Topic: Drivetrain Whine

[JC93YJ]

Could it make the whining noise I’ve been hearing? I know sometimes wheel bearings go in unique and interesting ways.

[Jeffy]

Yes, bearings can whine when they go out.

[JC93YJ]

I got the Jeep home and was able to mess with it.  Driving it almost 200 miles with something whining it's ass off probably wasn't the best idea, but I had to get home.  I jacked up the front end and the wheel bearings were good.  I had my dad drive it, 40 years as a diesel mechanic so he probably knows a little more than me, and he said it's either the transfer case or the rear.  I'm going to drain the fluid in the case and see if there's a glitter factory going on in there, but my money is on the rear.  Why do you always have to be right, JeffY? 

I guess the only good thing about the rear going is now I have an excuse to swap in a stronger axle before the Kubota goes in.  I might have a line on a Ford 9" out of an F100, a set of axle flip brackets will make it literally bolt in...in theory. 

[JC93YJ]

I drained and refilled the transfer case, really nothing to report about.  The magnet, plugs, and filter screen were all clean.  There was a little bit of sparklies, but nothing I would be overly concerned about since the syncro ring is in there.  The sparkles looked more gold/bronze color than they did silver, and I would assume exploded bearings would produce chunks of material.  Tonight when my dad gets home he's going to give me a hand running the Jeep on jack stands and listening for any noises in the rear end with a stethoscope. 

[JC93YJ]

Well, the stethoscope showed nothing.  I stood on the brakes with my foot on the gas to load the system up as much as I could and everything was silent.  Pulled the back wheels off and checked the wheel bearings and they were good, pinion bearings and carrier bearings were silent.  I pulled the drums off and one of the slack adjuster cables had broken and worn a super deep groove into the drum and broke off the edges of the shoe on the passenger side, I'm wondering if that's the issue.  I'm going to put back brakes on it regardless and then drive it until it either gets worse or I have more time to leave it home.