Gears & Axles - Stock 10 Bolt whining around 50mph

Hey guys!

I got a stock 10 bolt that whines pretty loud around 45-50mph if your tapping lightly on the gas. If you go more then just a slight amount it goes away (or the engine/exhaust overpowers the noise) :confused:

Anyways, its an A4 w/116k miles.
Its been whining since I bought it back in November.

Any ideas or thoughts? I had my family mechanic replace all the fluids and it helped a little, but its back to whining. (I couldn't get the bolts off so I took it to him)..

Any ideas or suggestions? would the best thing be to just pop it off and snap some pics?. :3
Oh, also I've always noticed if I perform a hard launch I feel grinding and I'm pretty sure its the diff.
(I'm the second owner and the car isn't beat to crap or anything like that).

you will have to replace the ring and pinion. or best to replace the rearend will a after market one and be done. 10 bolts are not worth the money. if you want get a good used one and replace the whole thing or buy some cheap gears from a S-10 and pop them in...but it will not last.

So am I correct to understand you whine when coasting not on accelarating? Stock rearend?

you will have to replace the ring and pinion. or best to replace the rearend will a after market one and be done. 10 bolts are not worth the money. if you want get a good used one and replace the whole thing or buy some cheap gears from a S-10 and pop them in...but it will not last.

Well a little background, I'm not looking to do any forced induction on this particular Firebird, just N/A.
So I'll probably replace the little things for now so it doesn't cause greater damage.

So am I correct to understand you whine when coasting not on accelarating? Stock rearend?

You know, its at extremely light throttle.. So its not quite coasting, but its not quite accelerating either. Basically enough to keep it at a constant 50ish.

What is strange it started to whine after a fluid change. Is the fluid full? Is it too thick or too thin? This is the direction I would take this for now.

you will have to replace the ring and pinion..

Not necessarily. OP, have a GOOD rear end shop take a look at it. Chances are, it's a bearing going out. That's what mine was. I would get a rear end rebuild kit before hand (I like the Ratech kits). The mechanic will be able to tell you if your gears are reusable or not.

When you changed the fluid, did you notice a lot of metal shavings on the magnet?

What is strange it started to whine after a fluid change. Is the fluid full? Is it too thick or too thin? This is the direction I would take this for now.

It was actually whining before we changed the fluid, the whine went away after we changed the fluid but eventually came back. (Sorry I probably worded that wrong above).

Not necessarily. OP, have a GOOD rear end shop take a look at it. Chances are, it's a bearing going out. That's what mine was. I would get a rear end rebuild kit before hand (I like the Ratech kits). The mechanic will be able to tell you if your gears are reusable or not.

When you changed the fluid, did you notice a lot of metal shavings on the magnet?

I wanted to change the fluid to see if there were metal shavings.. but I couldn't get any of the bolts off, thus is why my mechanic changed it for me.

Yeah I'm thinking I should take it to a rear end shop and have em look at it. :)

You can do this yourself. Really it's not all that hard to check it out.

Are your gears aftermarket?

Completely stock! :3

Here is a video I took a few months ago (i forgot about it)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD4tnES3F9s&feature=plcp&context=C4e6f5f3VDvjVQa1PpcFMZ764XngpRLoWLbY8dqFzI A9x_kXb0E0w%3D

I did get a whole new cover, gasket, bolts, & fluid in there tho :)

Its funny I searched "what to launch at" and came up with this. I have the exact same problem on an 00 z28 m6 with 89k. It has the same whine but at 50-65 mph and it eventually goes away. It has something to do with a certain resonance at low rpms that causes the whine. But i've had no problems after launching or during a launch. I also changed the fluid to royal purple and it didnt make any difference. I would just run with it man, keep money saved up and deal with it until it sounds like this :judge::judge::judge:

Its funny I searched "what to launch at" and came up with this. I have the exact same problem on an 00 z28 m6 with 89k. It has the same whine but at 50-65 mph and it eventually goes away. It has something to do with a certain resonance at low rpms that causes the whine. But i've had no problems after launching or during a launch. I also changed the fluid to royal purple and it didnt make any difference. I would just run with it man, keep money saved up and deal with it until it sounds like this :judge::judge::judge:

HAHA that made me lol, all I could think of was this *tink *tink noise when I saw the smileys with the hammers :lol:

But yeah, I don't WOT every single day so I'm definitely not too harsh on my car... But I'd like to be prepared for when it goes :bomb:

Me neither its my daily and most of the time im cruising at 65-75 mph. I didn't open the diff when i changed the fluid so i wasn't able to inspect the teeth or bearings. I just wanted the added insurance of running some new fluid. Hopefully theres not a bunch of metal floating around.

I would say it isn't a big deal. Perhaps some bearings are going but in no way does it mean your rear is going to blow up or something this quick. Your best bet if you REALLY were bothered and worried about it would be to get a rebuild kit, put 90w140 w/additive in it and be done.

My rear has done that since I took it off the dealer lot 10 years ago. I've had H/C/I on it for a year with 315 Dr's and it's still hanging in there so it can't be anything too bad.

My rear has done that since I took it off the dealer lot 10 years ago. I've had H/C/I on it for a year with 315 Dr's and it's still hanging in there so it can't be anything too bad.

Thats good to know then i think its a certain frequency (resonance) within the drivetrain under a low rpm load that causes it to whine. Just like at 2000 rpms my exhaust makes a certain tone through the muffler thats LOUD