my rear end is making niose! CANT PIN THE PROBLEM DOWN!

[cruisin-davey-g]

"DrDuckster": John Z pretty much summed it up as for how to change the rear dope. One thing that you might look for; awhile back & somewhere in my garage (what a mess that is) I've got one of those reversable pumps that hooks up to an electric drill. Stick it in one way & it'll suck out all of the old dope in the rear. Reverse the drill; hook the one end of the tube to the refill bottle of rear end dope & stick the other tube end into the fill plug & fill it up; made it easier to do. Don't know if they sell those things anymore, but give it a try. I remember seeing one in a JC Whitney Catalog, but that was awhile back.

Dave

 

[drduckster]

rear end is making noise

Thanks for the help, this will be next on my list.

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

Re: rear end is making noise

Thanks for the help, this will be next on my list.

Hey, "DrDuckster": Yeah........changing the rear dope can solve alot of problems & strange noises coming from the back of the car.......It's the easiest & cheapest thing that can be done in prevenative maintenence for the rear of a Vette............Good Luck!

Dave "Keep On Vette-ing!"

 

[Larry82]

Yes.........that squeak squeak sound is u-joints.

Turns out it was the u-joint. Being replaced as I write this.

 

[Larry82]

Also turns out the u-joint was about to go out. On two opposite ends the end caps were about to tear open, and the ridges/needle bearingw inside were ground smooth. That would have been a catastrophic failure had I not gotten it replaced.

 

[Yoda]

Larry,

Have the yoke checked too. When u-joints get to rattling around a lot sometimes the elongate the yoke fitting for the u-joint.

I'm not real sure about the exact size in mm or inch's but they should not be egg shaped, if they are you'll be going through u-joints at a pretty fast clip.. Maybe one of the more trained mech can help, I've learned everything I know from the school of hard knocks and try and error.. (and from books and helping others)

Bud

 

[Larry82]

I found out the hard way - its U-joints and wheel bearing. Lost the left wheel bearing. But, going slow, so no damage - other than to my pocket book to have it replaced. Right one being replaced Tuesday.

 

[LEEJANDZ]

So what happens if you lose a wheel bearing or a u-joint while the car is in motion?

Or at freeway speeds?

 

[Larry82]

Felt like a flat tire in the rear. Went real squirrely. Pulled over immediately. All tires full, so started to drive some more. Rear end real squirrely. Tow job alot cheaper than total loss of rear end and who knows what. You can loose a wheel, tear up a spindle, other bad things. Its better to spend the several hundred per side to get it fixed. New u-joints also.

 

[Tifton81]

I just replaced the rear chunk, u-joints, mono spring, bushings, just about everything except the rear wheel bearings during December 2002. Made the north Georiga mountain trip earlier this year and really worked the car. A couple weeks ago, I noticed the same noise you mentioned coming from the rear. It at first started as a wire type sound then kind of a thump, hard enough to be felt throughout the entire car. Had the bearings checked and found the problem. What a difference it made in the rear end sound....glad it didn't happen during the mountain trip.

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

Tifton81 said:

I just replaced the rear chunk, u-joints, mono spring, bushings, just about everything except the rear wheel bearings during December 2002.


Question: Just what is "the rear chunk"? When this term is used, what is it refering to? :confused

Thanx, Dave

 

[Tifton81]

Sorry, I have heard this term used for the "Rear Differential"...mine was making a really bad roar and had 150,000 miles on it, so I replaced it. That made all the difference....

wiley

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

Sorry, I have heard this term used for the "Rear Differential"...mine was making a really bad roar and had 150,000 miles on it, so I replaced it. That made all the difference....

wiley

Wiley: No need to be sorry. People sometimes refer to things in different terminogolies. I though that's what you may have been refering to (rear differential). Some of us guys refer to it as a "pumpkin". See what I mean? I'm glad the rear swap is working out for you. 150K miles is alot of wear on those. Take care.

Dave:

 

[billyvette]

my rear end noise

I have a 78 s/a car with auto trans and when i decelerate (slow down) i get a moaning noise from the rear of the car, if i touch the gas pedal the noise stops and also stops when i drop below about 35 - 30 mph what could this be ?

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

Re: my rear end noise

I have a 78 s/a car with auto trans and when i decelerate (slow down) i get a moaning noise from the rear of the car, if i touch the gas pedal the noise stops and also stops when i drop below about 35 - 30 mph what could this be ?

"billyvette": Yor problem is excessive wear (grooved) of the ring gear. There is too much play (slop) between the ring & pinion gears.


Dave:

 

[billyvette]

are you sure?

davey, are you definite on this being my ring gear?
My odometer shows 50 thousand, I know that is nothing to depend on, but the car doesn't seem to have 150 thousand either.
How much money are we talking here?

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

Re: are you sure?

davey, are you definite on this being my ring gear?
My odometer shows 50 thousand, I know that is nothing to depend on, but the car doesn't seem to have 150 thousand either.
How much money are we talking here?

I can only tell you from experience that I've had concerning rears & the type of noise you described. I've had rear ends that made such a noise, after removing the rear cover & inspecting, I have found the ring gears to have wear grooves in them & sometimes the teeth will have small nicks in them in the form of wear patterns & also find very fine metal shavings in the bottom of the rear casing. Now, I've driven cars with this problem & other than the noise produced, I've never had problems in relaibility (of course, I never really drove 'em hard either). I was told by my trans guy (who also does rears), that this is a problem in OEM GM rears. I've even had a pinion gear completely slip out of position & slide forward right out of the housing. The only thing that I can tell you is to be on the safe side & get a look inside the rear housing at all of the parts.I know that this is diffucult in a vette rear, as you have to remove alot of other things in order to get to that point. Making edugated guesses is not the way to go. The noise you described is pretty much the same sound of a worn "throw-out" bearing in a manual trans, but since you mentioned that your vette is an auto, that is not the problem. At any rate, please let me know what you find out. Good luck.

Dave:

 

[billyvette]

thanks

I guess i will have to open up the differential and check it out!
I have never replaced a ring and pinion, I hope this will not be to involved. Just something I will have to do along with the heater core replacement.

thanks for you input

 

[cruisin-davey-g]

Re: thanks

I guess i will have to open up the differential and check it out!
I have never replaced a ring and pinion, I hope this will not be to involved. Just something I will have to do along with the heater core replacement.

thanks for you input

Hi: Ring & pinions aren't too hard to change. But, setting 'em up correctly, so the problem doesn't happen again, will require someone that has alot of experience doing rears. If you're mechanically inclined, then what I would do is change the ring & pinion & then take it to a shop where you can have it set-up correctly. Provided that your ring & pinion is, indeed, bad & making noise (I really hope that is not the case). Good luck & please let me know how things go. Take care.


Dave: