"higher-pitched" whirring noise... D36????
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Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Director of Bands
St. Jude Donor '08
"higher-pitched" whirring noise... D36????
Okay, I'll admit that I've eluded to this same question before, but now I have a little more info. I have this whirring sound that I am almost positive is in my driveline. It is most pronounced between 55-65 mph esp. on deceleration. It seem to go away, though, if I shift in to neutral. he sound does not change with road surface, and it has been a part of the car since I bought it. At first I though it was just transmission noise, but it sounds like it is coming more from the rear of the car. There are NO drivability issues, just a noise. It's not deafening - you can still carry on a comfortable conversation - it's just there. I looked around the pumpkin.... tight as a drum with no leaks or any visual cues to cause suspicion.
My wife claims that she "doesn't hear anything... (unusual at least)." I am trying to figure out if this noise is something to persue, or if it is just "Corvette Character." I know that these cars do not have as much sound deadening in them... and hell, I like hearing the noises of the car. It makes for a more visceral experience. I just want to make sure that it's not an "Oh S4it" noise.
My wife thinks that I should wait for it to break before I worry about it
.
My wife claims that she "doesn't hear anything... (unusual at least)." I am trying to figure out if this noise is something to persue, or if it is just "Corvette Character." I know that these cars do not have as much sound deadening in them... and hell, I like hearing the noises of the car. It makes for a more visceral experience. I just want to make sure that it's not an "Oh S4it" noise.
My wife thinks that I should wait for it to break before I worry about it
.
Race Director
Joined: Jun 2001
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From: Marlboro country MA
It is not unusual for rear gears to 'whine' - mine do, ever since I had 3.54 Richmond gears installed. If they aren't set up just right, they will make a noise under very light torque, such as cruising at 55-65. When you shift to neutral, the car decelerates, and the pressure imposed on the gear faces under this condition prevents teh minor slipping that makes whine. Basically, ignore it, turn up the stereo, and RACE ON!
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Director of Bands
St. Jude Donor '08
Originally Posted by MTVette
It is not unusual for rear gears to 'whine' - mine do, ever since I had 3.54 Richmond gears installed. If they aren't set up just right, they will make a noise under very light torque, such as cruising at 55-65. When you shift to neutral, the car decelerates, and the pressure imposed on the gear faces under this condition prevents teh minor slipping that makes whine. Basically, ignore it, turn up the stereo, and RACE ON!
Dude, you rock! Thanks for the "peace of mind." The only thing is that I'm pretty sure that the gears have never been touched. They should be factory stock with 82xxx miles on them. A little throttle and some Stevie Ray will make the problems go away?
BTW... for all of those "GET THE HELMS MANUAL!" people:
I looked at the Rear Axle Noise Diagnosis chart on page 4B-3, and the only item that seems to apply is #8: Drive noise, coast noise or float noise (whatever that is).... A. Ring and pinion gear.
IF it's just normal wear and it's not dangerous and won't cause me to be unable to autox the car, then I can definitely live with it.
TIA
Ed
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From: Slidell Louisiana
Originally Posted by eschoendorff
Dude, you rock! Thanks for the "peace of mind." The only thing is that I'm pretty sure that the gears have never been touched. They should be factory stock with 82xxx miles on them. A little throttle and some Stevie Ray will make the problems go away?
BTW... for all of those "GET THE HELMS MANUAL!" people:
I looked at the Rear Axle Noise Diagnosis chart on page 4B-3, and the only item that seems to apply is #8: Drive noise, coast noise or float noise (whatever that is).... A. Ring and pinion gear.
IF it's just normal wear and it's not dangerous and won't cause me to be unable to autox the car, then I can definitely live with it.
TIA
Ed
BTW... for all of those "GET THE HELMS MANUAL!" people:
I looked at the Rear Axle Noise Diagnosis chart on page 4B-3, and the only item that seems to apply is #8: Drive noise, coast noise or float noise (whatever that is).... A. Ring and pinion gear.
