Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

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SinusoidalTendencies
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Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by SinusoidalTendencies »

sooo....

long story short. i just got done replacing my front wheel hub bearings and a warped rotor only to realize they weren't the cause of the bearing whine i'd been hearing lately.

noticed play in my axle where it goes into the diff...and that the new axle i'd installed hadn't quite gone in all the way (boy where they a pita to install as the machine rolled for better fit splines where anything but) and i'd been loosing gear oil.

as this is an A/T it of course went unnoticed for a bit more than half a year since i replaced the axles.

the play seems pretty bad side to side at the diff, and the whine is pretty noticeable.


sooo... i'm curious what i'm in for. how bad could it be.
its pretty noticeable that its causing drag as well
and being an Automatic Trans limited on available info on repairs

Thanks in advance,
Sterling
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Petros
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by Petros »

gear whine from a diff can go on for 100,000 miles with out issues. put a mix of synthetic and standard gear lube per the FSM, that should lesson the whine. I would not worry about it too much unless it gets worse over time.
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SinusoidalTendencies
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by SinusoidalTendencies »

so ... if it ain't quite broke. just add more lube?
what about the play/wiggle?
i guess it has just been whiney some drag to of course.
been waiting to get one of my jack stands back from a loan out for way to long, so i on'y have one right now to stick under it.
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by Petros »

some wiggle is normal, as long as it does not leak fluid. it should hold it fairly snug, it usually will wiggle a bit in and out.

have you pulled the front cover to take a look at the bearings/gear teeth condition? if the bearings are shot you need to replace the whole diff assembly, or replace bearings and reset the gear lash (not a simple undertaking).
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SinusoidalTendencies
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by SinusoidalTendencies »

less simple than rebuilding the carb?

the play is side to side...not in and out
and it didn't do it when i put the axles in there if i remember correctly
......
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by BaileySims »

Possibly super unrelated but I had some issues a few years back with a corolla I had. It sounded like complete butt. Heres what I took back then:

https://youtu.be/GeN9zeghM_c

I can't remember opening it up, but I know the difference was trashed. There was movement in the cv axle like yours, but this is the sound thst it made. Not sure if it's anything like your experiencing.
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by teranfirbt »

There should be a little bit of radial movement of the axles, but not much. Be careful about pushing the axles around if your seals are old, I accidentally made the seal in my MR2 leak when I pulled on the axle to move my creeper around.

A good check is to drain your gear oil into a clear, clean container and see if there is any metal. A little bit of fine metal is pretty normal as the diff wears, but any bits or chunks are bad. If you feel like getting adventurous you can pull the diff cover and take a look around. There are checks in the factory manual for ring to pinion lash, runout, and other specs. Since the diff is old it’s going to have more lash than spec but this is ok as long as it isn’t more than 0.012” or so.
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SinusoidalTendencies
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by SinusoidalTendencies »

sounds good..since i'll have to drain it anyways to take the lid off the pumpkin.
going to throw some gear oil in it for now and see how she feels

haven't really felt grinding..just friction..but a lot of friction
still having the issue with vacuum in my fuel tank as well though so the whole thing is kinda being a drag
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SinusoidalTendencies
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by SinusoidalTendencies »

update::::::gear oil everywhere

so i tried topping it off but it just leaked back out as though it was already full.
down to just one jack though so it's not level.
no idea what the difference is being held up from the driver side. but i guess theres a good amount of oil already in there.

puts me back in mystery mode though.
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by The Professor »

Don't support the car with only one jack stand, wait until you get your other one back before trying to fill the transmission (which should only be done when the vehicle is level F/R and side-to-side).
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SinusoidalTendencies
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by SinusoidalTendencies »

to late...and still waiting for the other jack stand. it's apparently been lost. definitely drag when spinning the front tires off the ground. not the wheel bearings because i just replaced those (thanks to Roberts videos).

so wondering what else can cause some drag in the front wheels. i was looking at the brakes at this point. wouldn't mind advice in that area.

might start a new thread
sterling
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by xirdneh »

if you jack up the wheel. pump the brake pedal hard a few times then try to rotate the tire. it might initially be sticky when you first start to move it but it should rotate easily fairly quickly
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SinusoidalTendencies
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by SinusoidalTendencies »

wish it was that simple. it's been noticeable enough while driving to cause me to look into it. i even checked the rear end to see if the parking brake was sticking. the rear spins rather smoothly compared to the front.

would love a detailed list of front end driveline drag potentials and troubleshooting. answers of this sort do help me get to the bottom of things in a much more reasonable time frame. tips on brake piston rebuilding and parts sourcing might come in handy as well

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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by Yaut »

I don't know if your issue is normal or not but I have two A/T's and they have always had a whine. Also the front definitely drags more than the rear and this is the same across all of my cars.
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Re: Axle play at Front differential & bearing whine #%&*

Post by Petros »

properly working disk brakes will slightly drag on pads on the rotors, if not the pedal tends to sink to the floor. a bit of pad drag is normal.

other sources are: it is out of alignment, damage or severe wear to the front or rear diff, bearings or drive shaft (u-joints or center bearing). a bad or delaminating tire can also have excessive drag, it is also dangerous. look for irregular treat or uneven wear, or bulges in the tire casing.
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