Help me diagnose this whine...

[YearZero]

Hi all.. I have a 2007 SR5 2wd V6 that has developed a whining sound that has gotten worse over the last few months. (113k miles on the ODO now) Its directly related to speed. Seems loudest at 40-50 MPH (after that too much road noise). No mater what kind of pavement, in drive or neutral, load no load. left or right its always there. First thing I did was rotate tires and no change.

It sounded like it was coming from the rear hubs so last night I started tearing apart the rear axel drivers side to check before ordering parts. After spending hours taking it apart and putting it back together I am fairly certain thats not the source of the whine.

I took the caliper off, rotor, took all the STUPID drum parking brake crap off then removed the 4 17mm bolts holding the hub/bearing in and pulled the shaft out. When I held the axel and spun the shield or the other way around and spun the shaft it felt fine. No abnormal noise or play it seems.

So I began to second guess the bad rear bearings, I put the brakes back together. (Did I mention the stupid drum parking brake??:gun5 left it up on the stands and used a few lugnuts to hold the rotor on, started the engine and put it in drive and reved up till the spedo read about 40MPH. When i crawled under to get a closer listen the whine was definitely NOT coming from the hubs but sounded more like from the FRONT of the drive shaft where it goes into the tranny.

Is there a bearing up front like there would be in the diff itself? Anyone ever replace it themselves or does it involve dropping the whole tranny and tearing it apart?

Oh,, one thing I found very interesting was in DRIVE...the noise is clearly heard. Sounds exactly like it does inside the cabin as it does on the road. However, if I put it into REVERSE its dead quiet (except for the engine of course and other normal sounds).

I should note that I never serviced the transmission whatsoever according to what Ive read/been told about these Toyotas and it functions perfectly.

Thanks in advance

 

[preacher35]

Hi all.. I have a 2007 SR5 2wd V6 that has developed a whining sound that has gotten worse over the last few months. (113k miles on the ODO now) Its directly related to speed. Seems loudest at 40-50 MPH (after that too much road noise). No mater what kind of pavement, in drive or neutral, load no load. left or right its always there. First thing I did was rotate tires and no change.

It sounded like it was coming from the rear hubs so last night I started tearing apart the rear axel drivers side to check before ordering parts. After spending hours taking it apart and putting it back together I am fairly certain thats not the source of the whine.

I took the caliper off, rotor, took all the STUPID drum parking brake crap off then removed the 4 17mm bolts holding the hub/bearing in and pulled the shaft out. When I held the axel and spun the shield or the other way around and spun the shaft it felt fine. No abnormal noise or play it seems.

So I began to second guess the bad rear bearings, I put the brakes back together. (Did I mention the stupid drum parking brake??:gun5 left it up on the stands and used a few lugnuts to hold the rotor on, started the engine and put it in drive and reved up till the spedo read about 40MPH. When i crawled under to get a closer listen the whine was definitely NOT coming from the hubs but sounded more like from the FRONT of the drive shaft where it goes into the tranny.

Is there a bearing up front like there would be in the diff itself? Anyone ever replace it themselves or does it involve dropping the whole tranny and tearing it apart?

Oh,, one thing I found very interesting was in DRIVE...the noise is clearly heard. Sounds exactly like it does inside the cabin as it does on the road. However, if I put it into REVERSE its dead quiet (except for the engine of course and other normal sounds).

I should note that I never serviced the transmission whatsoever according to what Ive read/been told about these Toyotas and it functions perfectly.

Thanks in advance

OK, if you are confident that it is not the rear wheel bearings, then you need to turn your attention to the differential (which has, if I remember correctly, 4 separate bearings) and/or the tranny output shaft which has a big bearing in it as well. But, your issue definitely sounds like a bad bearing.

 

[YearZero]

OK, if you are confident that it is not the rear wheel bearings, then you need to turn your attention to the differential (which has, if I remember correctly, 4 separate bearings) and/or the tranny output shaft which has a big bearing in it as well. But, your issue definitely sounds like a bad bearing.

Yes, I am 99.9% its not coming from the rear hub bearings or even the differential. If I get under the car with it in drive and listen I can hear the whine coming from where the driveshaft connects to the transmission.

I searched more last night and found whats called the Transmission extension housing? Looks like a separate bolt on unit on the rear of the tranny and something thats replaced as one unit. I would assume there is some kind of bearing in this unit since thats the main output to the drive shaft. Seems to be about around $350-$400 part.

My question is, is this a common part that can go bad? Easy bolt on replace? Funds (and time) are very limited right now so I dont want to start replacing things unless Im sure thats going to fix it.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Greydog]

Nope, have not heard of that Trans housing bearing going bad, but you never know. At 113k I'd say your in bearing territory.

 

[nevada]

Yes, I am 99.9% its not coming from the rear hub bearings or even the differential. If I get under the car with it in drive and listen I can hear the whine coming from where the driveshaft connects to the transmission.

I searched more last night and found whats called the Transmission extension housing? Looks like a separate bolt on unit on the rear of the tranny and something thats replaced as one unit. I would assume there is some kind of bearing in this unit since thats the main output to the drive shaft. Seems to be about around $350-$400 part.

My question is, is this a common part that can go bad? Easy bolt on replace? Funds (and time) are very limited right now so I dont want to start replacing things unless Im sure thats going to fix it.

