little whiner
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Teching In
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 26
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From: Clarksville,TN
little whiner So when I get to a certain speed..let's say, 60mph and higher, the rear end begins to whine...Of course when I let off the gas and reduce speed the whine stops...Does anyone else experience such things? I don't feel like this is normal, but it has been doing it forever and is now starting to get nerve racking, especially on highway trips. What could it be and what do I need to do? Thanks in advance.
-J
-J
I had the same problem in my wife's 2002 Z. It started exactly like you said, but it got progressively worse. It turned out the pinion bearing was bad with only 60k miles. 
Gotta love GM for those 10 bolts.
Gotta love GM for those 10 bolts. I have the same issue. If you have a bearing problem, you should get a fairly persistent whine that doesn't go away. If you're getting whine that comes and goes through a specific speed range (say 55-65) then it's probably due to gear wear or the setup is out of spec.
Speed sensitive whine can go for a long time before it fails. It's more of an annoyance than anything. There's a poll on another msg board that had to do with gear whine. Over 75% of people in that poll reported having it, so it's pretty damn common.
I was able to lower the pitch of the whine by changing to a heavier weight gear oil (85-140) . My car has an auburn differential so synthetic wasn't an option for me.
Speed sensitive whine can go for a long time before it fails. It's more of an annoyance than anything. There's a poll on another msg board that had to do with gear whine. Over 75% of people in that poll reported having it, so it's pretty damn common.
I was able to lower the pitch of the whine by changing to a heavier weight gear oil (85-140) . My car has an auburn differential so synthetic wasn't an option for me.
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Teching In
Joined: Jan 2007
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From: Frederica, DE
I had the same problem with my formula, turned out to be the carrier bearings going out on me. Personally I would get it fixed as soon as possible unless you're planning on upgradeing to a 12 bolt or a 9 inch eventually.
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Verdad Gallardo I wouldn't worry about it. My old 10 bolt had 4:10s in it, howled louder than any rear I ever heard. Bought a 12 bolt and sold my 10 to someone with a cammed SS. He made like 40 passes on it before he got a 9 inch and it never broke. My 12 bolt screams pretty good now too.
Staging Lane
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 90
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From: Lafayette, IN
On my 99, it was a pinion bearing. It whined all the time, a little at first, but progressively worse as miles went on. My 94Z had whine only on deceleration all it's life (240k miles and still going strong), but that was just the gears. Basically if it keeps getting louder and happens all the time, in a stock rear that's not normal and is likely a bearing going out.