rear end problems
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From: utah
rear end problems Major humming noise coming from my rear end towards the outside. Buddy thinks diff. fluid is empty. If anyone has any idea what could be causing this please help? Thanx <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />
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From: Live Oak, FL - in the woods where the creatures lurk.
Re: rear end problems -Chuckle- these rearends do make noise sometimes.
Well, the level is easy enough to check. Either park it on level ground, or go to a drive on lift. Use a 3/8" drive socket to pull the fill plug on the right front (passenger) side of the housing. Take a coat hanger, piece of wire, or whatever bent at a 90* angle and stick it in the housing to check the fill level. Typically you would fill it with the proper lube until it runs out (overflows), and let it run it out until it quits. But if you check it and its, say, only 1/2" low, it's probably not the problem.
For the heck of it, get 2 qts of fluid, (won't take quite that much), a rear cover gasket, and a bottle (4 oz.) of additive from the dealer and change the stuff out, just for peace of mind.
...but then again you've probably run the $hit out of it and busted something - Just Kidding!
Well, the level is easy enough to check. Either park it on level ground, or go to a drive on lift. Use a 3/8" drive socket to pull the fill plug on the right front (passenger) side of the housing. Take a coat hanger, piece of wire, or whatever bent at a 90* angle and stick it in the housing to check the fill level. Typically you would fill it with the proper lube until it runs out (overflows), and let it run it out until it quits. But if you check it and its, say, only 1/2" low, it's probably not the problem.
For the heck of it, get 2 qts of fluid, (won't take quite that much), a rear cover gasket, and a bottle (4 oz.) of additive from the dealer and change the stuff out, just for peace of mind.
...but then again you've probably run the $hit out of it and busted something - Just Kidding!
Re: rear end problems Check your axle seals to see if any fluid came out of a leaky one. If there is still fluid in it, you could have a bad pinion bearing or carrier bearing. If that is the case you should get it fixed ASAP so you don't cause anymore damage to the rear. Symptoms of a bad bearing include the noise getting louder and louder over the course of a few days, and a grinding noise coming from the rear at very low speeds (creeping along in first gear).
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From: Chesterton, IN
Re: rear end problems </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by ZeeQuick:
<strong>Check your axle seals to see if any fluid came out of a leaky one. If there is still fluid in it, you could have a bad pinion bearing or carrier bearing. If that is the case you should get it fixed ASAP so you don't cause anymore damage to the rear. Symptoms of a bad bearing include the noise getting louder and louder over the course of a few days, and a grinding noise coming from the rear at very low speeds (creeping along in first gear).</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">THANK YOU! I think you finally answered my question which has been posted for quite some time. Any idea how expensive pinion and carier bearings are to replace or how much of a pain? (I've done axle bearings, so they can't be too bad, I would bet.
<strong>Check your axle seals to see if any fluid came out of a leaky one. If there is still fluid in it, you could have a bad pinion bearing or carrier bearing. If that is the case you should get it fixed ASAP so you don't cause anymore damage to the rear. Symptoms of a bad bearing include the noise getting louder and louder over the course of a few days, and a grinding noise coming from the rear at very low speeds (creeping along in first gear).</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">THANK YOU! I think you finally answered my question which has been posted for quite some time. Any idea how expensive pinion and carier bearings are to replace or how much of a pain? (I've done axle bearings, so they can't be too bad, I would bet.
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From: Elk Grove, CA
Re: rear end problems I had the same problem, humming noise from the rear end. It was a chewed up Pinion Bearing. It was at 30,000 miles. $800 and the shop replaced all bearings and races in the rear end and cleaned everything out, put it all back together and put fresh fluid in it. I dont know if this was all neccessary but he said it was and I didnt have a lot of time to bullshit to I told him to take it apart in front of me and show me and he did and I said k go ahead. Funny thing is... I had my pinion seal changed by these guys the day before and this bearing went bad knocked out the seal and leaked all my fluid out... I talked to the rear end specialist at chevy and he said rear end work has to be soo precise that hes sure the guy did something wrong but I didnt have time to I just told him to fix it and he garunteed all of his work and garunteed I wouldnt have rear end problems for at least 100,000 miles. So its ok now. But all other mechanics I talked to said take it to the dealership or to a rear end specislist for any rear end work because a lot of guys think they know what they are doing but dont.
