Agree with the suggestion of changing diff oils and transfer case oil etc, particularly if you don't know when it was done last.
 
baldilocks said:
The link didn’t open up for me. What you describe is typical of noise a differential can make. You might confirm differential oil level and inspect the drain plug/magnet for metal particles. A small amount of dust like particles is normal.

Are your gears the factory installed sets? Some aftermarket gears will whine. My rear diff has made the noise you describe since I bought it in 2014 after the PO had Nitro 4.88 gears installed in 2010.
Click to expand...
I've just updated the post with some new links, hopefully these ones work.

The diff is original and only 155,000kms. My dad used to change the diff oils fairly regularly.
 
mudgudgeon said:
Yes, could be this.
Grease them with some good quality grease. I use lithium based moly fortified grease, but a good quality multipurpose grease, or high two when bearing grease will be just fine too.

Uni joints, pump grease in until you see clean grease ooze out of all four bearing caps.
Cheap uni joints, grease will blow past the weak external rubber seals before you can achieve this. It's hard to be certain the bearings get fresh grease.
OEM uni joints have an oring seal inside the bearing cap, these take more pressure to breach, and you should be able to get fresh grease forced all the way into the bearing cap before the seal oozes grease.
Wipe away oozed out grease or it will coat the floor with gunk.

Slip joints, give them maybe 4-6 shots of grease. If you see the slip joint extend, you've put too much in which can also cause a vibration.

If you hit stuff with fresh grease, and the noise goes away, there's your answer.
Greasing wear items can temporarily mask an issue as fresh grease fills void, and temporarily makes every thing slick. If the issue goes away temporarily and comes back quickly, unis are probably toast and due for replacement.

Agree with the suggestion of changing diff oils and transfer case oil etc, particularly if you don't know when it was done last.
Click to expand...

This is the exact grease I've just loaded the g un with to use on unis and slips—I think it should be suitable for both.

Morey Oil Moly Complex 2 Grease Cartridge - 450g, 43004-MCG - https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/moreys-450gm-cart-moly-complex-2-grease/SPO4608485.html?srsltid=AfmBOopLWwKp3v69TVxR9R2aUgMvkKvu4_5_XyRPnPDw0QKFxVU3zEvU

I was hesitating greasing the front drive shaft slip joint, because I heard over greasing can ruin it. It's possible dad over greased the slip joint, but I have absolutely no idea how to tell. When you say slip joint extend, can you be more specific. I'm reasonable mechanically minded, but this is my first 4WD.

Both uni and slip joints are original, never been replaced, car only has 155,000kms on it.

Dad used to change the trans, transfer and diff oils regularly, but started getting lazy and making mistakes as his age and health declined. Particularly in the 12 months leading up to his passing. I found the ATF fluid 3L under full, so it's possible the others may be underfilled.

Last I checked the front diff it was full, that was before that mob changed the axle seal though from the leaking swivel, so I'll check that again too, but will just replace all the oils anyway, as they'll be due regardless, and I have all the bottles sitting here ready to go, I've just been avoiding doing it because being in an apartment block, whenever I work on my car in common areas, people are always nosey and some make comments, so I usually wait till I go to a family members house and do it at his place.
 
petegangies said:
I was hesitating greasing the front drive shaft slip joint, because I heard over greasing can ruin it. It's possible dad over greased the slip joint, but I have absolutely no idea how to tell. When you say slip joint extend, can you be more specific. I'm reasonable mechanically minded, but this is my first 4WD.
Click to expand...

The grease you linked is good.

If you pump too much grease, like, way, way to much grease into the slip joint it can effectively make your driveshaft into a hydraulic ram.
The grease pressure will try to push the slip joint off the end of the spline end of the driveshaft.
When driving, the suspension goes up and down, the shafts extend and retract to compensate for the small change in axle position. If the slip joint is packed full of grease, it can't retract inward, it behaves like a solid, fixed length shaft. This can cause vibrations and puts pressure on pinion bearings in the diff and transfer.

I hear yah about working on a car in an apartment. Struggled with it for years in Sydney
 
mudgudgeon said:
The grease you linked is good.

If you pump too much grease, like, way, way to much grease into the slip joint it can effectively make your driveshaft into a hydraulic ram.
The grease pressure will try to push the slip joint off the end of the spline end of the driveshaft.
When driving, the suspension goes up and down, the shafts extend and retract to compensate for the small change in axle position. If the slip joint is packed full of grease, it can't retract inward, it behaves like a solid, fixed length shaft. This can cause vibrations and puts pressure on pinion bearings in the diff and transfer.

I hear yah about working on a car in an apartment. Struggled with it for years in Sydney
Click to expand...
Exactly where I am! Hopefully moving into a house this year. We've been trying to get in the market for 2 years now. I'll get the guys to check out the shafts tomorrow while it's on the hoist. Thanks for all your help.
 
MissahPapaJ said:
My Cruiser had the same exact noise your describing after months of trouble shooting it turns out it was my wife whining that I was spending too much time and money on the Cruiser… hope this helps.
Click to expand...
crap.. my mrs was in the passenger seat and says the same things.. THREAD RESOLVED... hahahahahha
 
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