"High-pitched howling" noise while turning?

[VehiGAZ]

Hey there everyone!

My VX recently began sporadically making a sort of high-pitched howling noise, apparently from the back end, while making turns to the right. It has only happend a few times so far, and it only make the noise for a second or less. For what it's worth, it has only done it when the car was driving for a while already (i.e., not when cold). It happens once, maybe twice, and that's it. Nothing else feels strange about the drive train.

The dealer is taking a shot at it, but hasn't figured it out yet. They put some LSD additive in and test drove it, but it made the sound again. My extend-o-warranty said they will cover the repair, but only if they can find a part that needs replacing. (They are already covering the replacement of some valve causing a bouncing idle, loose passenger seat tracks, and the driver-side window regulator [what VX window problem?!], all under one deductible!)

I searched the forums but found nothing that resembled this problem. Does it ring a bell with anyone here? Any good guesses? The service writer would appreciate any leads at all.

Thanks in advance!

[ameetw]

I'm not sure if this would help, but the only time I heard something like you discribed was when I over filled the power steering fluid or when the power steering fluid was really dirty.

[Apostle]

Cat stuck in the rear well?

[VehiGAZ]

ameetw - I'll have them check the fluid, but I think the sound is coming from the back end. Two pedestrians who were right there when it happened also said they thought it was coming from the back.

Apostle - A cat to complement my bat? (see my gallery for solution to that riddle)

[Apostle]

No need

been here for a couple years, seen most of everyones pics

[E-ZooZoo One]

Not to hijack, but I was going to start an almost identical thread today…

Two times now, two days in a row - while turning left at low speed - I’ve experienced a moaning/groaning sound that seems to be coming from the front passenger-side.

The first time it happened, I was turning onto a street in my neighborhood, with the brakes lightly applied – and I simply assumed that it must be related to my upcoming/impending brake and rotor replacement… But yesterday it happened again as I was rounding a corner, approaching the drive-thru at my bank – without the brakes applied at all.

Both instances were left turns, at low speed, with a slight surface transition that corresponded with some mild suspension travel. --- After it happened the second time, I checked my 255/70/16 tire clearance with the cladding (Nope, that wasn’t it)… I also checked for any looseness in the hub and/or suspension components (Not as far as I can tell)… So, about the only thing that still comes to mind is that I have an OEM Shock on its way out, but I really don't know.

Could GAZ and I perhaps be experiencing the same problem, only at different ends of the vehicle?

[VehiGAZ]

E-ZooZoo - I don't have OEM shocks - I'm riding Bilsteins, so that ain't it.

I was also thinking a wheel hub problem, but mine were repacked less than 6 months ago (not that it's impossible for the dealer to mess it up, of course).

They just told me that they are giving up trying to diagnose the problem because they can't get it to occur anymore. Well, I have to go back next week anyway to get my parts installed, so maybe I'll have more feedback for them.

Thanks!

[WyldWeasel]

I just bought mine a week or so ago and found it was sporadically making a strange groaning/grinding noise when pulling a hard left out of a parked position. I was getting a bit nervous about it, as I'd been very conscientious about changing the fluids/putting new tires on it, etc. and I was worried I was looking at something catastrophic in the drivetrain (this is my first 4WD vehicle).

After a few days and the little piles of chewed asphalt which appeared where I was parking, I realized it was the new tires pulling the asphalt up. The morons who resurfaced the street a few months ago did a horrible horrible job and the surface of the street just can't handle the TOD kicking in.

[raver_boi_88]

lmao I have the same problem in my neighborhood where they just re-surfaced the road...

[Numba1goalie]

I started a thread like this a while ago cause I was getting the same noise from my front end. No one had any answers for me other then hubs, or needing to pack my wheel bearings. I have had the bearing repacks and inspected the hubs myself and everthing looks just fine.

[VehiGAZ]

Well, despite the addition of the LSD additive, my driveline is still sporadically making the howling noise. The latest incident was on Saturday on a 180* off-ramp. Unless I hear anything definitive or even a really good lead here on the board, I'll probably just wait until it gets more frequent and give them another shot at it down the road (before my extend-o-warranty runs out, of course).

[jgalt]

As a long-time Isuzu owner (short-time with the VX) I've had numerous "noise" issues over the past years, which are very difficult to diagnose due to the way sound travels through the vehicle (sounds like its coming from the left-front, but the problem is really in the right-rear) and the multitude of variable causes.

Some of the things I'd check (in no specific order - just as they occurred to me):

Is the driveshaft straight, lubed and balanced?
Are the u-joints on the driveshaft lubed or binding?
Is the power steering fluid topped-off, low or too full?
Is the power steering belt tension sufficient?
Are any other belts loose?
Could it be the bearing in the power steering unit or alternator (hard to diagnose until it fails)?
Are any shocks leaking fluid? Any loose shock mounts?
Are any axle boots torn or axles leaking fluid?
What about the bearings in your rear axle?
Are any ball joint boots cut? How 'bout loose ball-joint mounts?
What is the condition of the rubber bushings on your upper A-arm? Any slop?
Have you lost any shims behind the upper A-arm?
Are your tires balanced? Could you have thrown a weight?
Are the wheel bearings seizing? Is there sufficient grease and is the axle nut at sufficient torque?

Lots and lots of moving parts - any of which could cause some noise issues.

Best of luck!

[VehiGAZ]

I just did some testing in our cul-de-sac, and now I think the problem is related to the TOD transfer case...

I rolled down the windows and went round-and-round to the right to get the noise to occur. When it did, I got the impression that it wasn't really coming from the back, nor was it coming from the front either. Hmm... right in the middle, then, and there's only one mechanism there that likely could be doing something like this.

I straightened her out, shifted into 4-low, and went up and down the street. It was kinda noisy, and even made a couple of screechy sounds. So I brought it back down to the cul-de-sac and went around it... WOW! What a racket!! It was making all manner of clicking and slipping and grinding noises - NOT the usual gear whine from the transfer case.

So I am going to tell the service writer to check the t-case when I bring it back for the rest of my fixes (still waiting on one part) and see if they can find something wrong with it.

Good luck to me...

[E-ZooZoo One]

Good luck to me...

AMEN!

[VehiGAZ]

They found the problem!

After much diagnostic exploration, they finally opened up the rear differential and found the culprit - the right-side differential side bearings were worn. They will either replace the whole drive assembly or rebuild the differential - it's the warranty company's call, though. I'm just waiting for their rep to inspect it and find out how long parts & such will take to get and install.

Glad this one is getting solved - it's gotten a little embarassing to have to explain to friends "yeah, they don't know what it is yet, but I hope to get it fixed in a couple of weeks" every time it happens.