<img border="0" alt="[Camaro]" title="" src="graemlins/camaro.gif" />
<img border="0" alt="[Camaro]" title="" src="graemlins/camaro.gif" />
Re: rear end problems Glad I could be of help. The parts themselves (pinion bearings, carrier bearings, fluid, additive) cost me around 150 bucks. Luckily I know a guy who used to be a Chevy tech, and now he has his own shop. He did the work for and charged me 100 bucks for the labor. In other words i'm lucky. Its not really a job to do yourself, unless your really good, you need a few special tools. I would take NavyBlueMetallic's advice and take it to a reputable rear end shop, or a GM dealer.
<small>[ September 04, 2002, 04:12 PM: Message edited by: ZeeQuick ]</small>
<small>[ September 04, 2002, 04:12 PM: Message edited by: ZeeQuick ]</small>
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From: Chesterton, IN
Re: rear end problems Would you happen to know what special tools are needed? I'm no mechanic god, but I've never shied away from a job before. Worst case scenerio is it ends up still broken (broken more?) and I'm 150 bucks poorer for the experience. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />
Anybody with knowledge of this feel free to throw out a few words about what the pitfalls of doing your own rear-end are. Everyone says "It's not a job you do if you don't know what you're doing" but nobody has as of yet explained what I'm getting myself into.
Any tips or knowledge are greatly appreciated.
Anybody with knowledge of this feel free to throw out a few words about what the pitfalls of doing your own rear-end are. Everyone says "It's not a job you do if you don't know what you're doing" but nobody has as of yet explained what I'm getting myself into.
Any tips or knowledge are greatly appreciated.
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From: new england
Re: rear end problems Setting pinion gear depth requires trying a shim on gearand then pressing bearing on pinion sandwiching shim.If that shim is incorrect you would need press and proper clamp fixture to remove press fit bearing, and try new shim until correct setting and gear wear pattern is attained.I plan on installing my own 4.10 gears in Zexel Torsen rear soon, and i am going to buy extra pinion bearing and hone its i.d. out to relieve press fit, this will make it a tool for getting proper shim in no time, then i will press on other bearing when im ready for final installation. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" />
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Verdad Gallardo TECH Enthusiast
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From: Chesterton, IN
Re: rear end problems Hey. Thanks! That's a good start. Is there anything else to look out for?
If you look at this picture you can kind of see how the gears have suddenly started wearing on the very outside of the ring gear which coincides with it making lots of grinding noise, creating lots of metal shavings, and the car kind of clunking back and forth from side to side under load. Does this sound like the kind of mayhem bad pinion and/or carrier bearings could cause?
If you look at this picture you can kind of see how the gears have suddenly started wearing on the very outside of the ring gear which coincides with it making lots of grinding noise, creating lots of metal shavings, and the car kind of clunking back and forth from side to side under load. Does this sound like the kind of mayhem bad pinion and/or carrier bearings could cause?
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From: Chesterton, IN
Re: rear end problems I can check on that this weekend. That'll mean droping the driveshaft, so it'll have to wait 'till saturday. Basically with the drive shaft out If I can grab the yolk and clunk it in and out of the housing I know that's the problem, right?
The picture doesn't show the gears that well. Maybe some of the others do. There are a few in that directory if you want to look. It appears to me that there was a good wear pattern going on the gears then recently it started riding on the ouside edge of the ring. I hadn't really noticed the munged up looking face on the pinion until you mentioned it just now.
Boy, I really hope that's the problem. Of course, now I have to decide if I want to just replace the bearings or go ahead and do 4.10's for 2x the money while I've got it apart. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />
The picture doesn't show the gears that well. Maybe some of the others do. There are a few in that directory if you want to look. It appears to me that there was a good wear pattern going on the gears then recently it started riding on the ouside edge of the ring. I hadn't really noticed the munged up looking face on the pinion until you mentioned it just now.
Boy, I really hope that's the problem. Of course, now I have to decide if I want to just replace the bearings or go ahead and do 4.10's for 2x the money while I've got it apart. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" />