clrusso21

I have a 1997 Camaro and there is a strong humming noise ever since I bought the car 6 months ago and it's driving me crazy. I went in two months ago and replaced the axle bearings and seals, and changed the diff fluid but no luck.

What else could it be? Are these cars known for this? The culprits I'm thinking are either the carrier and pinion bearings, the ring gear itself, or the axles.

When I pulled the axles to do the bearings, the axle where the bearing sits had a couple "scratches" on them. A couple looked a little deep but not too bad (to the eye of a novice). And of course I didn't take any photos

The noise seems to be proportionate to vehicle speed, if that helps. Also, I hit a curb really badly the third day I got the car, which may have caused a gouge to the axles?

Should I just take this to a rear end shop or is there no point in that?

Haaalp. Thank you!

jaxcam02

iTrader: (1)

its most likely your axle shafts. Any bit of deterioration of the axle shaft to bearing contact is going to make noise. You need to replace the axle shaft it seems. I picked up a used one for 40$ and cleaned it up real nice.

jaxcam02

iTrader: (1)

clrusso21

Mine both looked similar to this except with a couple deep scratches. That's what I was thinking but I needed someone else's opinion. Thank you! So you think I can just go to a junk yard and get one or should I spend $200 on rockauto for both shafts and not take the chance?

Anyone else, what do you guys think?

jaxcam02

iTrader: (1)

I would look on craigslist or facebook groups first to see if someone it parting out a rear end or something then you can go check junkyards I guess. There are also some shops that will clean out the grooves weld on new metal and shim the bearing contact to oem diameter. Either way a smooth axle to bearing contact will almost certainly eliminate that annoying humming

Ls1Ryan2002

Could be a pinion bearing is going out, check to see that if not check for any signs of a worn down axle shaft.

Ls1Ryan2002

I wouldn't take the chance and I would go with RockAuto, down the road the same problem could occur if you take the chance. RockAuto also has some great cheap parts compared to parts stores such as Orileys or AutoZone.

clrusso21

Okay I agree, so do you think it is probably the axle shafts too then?

Ls1Ryan2002

I'd say it would be related to the axle shafts yea, but I'd check the bearing first because of cost wise. While you check if there is any sign of deterioration or the shaft is worn I would order the axle shaft as well.

sleepinghawk

I would agree with jaxcam02 on the axle shafts. I had the (sound) that was like a tractor trailer beside me at certain speeds. Drove me nuts. I did a search on here back then,and posted a thread about it, and had alot of info about it, including what some said it sounded like. My shafts were not as bad as those shown above. My hawk had about 25,000 miles or less when it started. Took it to the mechanic that I only let work on it and sure enough both my axles were peeling, and had small pits. I took no chances, so I had new Moser axles installed. When he looked at the bearings, you could not see anything wrong, but I had him put new bearings in as well. This wasn't alot of money so I was not going used just to re-do it. I had pictures back then, and maybe on the thread back then. I never figured out why the axles went out so early, but only felt like maybe since the car sat from 02-05 with 300 miles on it, that it was the reason. Good luck. Mine have been good since 05. Now have 75,000 miles on it.

http://www.fquick.com/garages/viewga...wimg&id=214701 Picture of the axle

clrusso21

Okay! Thank you. So was that a photo of your old axle or the new one?

clrusso21

Oh ya my car was sitting for over 2 years as well in my neighbor's garage (the previous owner) so maybe that's why! Thank you so much for the information, I'll let you know if it's fixed in a couple weeks lol

jaxcam02

iTrader: (1)

Twas the old one, new one should be smooth as a baby's bottom.

DANSBIRD

iTrader: (2)

Mine looked pretty bad:

jaxcam02

iTrader: (1)

^^^ holy ****

DANSBIRD

iTrader: (2)

That was only about 215k miles of use.


The ABS light would come on frequently and the cruise would turn itself off. It was believed the ABS sensors were bad, so I borrowed some from a buddy's car & swapped them out, which resulted in the same behavior. Upon further inspection, it appeared the ABS sensors were working perfectly fine. The lack of material was upsetting the sensors and disabling the cruise. I got a call from my buddy saying "Uh, yea... we found out why your ABS sensors have been giving you fits. You're gonna want to see this."

jaxcam02

iTrader: (1)

dude that is fricken intense. What do you think was the main cause of this? low rear end oil level or just the high mileage? It's incredible how much the groove worked its way in especially creating a tapered groove from the angle of the shaft getting so out of whack.lol

DANSBIRD

iTrader: (2)

I'm guessing just unintentional neglect due to not realizing anything was wrong. They said "You didn't hear any noise coming from the rear?". I'm running GMMG + long tubes. I can't hear anything past the driver's seat that isn't exhaust.


I held on to the axle and have been using it as a light holder for my work bench.

jaxcam02

iTrader: (1)

Lol yea I dont blame you not being able to hear anything with that setup. I just put LTs on and its definitely hard to hear anything else. I could only imagine if I didn't have the SLP muffler on.

Speaking of the axle shaft, after my students get out for the summer I'm going to make a lamp or something out of mine.