I have a 2003 X type 3.0 awd automatic with 80,000 miles. Ive had a whine coming from the rear of the car ever since I bought it 2 years ago. It gets louder as i accelerate and quiter when i decelerate. Last week it got real loud and then started vibrating as if something broke in the rear. Ive read as many post as i can about what it could be but Im not sure. I took off my driver side rear axle today and there is no unusual movement in the cv joints (i dont think) and I checked the wheel bearings on that side and there is no play or grinding in those either. I then turned the passenger side rear wheel as fast as i could and im getting a sound of grinding bearings. This noise seems to be coming from the differential. I guess my questions would be,

1) Does the differential have bearings in the housing where the axles insert?
2) If so, do I have to take down the differential? Get a new one?
3) If not, what the heck is the noise???
4) How do i know for sure if the CV joints are bad?

Thanks for the help.

 

I've never heard of the Rear Differential having any problems in these cars..I had an 03 and I sucked out all the old black lube I could out of it and refilled with Royal Purple...Not saying your diff isn't bad, it maybe....

But one thing these cars are known for going bad, is the Propeller shaft center support bearing..They will make all kinds of noise and vibrations...The propeller shaft front and rear sections come with the support Carrier bearing as a whole assembly...Easy to remove and replace.

 

I haven't looked at that yet. I'll do that today. Thanks

 

Well I found the problem. I popped off the differential cover to check and change the fluids (which by the way I did not have to drop the subframe to get it off) and discovered there was barely any fluid in there and I had some teeth broken off the pinion gear. Just great!! So now I'll have to get another one. Well, at least now, I know what it is.

 

Bummer, but at least now you know what it is.

Good luck with the fix.....please keep us updated

 

My 2003 2.5L with standard transmission had a rear differential go bad.
It was still covered under the warranty and they replaced it without
question. It started to whine where was previously silent. It did
not leak any oil so I don't know what went wrong.

Pete.

 

Well thanks for the info..live and learn, I always say.

 

So my differential came in this past week. I paid $200 for it. I installed it today but didnt finish everything. Still have to put in passenger side axle and brakes and then we'll see if i did everything right.

 

Please keep us posted. I am sure there are a lot of members who have a similar issue to yours who would like to know if this is the fix.

 

I have the whine or hmmm coming from what seems like the rear center of my 04 X. I did an fluid change during the summer. It had very little in it. Replaced with a synthetic, it may have lessened the noise some? Now it's gotten cold the noise is louder. I'm torn between is it the rear diff, wheel bearings or center support bearing? Everything seems tight. But there is a little vibration when you start hearing the noise. I've read about greasing the support bearing not sure how you can grease a sealed bearing without breaking the seal or drilling a hole thru one side or the other to actually get grease to the ball bearings? I did however find I web site that sells the center support bearing for $45 driveshaft parts.com. So I guess the question is do I start throwing parts @ the problem until I find the fix? Starting with the least expensive. Like I said I've checked the support bearing tried greasing it but don't think it was a successful job. Don't hear any wheel bearing grinding with the rear up turning by hand. So I'm @ that point of taking to a shop or throw parts @ it. Thanks guys 4 any & all thoughts. Happy New Year. Chris

 

If the sound starts at between 28-32 MPH 99% of the time it will be the propshaft carrier bearing.

 

My prop shaft only whined when it was cold. Warm grease seemed to cure the problem for now.

 

Prop shaft only whined around 30 mph when cold.

 

My whine start around 55mph. Once you maintain that speed or faster speeds then starts the whine. It's like when the car unloads the power train the whine starts. If I speed up or slow down the noise changes but doesn't completely go away. I'm gonna check the support bearing again & make sure I didn't miss something. Chris

 

I replaced my prop-shaft a year ago to try to eliminate the rumble/vibrations. It helped some, but did not completely solve the problem.

My new (refurbished) prop-shaft has a bit of a whine to it. Only happens when its cold out, and only intermittently.

It looked, to me, like the carrier bearing is built into the prop-shaft. Machine pressed into place, perhaps? How would one replace just the bearing? Doesn't look possible.

... I may try greasing it next time I have it up on jacks.

- Ryan

 

Just to update. After replacing rear upper & lower forward control arms still had my droning noise. Just replaced all 4 tires & had a 4 wheel alignment. Droning noise gone as of now. One of my rear tires was worn on the inside edge do to the control arms being worn.