IF it's just normal wear and it's not dangerous and won't cause me to be unable to autox the car, then I can definitely live with it.
TIA
Ed
I would change the rear lubricant,(with the addition of GM friction modifier) and it the whine may go away, then again it may not! Good luck!
MIke
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From: The Top of Utah
Originally Posted by eschoendorff
BTW... for all of those "GET THE HELMS MANUAL!" people:
I looked at the Rear Axle Noise Diagnosis chart on page 4B-3, and the only item that seems to apply is #8: Drive noise, coast noise or float noise (whatever that is).... A. Ring and pinion gear.
I looked at the Rear Axle Noise Diagnosis chart on page 4B-3, and the only item that seems to apply is #8: Drive noise, coast noise or float noise (whatever that is).... A. Ring and pinion gear.
RACE ON!!!
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Director of Bands
St. Jude Donor '08
The Helms chart told me what the possible cause of the noise could be, but it didn't say that it was a serious problem. I'm trying to figure out if this noise is something that I need to address, or if it's just the nature of the beast at 82000 miles.
Race Director
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From: The Top of Utah
I'd say it's not normal. Especially for it to just pop up this late in it's life. You have no immediate concerns, however. If it gets really noisy and sloppy loose, it will have to be attended to.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Director of Bands
St. Jude Donor '08
Originally Posted by CFI-EFI
I'd say it's not normal. Especially for it to just pop up this late in it's life. You have no immediate concerns, however. If it gets really noisy and sloppy loose, it will have to be attended to.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
Thanks again!
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Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2005
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From: Muskoka Ontario
I have a 93 auto that had a whine on deceleration, I went from 2.59 to 3.54 Richmond gears and now it whines on acceleration. At 80000 miles the old ring was starting to wear out on the back side according to my mechanic.
Race Director
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From: The Top of Utah
I must have misunderstood as to how long it had been making the noise. In this case, the longer the noise has been there, the more likely it will continue to be there, for a long time. And that's a GOOD thing.
RACE ON!!!
RACE ON!!!
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Director of Bands
St. Jude Donor '08
OMG... this has got to be the dumbest question ever
I have no idea when the gear oil was last changed. Is this a case where changing the gear oil with some fresh 75-W90 (and posi treatment) will do more harm than good (ala changing original tranny fluid in a well-worn A4)?
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Cruise-In II Veteran
The fluid should be changed.I had that whining noise,especially around turns and doing figure 8's in a parking lot to test drive what the noise was.
The fluid thins out over time.New gear oil and GM additive fixed the problem.
I think scorp508 fixed his noise by changing the fluid as well.
I wouldnt even use synthetic gear oil either.Just the regular stuff the car came with.It doesnt have parts like a tranny does where clean oil could send deposits everywhere blocking the lines and pump and etc.
Also The fluid needs to be suctioned out from the fill hole on the side of the pumpkin,in order to refill it.Theres no drain plug.
Also,what year is the car?Im thinking it was in 84,when some of the rear half shafts would make a ringing type noise when driving.The fix was to fill them with a noise reducing foam.
The fluid thins out over time.New gear oil and GM additive fixed the problem.
I think scorp508 fixed his noise by changing the fluid as well.
I wouldnt even use synthetic gear oil either.Just the regular stuff the car came with.It doesnt have parts like a tranny does where clean oil could send deposits everywhere blocking the lines and pump and etc.
Also The fluid needs to be suctioned out from the fill hole on the side of the pumpkin,in order to refill it.Theres no drain plug.
Also,what year is the car?Im thinking it was in 84,when some of the rear half shafts would make a ringing type noise when driving.The fix was to fill them with a noise reducing foam.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 7,625
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From: Director of Bands
St. Jude Donor '08
Originally Posted by Bill's86Coupe
The fluid should be changed.I had that whining noise,especially around turns and doing figure 8's in a parking lot to test drive what the noise was.
The fluid thins out over time.New gear oil and GM additive fixed the problem.
I think scorp508 fixed his noise by changing the fluid as well.
I wouldnt even use synthetic gear oil either.Just the regular stuff the car came with.It doesnt have parts like a tranny does where clean oil could send deposits everywhere blocking the lines and pump and etc.
Also The fluid needs to be suctioned out from the fill hole on the side of the pumpkin,in order to refill it.Theres no drain plug.
Also,what year is the car?Im thinking it was in 84,when some of the rear half shafts would make a ringing type noise when driving.The fix was to fill them with a noise reducing foam.
The fluid thins out over time.New gear oil and GM additive fixed the problem.
I think scorp508 fixed his noise by changing the fluid as well.
I wouldnt even use synthetic gear oil either.Just the regular stuff the car came with.It doesnt have parts like a tranny does where clean oil could send deposits everywhere blocking the lines and pump and etc.
Also The fluid needs to be suctioned out from the fill hole on the side of the pumpkin,in order to refill it.Theres no drain plug.
Also,what year is the car?Im thinking it was in 84,when some of the rear half shafts would make a ringing type noise when driving.The fix was to fill them with a noise reducing foam.
The car's a 93. When you changed your gear lube, do you remember how many quarts you took out/ put in? Any favorite brands of regular gear oil?
Race Director
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Dang its been a while since I did it...but I had the rear end out of the car replacing the RTV case seal with the "Right Stuff Sealer" so I completely drained it and refilled it on the floor.I think I got 2 bottles of gear oil and 2 small bottles of GM limited slip additive.But I cant recall exactly how much I used...sorry.I think the "Full" line is when you add just enough so a little bit will just slightly flow out of the drain hole.
The best gear oil I can think of would be a mobil type non synthetic gear oil or Valvoline.Cant go wrong with them.Synthetic oils are all the rage these days so it may be hard to find.I cant recall what brand I used...sorry its been a few years and sorry cant help more on exact specifics.
Just use the recommended oil weight GM suggested for your year.If the oil change doesnt fix the problem,at least you have a piece of mind knowing theres brand new oil and additive in there.
Ps,if you didnt know,rear end gear oil STINKS and SMELLS really bad.If you do the job at home,wear old clothes,have plenty of old rags you can throw away,wear disposable gloves and try not to get any on you.
The best gear oil I can think of would be a mobil type non synthetic gear oil or Valvoline.Cant go wrong with them.Synthetic oils are all the rage these days so it may be hard to find.I cant recall what brand I used...sorry its been a few years and sorry cant help more on exact specifics.
Just use the recommended oil weight GM suggested for your year.If the oil change doesnt fix the problem,at least you have a piece of mind knowing theres brand new oil and additive in there.
Ps,if you didnt know,rear end gear oil STINKS and SMELLS really bad.If you do the job at home,wear old clothes,have plenty of old rags you can throw away,wear disposable gloves and try not to get any on you.
Race Director
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Originally Posted by eschoendorff
The car's a 93. When you changed your gear lube, do you remember how many quarts you took out/ put in? Any favorite brands of regular gear oil?
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2003
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From: Director of Bands
St. Jude Donor '08
Originally Posted by Pete K
I use 2 bottles of gm gear lube and 2 bottles of the limited slip additve (also gm) Total capacity is somewhere around 50-52 oz
Thanks to all who shared their knowledge. I love this place!
Pro
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 506
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From: Savannah GA
You can drill the rear end for a drain plug if you want. I used a magnetic 3/8 plug out of an old outboard lower unit. We drilled and taped it right trough the back and let the old fluid clean out the hole. Mine seems to take about a quart to drain and fill it.
Get the real GM posi additive mix it in the bottle.
My '87 D36 has over 200K miles on it and it has some coast whine too. When I think it's getting louder I change the oil and it seems to quite it down some.
I intend on running it until it scares me to ride around the block in it!
JS
Get the real GM posi additive mix it in the bottle.
My '87 D36 has over 200K miles on it and it has some coast whine too. When I think it's getting louder I change the oil and it seems to quite it down some.
I intend on running it until it scares me to ride around the block in it!
JS
