Hey all. I was a recent addition to the failed differential club. It was towed two hours away (to the nearest 'speed dealer), where the diff was pulled and replaced under warranty. However, I requested that the dealer take the replacement diff to a welder to beef it up. I paid to have the extra welds put in like Turfburn suggests and others have done. Supposedly the welds were beautiful. I never did get to see the diff before it went in though.
The only way I could get the diff welded was to waive the remainder of my warranty on the diff and the rest of the tranny, which I agreed to. I didn't forsee any problems in the next 18k miles, and this was the only easy way to have the diff beefed up. But of course, because I have such sh*t luck, I've got a problem I didn't have before... I hear a roaring/droning noise from the front (more toward the drivers side, it seems) that changes somewhat in pitch with vehicle speed. It doesn't matter if the clutch is pushed in or the car is in gear. It doesn't vary with engine speed, and seems to get slightly deeper, louder and harsher when I get below about 25 mph, and quits just before the car comes to a stop.
When they called me today to tell me the car was ready, the service advisor said the tech mentioned some tire noise on the test drive. I told him that I never really noticed any tire noise and figured I'd just have to drive up there and check it out for myself. The service dept. was closed by the time I got there and a sales mgr. took care of me. I did take it for a quick spin before checking out, and did hear some noise, but I figured it could have been any number of things (they did the front brakes too) and wasn't that worried about it. Sure enough, it continued on my trip home and if anything, it seems worse. I'm now wishing I had left my car there and kept the loaner. While the noise resembles tire noise, especially the kind that an off-road tire makes, I'm sure that's not it. The tires are fine and they are rotating the right direction.
The only thing I can think of is that the pinion depth and/or backlash isn't right, or there's a problem with a bearing. This is not going to be an easy situation since I've waived warranty on the tranny and differential, but I'm damn sure that something in there isn't set up right and that it has nothing to do with the extra welds put in. My diff is supposedly the 2nd gen. unit that gets put in when the originals break. Does anyone elses make noise like this? Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
*Update - Just talked w/ service mgr. He says they'll try to work with me, but only if THEY did something wrong, and of course, I'll have to prove that. He said too that the welds on the diff were about the prettiest he'd ever seen, but that they were not really uniform in length (and therefore weight). Nobody had mentioned this detail to me before now. I can't imagine that they were off by much, or that very small differences in weight could throw the balance off enough to cause this noise. After all, the ring that's welded is fairly close to the rotational center of the unit. I dunno. Arrrggghhh!
The only way I could get the diff welded was to waive the remainder of my warranty on the diff and the rest of the tranny, which I agreed to. I didn't forsee any problems in the next 18k miles, and this was the only easy way to have the diff beefed up. But of course, because I have such sh*t luck, I've got a problem I didn't have before... I hear a roaring/droning noise from the front (more toward the drivers side, it seems) that changes somewhat in pitch with vehicle speed. It doesn't matter if the clutch is pushed in or the car is in gear. It doesn't vary with engine speed, and seems to get slightly deeper, louder and harsher when I get below about 25 mph, and quits just before the car comes to a stop.
When they called me today to tell me the car was ready, the service advisor said the tech mentioned some tire noise on the test drive. I told him that I never really noticed any tire noise and figured I'd just have to drive up there and check it out for myself. The service dept. was closed by the time I got there and a sales mgr. took care of me. I did take it for a quick spin before checking out, and did hear some noise, but I figured it could have been any number of things (they did the front brakes too) and wasn't that worried about it. Sure enough, it continued on my trip home and if anything, it seems worse. I'm now wishing I had left my car there and kept the loaner. While the noise resembles tire noise, especially the kind that an off-road tire makes, I'm sure that's not it. The tires are fine and they are rotating the right direction.
The only thing I can think of is that the pinion depth and/or backlash isn't right, or there's a problem with a bearing. This is not going to be an easy situation since I've waived warranty on the tranny and differential, but I'm damn sure that something in there isn't set up right and that it has nothing to do with the extra welds put in. My diff is supposedly the 2nd gen. unit that gets put in when the originals break. Does anyone elses make noise like this? Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
*Update - Just talked w/ service mgr. He says they'll try to work with me, but only if THEY did something wrong, and of course, I'll have to prove that. He said too that the welds on the diff were about the prettiest he'd ever seen, but that they were not really uniform in length (and therefore weight). Nobody had mentioned this detail to me before now. I can't imagine that they were off by much, or that very small differences in weight could throw the balance off enough to cause this noise. After all, the ring that's welded is fairly close to the rotational center of the unit. I dunno. Arrrggghhh!
Last edited:
high powered microphone and ear buds for listening ...