Thanks for the help.

get it up on jack stands again. use a long handle screw driver, with the handle against your ear, place the tip where you want to listen.

check at the back of the transmission, and then at the front differential.

sound can be tricky, it can travel down others parts. so it may sound like its at the transmission, when really its the front pinion bearing, and the sound is travelling down the driveline. ive seen this type of thing MANY times over the years.

you cant trust your naked ears. you have to use a tool to pinpoint the sound. you will be able to hear it at both locations, but one should be MUCH more pronounced and louder, that will be your bad bearing.

again, sound can be tricky. good luck.

 

[YearZero]

get it up on jack stands again. use a long handle screw driver, with the handle against your ear, place the tip where you want to listen.

check at the back of the transmission, and then at the front differential.

sound can be tricky, it can travel down others parts. so it may sound like its at the transmission, when really its the front pinion bearing, and the sound is travelling down the driveline. ive seen this type of thing MANY times over the years.

you cant trust your naked ears. you have to use a tool to pinpoint the sound. you will be able to hear it at both locations, but one should be MUCH more pronounced and louder, that will be your bad bearing.

again, sound can be tricky. good luck.

Im going to try that. Ive read about the screwdriver trick but did not think it really worked.

UPDATE: I took it into the stealership today and figured it was worth the $50 diagnostic fee and have them take a look. After two road tests and having them put it on the rack they tell me the whole diff is shot and if I have $2500 they can fix it. Apparently they dont bother servicing the diffs, they just replace the whole thing.

OK, I can understand that Toyota rather not mess with diffs and its easier for them to simply replace the whole thing but I refuse to believe them when they say "it cant be fixed"

I see "pinion bearings" and complete rebuild kits online for these things so that leads me to think it can be fixed??

IF it is something inside the diff whats the most common failure?

On another thought, I seem to remember hearing this noise very faintly about 30k miles ago when I had a local shop do oil, coolant, brakes, alignment and guess what?? rear diff fluid change. I remember seeing something on the invoice about an additive they had to put in to the diff fluid. Friction increaser? Is it possible they never put enough in or the wrong type and its now showing up as a whine?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[nevada]

Im going to try that. Ive read about the screwdriver trick but did not think it really worked.

UPDATE: I took it into the stealership today and figured it was worth the $50 diagnostic fee and have them take a look. After two road tests and having them put it on the rack they tell me the whole diff is shot and if I have $2500 they can fix it. Apparently they dont bother servicing the diffs, they just replace the whole thing.

OK, I can understand that Toyota rather not mess with diffs and its easier for them to simply replace the whole thing but I refuse to believe them when they say "it cant be fixed"

I see "pinion bearings" and complete rebuild kits online for these things so that leads me to think it can be fixed??

IF it is something inside the diff whats the most common failure?

On another thought, I seem to remember hearing this noise very faintly about 30k miles ago when I had a local shop do oil, coolant, brakes, alignment and guess what?? rear diff fluid change. I remember seeing something on the invoice about an additive they had to put in to the diff fluid. Friction increaser? Is it possible they never put enough in or the wrong type and its now showing up as a whine?

Thanks again for all the help.

that's what I expected.

im guessing they replace the entire thing for liability reasons. but for sure it can be rebuilt.

if A bearing in the differential is bad, you need to replace ALL the bearings.
the problem, and I expect its the same reason the dealer doesn't repair them, its very hard to get all the metal particles out. not impossible mind you, just hard.

when a bearing goes bad, the outer(hard) layer starts to flake off. those little bits will get inside the rest of the bearings and take them out in short order.

 

[YearZero]

that's what I expected.

im guessing they replace the entire thing for liability reasons. but for sure it can be rebuilt.

if A bearing in the differential is bad, you need to replace ALL the bearings.
the problem, and I expect its the same reason the dealer doesn't repair them, its very hard to get all the metal particles out. not impossible mind you, just hard.

when a bearing goes bad, the outer(hard) layer starts to flake off. those little bits will get inside the rest of the bearings and take them out in short order.

Yikes....makes sense about replacing all the bearings.

So the way I see it I have two options..

Source a used diff from a salvage yard with low miles and DIY in my garage OR

find a good shop locally and have them do it?

What would a fair price range be to have a shop service it?

 

[preacher35]

Yikes....makes sense about replacing all the bearings.

So the way I see it I have two options..

Source a used diff from a salvage yard with low miles and DIY in my garage OR

find a good shop locally and have them do it?

What would a fair price range be to have a shop service it?

I have no idea what your suspension situation is, but IF you are going to go to larger tires, and IF you choose to rebuild the rear diff, this was be an incredible opportunity to re-gear to compensate for the larger tires. Just my 2 cents.

 

[YearZero]

I have no idea what your suspension situation is, but IF you are going to go to larger tires, and IF you choose to rebuild the rear diff, this was be an incredible opportunity to re-gear to compensate for the larger tires. Just my 2 cents.

Suspension is stock. Most likely keep it that way since this truck will be passed down to my daughter in a year

I did go to a slightly taller tire (Bridgestone AT revo) and I do tow a small bowrider just about every weekend which it seems to pull ok but could use a little more get up and go. Not sure it would warrant a re-gear tho?

 

[ebg18t]

Even if you don't want to regear ECGS can supply you a rear diff fir much less and have another place do the install.