Hi guys! I'm a bit worried about this. I bought a 2007 XK coupe a few months ago. From the start it had this weird whine that appears as I take my foot off the gas at about 70-80km/h. It gets a bit louder when I drive faster. My dealer said that it is a normal thing that english cars have... I suppose that the noise comes from the differential. Do any of you have the same problem and can it be fixed?

 

Whine coming from the diff doesn't sound good

Prehaps get the fluid level checked as a starting point

 

Yeah, diff gear noise. It's pretty common but not 'Normal to English cars.' Fix is tedious. Normally you replace them but if they don't set the lash correctly it'll whine again. I've never reset the lash on a whining gear set and had it go dead silent. Usually if you open the lash a little they'll quiet down a good bit.

Other options are louder exhaust or music. Certainly cheaper.

 

Thanks! I might book a time for the car at some point of the spring. It doesn't bother me so much, just that it doesn't damage the car!

 

A quiet singing sound isn't horrible. A growl or grinding vibration is. If it clunks letting off the gas then you have immediate issues. Mine whines a bit but at 129k with the cheaper version of the 8.8 Ford rear with an 8" ring I expect it. The gears are almost too small for the load which causes them to wear prematurely.

The irony is I've pulled apart low mileage gear sets that had gotten moisture inside and part of the ring gear was rusty which caused the whine. Also misaligned gears cause incorrect wear pattern and that'll cause noise.

 

It's definitely not 'normal' and I certainly wouldn't ignore it. The next stage could be a trashed diff.

A fluid change will remove any doubts about quantity or quality and give the opportunity to see if there's any metal particles in suspension.

Graham

 

I agree and would get the diff fluid changed. I would also ask the tech to check and show me the drained fluid just to see if there is any metal in it. If it is clean I would not be concerned but if metal I would open the diff and have the gears checked.

 

Find another dealer.

Did the dealer bother to raise the vehicle and run it at speed to eliminate the possibility of tyre noise? If not, find another dealer.

 

When I got mine three years ago, I noticed a slight howl from the rear at certain speeds, that would disappear when I took my foot off the gas.
Took it to an indy to have the fluid changed, and they said there were some tiny sparkles in the fluid.
They said that if it was wearing, there wasn't much that could be done, so just let it wear out.
Haven't noticed much change in three years.
If it finally wears out, I'll get a Quaife.

 

That's really the gist of it. There's very little you can do except replace parts and pray the tech sets the gear lash up correctly. Our rears are a *******ized Ford setup that uses one bearing pocket in the housing and one bearing cap to hold the differential in the housing. Old school ones used two caps with screw adjusters and it was easier to set the lash and bearing looseness. Late model 8.8's used shims to set the lash as well as the bearing looseness which were much more a PITA. I haven't done an 8" one yet and am not looking forward to it. I expect it to really suck.

 

If anyone needs their gears set, Zuk has achieved near mythical god- like status in the offroad world for setting up gears and would be the first person I'd contact to have a new set dialed in. Consider having him cryotreat the gears as well if future long term wear is a concern.

Remove diff, place it and the new parts in a 5 gallon bucket with some old rags or a blanket to keep it from rattling around in there, ship it off to him and bask in the glory of a perfectly set rear end in about a week.

Toyota Gear Install Harrop