genokelly

Hi folks, I have an 02 with 38,000 miles recently I get a loud whining noise coming from the rear of the car, it continues if I depress the clutch, wheel bearings seem to be good, any thoughts ?
Much appreciated !
GENO.

CactusCat

Main things that come to mind are the wheel bearings and rear differential. Best to get the car on a lift and see if you can find the culprit.

jim993

If it is a rear end ring and pinion whine, the whine will typically be present at steady speed or acceleration, usually above 50 mph or so, but will disappear when throttle off or coasting in gear.

If it is a ring and pinion whine, the pitch or frequency of the whine will be the same, whether in 4th, 5th or 6th at the same speedometer speed, such as at 60 mph, regardless of which gear you are in.

Since your noise continues with the clutch depressed, that may point to a wheel or hub bearing, which also has the same pitch, regardless of the gear you are in at a given speedometer speed.

The best way to isolate the source is to us a set of small microphones that can be attached to various locations where you suspect the noise to be coming from. a receiver allows you to switch between the microphones to determine which location is generating the noise.

I don't remember the name of the noise location detector set but you parts house or a good shop will have one. Someone else may post a link to find one, and I will do that also after an on line search.

genokelly

If I turn hard left , noise goes away,
hard right no change .????

CactusCat

Still thinking wheel bearings. Get the car on a lift or jack it up and see if you have any play in the wheels. Try rocking both the top and bottom and side to side.

genokelly

thanks guys, put the car on a lift , no play in either wheel.....could it still be a wheel bearing ???

dbgoodwin

Probably the mustang owner's mouth in the lane next to you. Super obnoxious but always heard from behind the Corvette.

Good luck finding the actual issue. Hopefully it's just a quick easy fix with the wheel bearings.

genokelly

any other ideas?
appreciate the comments......

SaberD

the fact that when you turn one direction the noise goes away tells me it's a wheel bearing. I'd replace that first before you take the drivetrain out.

CactusCat

You might have to do a Google search but I remember someone having this issue and it was the emergency brake lever/system. I think a spring had come loose on the rear wheel and you could hear it whining but when he turned a certain way, it went away. This one is very difficult to troubleshoot via messaging. Since there is no codes, you'll just have to dig and find it.

65GGvert

I had a loud whining noise coming from the passenger side, but after the divorce it went away. Sorry, I know that doesn't help you with your noise.

SaberD

genokelly

so , if I turn hard left and it stops, would it be the right or left wheel bearing?
thanks

SaberD

well the way wheel bearings are set up is they have 2 conical roller bearings for each wheel. It could potentially be a bad outer left or inner right bearing. With no play in either wheel, it will be hard to tell which one unless you can identify which side the noise is coming from.

2FAS4UU

Rule of thumb is if it's a wheel bearing, turn left and noise goes away or greatly diminishes, it's the right side bearing and the opposite is if you turn right, it's the left wheel bearing. Ask me how I know !!

genokelly

how do you know?

genokelly

Thanks for all the input, turns out it was the left rear wheel bearing, nice and quiet now thanks to Vette Undercar of Salem NH, great shop and great people, can't go wrong bringing your car there!